Tristan\u00a0<\/p>\n
I followed her around like a puppy, pushing the cart and trying not to think too hard about how much money we were spending because none of it mattered, nothing mattered except making sure our babies had everything they could possibly need.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think about this one?\u201d Athena asked, stopping in front of a crib that looked like every other crib to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I studied it carefully, trying to see whatever she was seeing. \u201cIt\u2019s nice,\u201d I offered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She laughed. \u201cYou have no idea what you\u2019re looking at, do you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNot even a little bit,\u201d I admitted with a grin. \u201cBut if you like it, I love it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She shook her head but she was smiling, and I watched as she ran her hand over the wood, testing the sturdiness, checking all the\u00a0<\/p>\n
details.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll need two,\u201d she said softly. \u201cOne for each baby.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The reminder that we were having twins still hit me sometimes, still made everything feel more real and more overwhelming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we\u2019ll get two,\u201d I said immediately. \u201cWe\u2019ll get two of everything they need.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked up at me and I could see tears gathering in her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey,\u201d I said gently, moving to pull her close. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing\u2019s wrong,\u201d she said, wiping at her eyes. \u201cI\u2019m just happy, and hormonal, and I love you so much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I held her right there in the middle of the baby store, not caring that people were walking around us, not caring about anything\u00a0<\/p>\n
except making sure she knew how loved she was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love you too, I murmured against her hair. \u201cAnd I promise I\u2019m going to be the best father I can be to our babies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pulled back and looked up at me. \u201cI know you will be,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to be amazing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
68\u00a0<\/p>\n
The confidence in her voice meant everything to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We spent another two hours in that store, picking out everything from bottles to blankets, and by the time we were done the cart was\u00a0<\/p>\n
overflowing and my credit card had taken a serious hit, but seeing the joy on Athena\u2019s face made it all worth it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we got back to Orion\u2019s house, we unloaded everything and Athena insisted on organizing it all right away, arranging the tiny\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:33 Thu, Jan 29\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 355\u00a0<\/p>\n
clothes by size and type with a focus that made me smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
68\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched her fold impossibly small onesies and thought about how in a few months those clothes would be on our actual children,\u00a0<\/p>\n
how we\u2019d be parents, how our whole lives were about to change in ways I couldn\u2019t even imagine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought was terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That night we all had dinner together, and I caught myself watching Athena throughout the meal, noticing the way she glowed when\u00a0<\/p>\n
she talked about the babies, the way her hand unconsciously moved to rest on her barely there bump, the way she smiled when she\u00a0<\/p>\n
looked at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d almost lost this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d almost destroyed everything with my anger and fear and inability to express what I was really feeling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought made me cold inside, made me want to pull her close and never let go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We fell into bed together and I pulled her close, wrapping myself around her like I could protect her from the whole world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNever again,\u201d I said softly into the darkness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNever again what?\u201d she asked sleepily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNever again let me go a day without telling you how much I love you,\u201d I said. \u201cNever again let me make you doubt how important\u00a0<\/p>\n
you are to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was quiet for a moment and then she turned in my arms to face me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 355 Tristan\u00a0 I followed her around like a puppy, pushing the cart […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}