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Moving through the hallways of the main house, Thomas peers into every room and looks around every corner in search of his wife. He glances down at the phone in his hand, tapping on her contact on the screen for what feels like the millionth time. It rings for the usual time before ending up on her voicemail again. It's not like her to not answer her phone, especially when it's him that's calling her.
Stepping into the office, he sighs when he sees her cell phone lying on the desk, the vibration of it ringing echoing through the wood. He approaches and silences the phone, then pockets it as he makes his way out of the room.
"Hey, Kumu," Thomas calls out when he sees the woman passing by, sliding his own phone into his other pocket, "have you seen Higgy at all? I tried calling her but she left her phone in the office."
Kumu turns toward him. "Last I saw she was on her way outside."
He smiles. "Great." He starts to move and then turns back. "Uh, Charlie should be up from her nap soon, do you mind keeping an ear out for her?"
Kumu smiles and nods. "Go. I'll look after the little one when she gets up."
"Thanks, Kumu." He flashes the older woman a smile and then turns to make his way toward the doors that lead outside.
As soon as he steps into the yard he spots her. She's pacing back and forth across the grass, one hand resting on her lower back and the other resting on her pregnant belly. He can see her lips moving, but can't quite make out what she's saying.
He stops for a moment to admire the scene, the afternoon Hawaiian sun casting a beautiful glow on her figure, really emphasizing the curve of her belly where their child grows. Sometimes he can't believe how in love with her he is. Or how lucky he is to have her in his life in this capacity.
"Hey, would you quit your pacing? You're making me dizzy."
Juliet spins around to face him with a perfectly raised brow. "Are you being serious? It's your fault I'm like this."
Thomas huffs out a laugh as he takes a few steps closer. "Uh, I think you're forgetting one very important detail about the conception of that baby, Higgy. You're the one who instigated the whole thing." He stops directly in front of her and rests his hands on her hips, tugging her closer. "I was completely helpless against your advances."
She scoffs lightly and rolls her eyes. "Unbelievable. It does take two to tango, Thomas, as the saying goes."
He nods. "Yes, I'm aware. But you're the one who instigated it. Not that I was complaining because you were absolutely breathtaking that night. Still are, in fact."
"I don't exactly feel breathtaking at the moment."
"Well, then I'll just have to be the one to think it for the both of us."
"Yes, you go ahead and do that. I'll just lean heavily onto you for the moment."
Thomas frowns, rubbing his hands over his wife's lower back, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure he knows she carries there. "You okay?"
She sighs heavily, lifting her arms to wrap them loosely around his neck. "No, I'm not. This child is wreaking more havoc on my body than Charlotte did. I can't bear to sit on any of the furniture for any significant length of time, yet being up on my feet is rather unbearable as well."
He swears he almost hears a slight waver to her voice, though he knows better than to comment on it. So he presses his palms more firmly against her lower back as he rubs it, smiling when she lets out a small sigh and relaxes more against him. "Why don't we try the hammock?" he suggests. "It's not any of the regular furniture, and I'll even join you, so maybe it'll be better."
"I suppose we could try that," she murmurs against his shoulder.
Thomas presses a soft kiss to the side of her head and then carefully guides her over to the hammock hanging from the trees nearby. He sits himself down in the hammock, shifting a little to get comfortable, and then tugs on Juliet's hand to carefully pull her down next to him. He drapes an arm over her shoulders to pull her close, resting his other hand on the side of her belly when she curls herself into his side the best that she can.
"How's that?" he asks after a moment.
She lets out a small, content sigh, her eyes fluttering closed. "Better. Not by much, mind you, but still better."
He smiles. "I guess that'll have to do. Think you're comfortable enough to take a nap? You haven't been getting much sleep lately."
"Yes, I'm well aware of that." She sighs. "I'm not sure if I can right now. Your child constantly kicking at my insides doesn't exactly allow me to fall asleep."
"Why is she always my kid when she does something to irritate you?" he questions.
She opens her eyes only to narrow them at him. "Really? Must I give examples? Because there are plenty to choose from. You've been irritating me since the day we met."
"Yeah, but you love me now."
The edges of her lips quirk. "Yet somehow you still find ways to annoy me."
He chuckles lightly. "Just doing my part, Higgy."
"If you really wanted to do your part, you could go and check on our first born. She should be waking up soon."
He shakes his head. "Kumu's got her. They'll be fine while we're out here so you can get some rest."
"I've already told you, Thomas. I don't think I can nap right now."
"That's fine. We'll just sit here so you can be off your feet for a bit. How's your back?"
"Alright. You rubbing it helped a bit."
"Glad to hear it." His eyes drift up when he spots movement coming toward them, a smile growing on his face when he sees Kumu approaching with Charlotte on her hip and the lads trailing behind her. "Looks like we've got one more to join our hammock party. Hey, Kumu," he calls out as Juliet shifts in his arms.
"She woke up a little earlier than usual," Kumu says instead of a regular greeting, gesturing to the toddler. "She used the bathroom but then refused to do anything else until she got to see Juliet."
"Mummy!" Charlotte squeals, wiggling in Kumu's arms and reaching her tiny arms out, her favorite stuffed animal falling to the ground.
"Hello, my love."
Thomas smiles at his daughter's excitement, reaching out with his free arm to take her from Kumu. The hammock jostles as Charlotte lands awkwardly in his lap, clearly having tried to land on Juliet before he redirected her toward himself.
"Thanks, Kumu," he says with a smile, taking Charlie's abandoned toy that the woman holds out.
"No problem. Have fun with your parents, little one," she says with a smile and a wave to Charlie before turning around and making her way back across the lawn.
Focusing on his family, Thomas' heart swells when he sees Charlie kneeling in his lap, one of her hands resting on Juliet's baby belly, her ear pressed firmly against it. Charlotte giggles when there's a small thump against Juliet's belly. He shares a smile with his wife, though hers is a bit lazier than his.
"Are you having fun, Charlie?" he questions the toddler, gently rubbing his hand over her back.
Charlotte turns her head to smile up at him. "I can hear my sister, daddy."
"Well, what's she saying? Is she excited to meet you?"
"Uh-huh. You too, daddy."
He raises his brows playfully. "She's excited to meet me? Well, that's just the best news ever, because I'm excited to meet her too. Are you going to be the best big sister ever?"
Charlotte nods. "Yeah."
"That's wonderful to hear, love," Juliet speaks up with a smile, running a hand over Charlie's curls. "I'm sure your little sister is going to be very grateful when she's older." She lets out a yawn then, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.
Thomas smiles, using his arm around his wife to gently nudge her shoulder. "Try and get some rest," he tells her. "Neither of us has anything to do for the rest of the day, and I'm pretty sure this is the most relaxed I've seen you recently, so I think you can afford yourself a quick nap."
Juliet watches him for a moment before sighing. "Yes, alright. But don't let me sleep for too long," she tells him with a pointed stare.
"I promise I won't." He watches as she shifts against his side and then lets her eyes close, a small breath escaping past her lips.
Charlotte looks up at him with slightly furrowed brows. "Why's mummy sleeping? It's not nighttime."
"No, it's not. But the baby makes mummy pretty tired, so she's gonna take a nap. I'm gonna stay here with her, but you can get down and play with the lads for a bit if you want."
Charlotte's brows furrow further, looking over at Juliet and then down at the lads, then back up at him. "Imma take a nap too."
Thomas smiles. "Didn't you just wake up from one?"
She opens her mouth, clearly pretending to yawn. "I'm still tired."
He chuckles. "Alright. Whatever you say. Maybe you want this back, then." He holds her favorite stuffed toy into her view, watching as she squeals and then grabs the toy.
She hugs it close and then wiggles in his lap until she's lying against him and her mom, reaching out one of her hands to rest it against Juliet's belly. She closes her eyes tightly and then lets out a small puff of air.
Brushing some of the girl's curls out of her face, Thomas leans down to press a kiss to her temple and then relaxes more into the hammock. He lets out a content sigh, smiling at the sight of his wife and daughter curled up in his arms, sleeping peacefully. He's always at his happiest like this, having his girls close by, even if none of them are actually doing anything. Just being in their proximity is enough to brighten his day.
Things are only made better when, several hours later, after the three of them have awoken and made their way inside for dinner, he finds an envelope lying on the counter. There's a sheet of photo paper inside, a sticky note attached to the top with Kumu's writing scrawled across it. Figured you might like this.
Peeling the sticky note off, his heart swells at the image he's met with; it's him, Juliet, and Charlotte asleep in the hammock while the lads lie comfortably in the grass. It's an absolutely perfect shot and he plans on getting it framed as soon as possible.
"What do you have there?"
Thomas looks up from the photo, glancing over to where his wife is moving about the kitchen, getting out what they'll need to make dinner. "Uh, Kumu left this for us." He turns the photo around so she can see it.
She smiles. "Oh. We should get that framed."
Thomas nods. "I was thinking the same thing."
"I wanna see, daddy!" Charlie exclaims as she toddles over to him, tugging at his pant leg and then reaching her arms up.
Thomas leans down and swiftly lifts Charlie onto his hip with one arm. "What do you think?" he asks the toddler, showing her the photo but being careful not to let her touch it.
Charlotte leans closer and scrutinizes the photo in a way that is so strikingly similar to his wife when she's going over their finances. Then she looks up at him after a moment and nods her head once. "Yes. It's acceptable."
Thomas can't help but chuckle lightly at the way she pronounces 'acceptable' with a slight toddler lisp to it, a word that he's sure most other three-year-olds don't use. "You've been spending too much time with mummy," he teases as he sets Charlie back down on the floor, watching for a moment as she makes her way out of the room in search of the lads. He takes a deep breath and turns around to face his wife. "You sure you're good to be on your feet right now?"
She just rolls her eyes at him. "I'm completely capable of standing and making a meal for my family, Thomas."
He nods as he approaches. "I know. But you were complaining earlier about your feet, so I wanted to make sure you aren't going to be pushing yourself."
She watches him for a moment and then sighs. "Alright. So my feet are still a bit sore, but the same thing happened whilst I was pregnant with Charlotte. It's not uncommon."
"True. But you also said this kid is a tougher pregnancy than Charlie was." He steps closer to her, placing his hands on her arms and smiling softly. "Go sit down, I'll make dinner."
"You're sure?"
He nods. "Yes. Now go."
She sighs. "Fine." She leans forward to give him a quick kiss and then steps around him.
He stays there for a moment and watches as she waddles out of the room, one hand resting on her lower back while the other rests below her belly. An excited squeal from the other room lets him know that mother and daughter are together.
He will never get tired of this kind of life, even though he's been outnumbered since the day they found out Charlie was a girl. Pretty soon they'll have another little girl to add to the mix, which will make him even more outnumbered than he already is. But he wouldn't change a single thing about it. Not one single thing.