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“Pen! Pen! Come quick!” Colin yelled as he shut the door to their home, a large parcel in his hands. Biscuit came running down the stairs at the sound of Colin’s voice and jumped excitedly, nearly making him drop the package.
“Biscuit! Down boy!” Colin commanded, placing the package on the table in the foyer before kneeling down to scratch his back. “Pen!” he called again, louder this time. There was still no answer from his wife, and Colin looked at his dog.
“Where’s Mummy? Is she upstairs?” Biscuit took off in the direction he had come from and Colin chuckled. Thanks for the help, Biscuit , he thought to himself before yelling his wife’s name again. “Penelope!”
“Stop yelling, you’ll wake Aggie,” she whisper-yelled from the top of the stairs. She slowly descended and after giving Colin a kiss, she asked, “Now what’s all the excitement about?”
Before he could reply, she spotted the box and the answer dawned on her. “Wait..is that it? Is it finally here?”
“Yes!”
“Colin!” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him again.
“I know! Do you want to open it now or should we wait for the star to wake?”
Penelope contemplated the choices for a moment before shaking her head. “Let’s open it now, I’m too excited!”
“I’m so glad you said that because I don’t think I can wait another minute!” Colin whistled for Biscuit as he grabbed the box while Penelope settled onto the couch.
Colin carried it into the living room and whistled for Biscuit again before running to the kitchen for a pair of scissors. When he came back, Biscuit was getting lots of love from Penelope, his head resting on her knee as she scratched behind his ears.
Colin smiled at the sight before joining his wife on the couch, the scissors paused above the box as he stared at the cardboard with a huge smile on his face. “Col? Why aren’t you opening it?” she asked before telling Biscuit to lay down.
He turned his head to look at her and gave her an even bigger smile. “I still can’t believe it’s finally here! Are you ready?”
“Yes! Open it!” she exclaimed, scooting forward to watch as he cut the tape. Together they lifted the flaps on the box and pushed the packing materials aside until they could see the product.
Penelope’s eyes immediately filled with tears as Colin lifted it out. In his hands, he held a year’s worth of hard work and dedication: Aggie and Biscuit’s Grand Adventure , by Penelope and Colin Bridgerton, illustrated by Benedict Bridgerton.
The title was in bold, purple letters, theirs and Benedict’s name at the bottom. The cover was a blurred picture of London, with a detailed version of Biscuit racing down a cobblestone street, his tongue flying out of his mouth, Aggie on his back.
She was holding onto his fur with one hand, her red curls blowing behind her as she held onto her pink cowboy hat, a huge smile on her face. The rest of her outfit consisted of pink cowboy boots, a purple tutu, and gray shirt.
“It’s…”
“Perfect,” Penelope finished for him, her voice flooded with emotion. “Look at them, Colin! Our babies have their own story!”
“I know we’ve seen the artwork before, but just holding it makes it real,” Colin said, his own eyes filling with tears. “Which reminds me, I need to get Benedict to send over the copy of the cover so we can frame it and hang it in Aggie’s room.”
“And one for our office,” Penelope added.
“Yes, agreed. And maybe one to hang above Biscuit’s bed. I don’t want our boy to feel left out.”
“You’re such a softy,” she giggled, kissing his shoulder. “Come on, let’s open it. I want to see how the dedication turned out!”
Colin opened the book, the title page the first thing they saw. The next page was the dedication, and Penelope’s eyes filled with tears again.
To our Agatha Anne, the light of our life and to our Biscuit Boy for being the best big brother.
Love, Mummy and Daddy
“It’s…”
“Perfect,” Colin finished for her, attempting to pull her closer. Without a word, she carefully got off the couch as he repositioned his body. She settled into his lap as well as she could, her protruding stomach not making it very easy and he wrapped his arms around her.
Penelope took the book from him and together they flipped through the pages, giggles filling the room and more tears falling from their eyes. When they were done, Penelope closed the book and turned her head to look at him. “I love you. To infinity and beyond, forever and always.”
“I love you, too,” he said, giving her a kiss. “I just can’t believe it’s finally here!” he exclaimed again. “I must admit, it’s my second-best idea, right after deciding to marry you. And get Biscuit, so actually, third-best. And wait, we decided to have Aggie and now Thomas, so…fifth-best.”
Penelope giggled and said, “Let’s not forget who convinced their publisher to let her step away from writing sexy romance novels to write a children’s book. And for the record, you’re my best decision too. Although Mexico might actually be number one because had I never gone, we never would’ve met.”
“I’d say that was fate, not a decision.”
“No, fate was Biscuit standing over me. I decided to—ooh! Thomas is kicking! Give me your hands!” Colin placed them over her belly, Penelope’s hands on top of his, and he smiled as he felt his son’s tiny kicks against his palms.
“You know what my next-best decision will be?” he asked. “Putting another baby in you.”
“Let’s get through six months of two kids, then we’ll talk.”
“Six months? I was thinking six weeks !”
Penelope shook her head and smiled. “You really are insatiable, you know that?”
“When you’re married to a goddess such as yourself, I know I am!”
She was about to answer when they heard a tiny voice come from the monitor. “Mama! Mama!”
“Looks like our girl is awake. Come on, let’s go get her. We can take her and Biscuit outside for a walk, then we’ll have dinner, bath time, and story time before bed.”
“A perfect afternoon with my two favorite ladies and the best boy ever,” he grinned.
******
Colin volunteered to give Aggie her bath, knowing it was getting harder for Penelope to kneel down and bend over, her stomach sticking out more with this pregnancy.
While he was doing that, Penelope went into Aggie’s room to get her space ready for bedtime. She got out her pyjamas and blanket and placed the book on the nightstand. She had just sat down in the rocker when Colin carried Aggie into the room in her hooded bee towel.
“Mama!” Aggie cried, reaching for her.
“There’s Mummy’s clean girl!” Penelope said, standing and scooping her into her arms and smelling that sweet baby smell. “Ready for your jam-jams and a book?” Aggie clapped and Penelope smiled, nuzzling her cheek before handing her back to Colin for diaper duty.
Penelope tamed Aggie’s curls while Colin sat down and whistled for Biscuit. Penelope carried her over to Colin and settled her in his lap before she sat down in the other chair Colin had dragged over. Biscuit took his spot by Penelope’s feet and once everyone was ready, Colin grabbed the book.
“Bikit!” Aggie cried when she saw the cover.
“Very good, Aggie! And who is that brilliant and beautiful girl with him?” he asked. When she didn’t answer, Colin helped her out. “It’s you, Aggie! See? The title is Aggie and Biscuit’s Grand Adventure and Mummy and Daddy wrote it just for you!”
“A-gie!” she yelled and Penelope beamed. “Good job, Princess!”
“Pincess!”
“You certainly are,” Colin laughed as he kissed her hair. Penelope leaned over and together they read the dedication, Penelope’s eyes once again filling with tears. Colin took her hand and lifted it to his lips before continuing onto the next page, her heart about to burst with the love she had for him and the tiny redhead in his lap.
“It was a sunny day in…” Colin started to say, his words interrupted by Aggie’s hands smacking the book.
“Bikit!” she shouted happily. Biscuit lifted his head and wagged his tail as his small human giggled. “Bikit!”
“Who else is on the page?” Penelope asked. Aggie looked down and gave her a big smile.
“Pincess!”
“Princess who?”
“Pincess A-gie!”
“Very good!”
Colin chuckled. “Yes, Princess! You and Biscuit are playing outside!” He turned the page and started to read again. “The city was very…”
“Bikit!” Aggie yelled again gleefully and Colin smiled.
“Okay, Princess. Daddy will read the words later. You tell Mummy who is on each page and I will tell her where you are.” Penelope giggled at that and he grinned at her. “Ready?” Both his girls nodded and he turned the page.
Colin excitedly told Penelope where Aggie and Biscuit went on their grand adventure while his daughter continued to shriek her and Biscuit’s names. Penelope had a huge smile on her face the entire time because of how animated Colin’s descriptions were, how he acted like she didn’t already know where Aggie and Biscuit went, and because of how excited Aggie was to see herself and Biscuit in a book.
They got to the last page and Colin concluded the story, shutting the book. “‘Gain! ‘Gain!” Aggie shouted.
“Sorry, Princess. It’s time for bed.”
“No! ‘Gain! Pease?”
Colin looked at Penelope and she nodded. “Okay, but Mummy and I will read it together this time and you will get into your big girl bed.” Handing the book to his wife, Colin stood with Aggie in his arms and Penelope pulled back the covers.
Once their daughter was tucked in, Colin sat back down, pulling Penelope in his lap. Biscuit hopped onto the bottom of the bed and Penelope read the story while Colin described the pictures with words like clock, big wheel, and castle.
“Bikkkkkkiittttt,” Aggie yawned, and within minutes, she was sleeping peacefully. Not wanting to disturb her, Colin and Penelope crept out of the room, leaving Biscuit on the bed to snooze with his sister.
They cracked her door and silently went into their room where Colin wrapped Penelope in his arms and gave her a tender kiss. “I know it’s early, but how about we hide in here the rest of the night and talk about our next book?”
“Our next book?” Penelope asked, amusement on her face.
“Yeah. Now that I saw how much Aggie loved her book, I want to write one for Thomas, too. And for all of our children that come after him. I need something to do now that I retired from acting. Besides you, of course,” he smirked.
“Colin!” she gasped, a blush coloring her cheeks. “Thomas isn’t even here yet! Can we at least wait until he’s born to discuss his book?”
“All I’m hearing is you saying you’ll write another one with me,” he grinned.
“Colin, I would do anything with you,” she said with a smile. “Now and forever,” she said, giving him another kiss.
******
Two years later, Colin and Penelope’s second children’s book, “Thomas and Biscuit’s Train Ride”, was published.