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Eight Years Later

~ Daniela's POV ~

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"No."

"Yes."

"Ha!" When I finally managed to trick her, she pouted her lips at me as I lifted her out of her crib and into my arms. "Your daddy taught me a thing or two when we play that game."

Of course when she heard that particular word, she picked up on it instantly. "Play."

"No baby, bath first then play while mama makes dinner. Maybe one day we can actually have dinner ready before daddy comes home?" The entire time I carried her into the bathroom she fussed in my arms and then on the bench, only calming down when the water started turning pink thanks to the bubble bath I put in for her.

The littlest things always mesmerise them at this age.

"It's pretty, right?" When I asked her the question she nodded her head from where I'd left her sitting on the bench in the bathroom while I ran the bath for her.

It didn't seem like a necessity to have a bench in a bathroom, but once you have to go through the pain of bathing a child trust me, it's the best investment you'll ever make.

"Okay." Once I turned off the running water, I turned to face my one and a half year old baby who was watching me with cautious eyes. "Now, let's get you out of your clothes and then we can get you in the bath."

I should have expected really, by now at least, I should have known what was coming. But unfortunately I was just too slow, or she was too fast. Either way, as soon as I put her down on the floor she ran off and I didn't manage to catch her in time.

Letting out a groan, I had to use the edge of the bath tub to stand up thanks to my 29 week baby bump that made it impossible to stand up without help.

"Poppy Isabella Agnello! Get your little butt back in here." Of course when she heard me call her she only giggled from whenever she was upstairs. Letting out a tired breath from having to get up, I went off in search for her while following the sound of her laughter.

That was until it suddenly stopped and she let out a cry instead.

"Poppy?" When she started crying the usual panic whenever I heard one of my children crying surfaced inside me as I reached the door to the master bedroom.

"Mama." When I heard her whimper, I rushed over to where I found her crying on the floor. "Oh my baby, what happened?"

Dropping down next to her, I lifted her up onto the ottoman at the end of the bed so that I could scan her for injuries, only noticing a small scrape on her chin. "Did you fall my princess?"

Keeping hold of her I turned to look at the floor noticing the edge of the rug which she must have tripped over while she was running. "How many times have I told you not to run away from me?"

When I turned back to face her she continued to cry as she pouted her lips, making it absolutely impossible for me to ever be mad at her.

"It's okay baby, come on let me go and get you a bandaid and then we can have a bath?" When I suggested the bath to her she only started crying even louder causing me to wince at the sound. "Okay, okay, no bath."

Of course there was always going to be a bath, but she didn't need to know that.

Using the ottoman to stand up, I let out a tired breath before I lifted her up into my arms starting the walk to the stairs where I had to stop and open the baby gate. "Can I ask you a question Poppy?"

When I said her name, she lifted her head to look at me as she sniffled innocently in my arms. "Do you have any sympathy for me right now? I'm seven months pregnant and you're making me carry you. We both know you're capable of walking, that's how we got ourselves into this mess isn't it?"

Was it a valid question? Absolutely.

Did my daughter care? Absolutely not.

"Fine." When I let out a huff, she stayed silent in my arms while I carried her down the stairs and into the kitchen where I put my little muffin on the counter. Keeping one hand on her to stop her from falling off, I grabbed the first aid kit which honestly I couldn't live without at this point after having so many children.

The entire time that I took to take out an antiseptic wipe, she watched my movements carefully. Thankfully she wasn't old enough yet to know it would hurt when I cleaned her cut.

The last time I used the first aid kit, I was busy chasing a four year old through the house until I eventually just gave up.

"Shall we sing a song my little muffin?"

While I was busy singing to her to keep her calm, I stood there doing the actions with her since that was always her favourite part. Like I always tell Carson, you can't sing the songs without the actions.

Finally I cleaned the scrape on her chin causing her to whimper just like I expected, but thankfully when I gave her a hug she didn't burst out crying all over again.

"See, it's all done."

"Done." When she repeated the word I nodded my head letting out a laugh. "Yes baby."

After putting a little band aid on for her, I put the first aid kit away before I lifted her up into my arms with the intention of taking her back upstairs to the bathroom.

But did we make it?

Hell no.

So the usual plan from Monday to Friday during school time is to try and get Poppy finished in the bath and dinner ready before Carson gets home with the boys.

I feel like I've been trying to do that for my entire life and I still haven't managed it once.

The moment the front door opened I let out a groan when I saw my six year old son run inside while my husband came in afterwards with our four year old son Dalton in his arms. It was unusual because Dalton was normally the most energetic when he gets home from school.

"Tyler take your shoes off and put them away nicely." When he heard my voice, Tyler turned to look at me before he let out a huff stopping dead in his tracks. Unfortunately, he only followed half of that command and left his shoes in the middle of the entry hall before he came to give me a hug.

"Hi mama." When he wrapped his arms around me in a hug, I couldn't help but smile when he rested his head on my baby bump. "Hi baby. How was school?"

"Good." By the way he mumbled the word into my bump, choosing to hide his face from me, I could instantly tell it was anything but good. But I didn't get the chance to ask him what happened because as usual Carson was in a bad mood which he made known to absolutely everyone.

"Tyler take your brother upstairs." As he spoke, Carson put a sleepy looking Dalton down on the floor quickly helping him to take his shoes off. "But-"

"Now." As soon as he flashed Tyler a glare, the six year old let out a sigh taking Dalton's hand in his. My eyes followed the two of them as they walked up the stairs together before I turned to look at my husband. "What's the matter?"

"Your son threw up in my car again."

As Carson leaned down to kiss Poppy's head I had to look away to control the smile that was threatening to break out onto my lips. Of course after eight years of marriage, he already knew it was there.

The famous 'list' was always something that came up in our marriage. That day years ago when I ran away from the penthouse to the coffee shop, after he came after me, he told me he loved his cars first, then the mafia and then me.

That still hasn't changed, even after all these years. I think I actually moved down on the list once we had our children. Now it was cars, mafia, children and then wife.

"It's not funny. Dani this is the third time this month."

"He's four years old, it happens, and for the record he's our son even when he throws up in your precious car." When I flashed him a glare, he only rolled his eyes heading back out the front door as he pulled out his phone, probably to call the car valet service he's had on speed dial since Tyler was born six years ago.

"Daddy?" When Poppy said his name in a whimper, I let out a sigh as we went back upstairs together deciding to deal with the shoes crowding my entry hall floor later. "Daddy loves his cars, when they get messy he gets sad. But it's okay, he'll see you soon my little muffin."

I bet now he wishes we could go back to the times I was coughing in his car.

Once we got back upstairs, I found Tyler and Dalton waiting for us in their room. The two of them were sitting on the bed where I put Poppy down between them and then sat down on the floor in front of them.

The problem with being pregnant and having three young children is you're almost always on the floor. That meant it was hard as hell to get up again.

"Okay, now that I have all my little ducks, I have to give Poppy a bath and then I'll give you a bath Dalton. Tyler you can take a shower if you want and then we'll have dinner."

"But I don't need to take a shower mama, I'm clean." When my six year old gave me a grin, I shook my head at him. "It's either a bath or a shower, you can choose or I'll choose for you."

"Fine, a shower." When he pouted his lips, I nodded my head letting out a sigh. "How are you feeling Dalton?"

"Tired mama. I had tummy ache and then I think daddy got sad with me in the car when I sicked." Letting out a sigh I reached out to stroke his cheek. "It's okay baby, he's not sad with you. He loves you very much."

After that an hour passed while I gave two of my children a bath and tried to supervise my eldest son while he took a shower. He'd recently started to take his showers alone although I was always in the bathroom to make sure he was okay and to help him if he had any questions like how much shampoo to use.

Once all three of my children were nice and clean, I took them downstairs to the kitchen where the boys sat to do their homework while Poppy sat idly by in her high chair waiting for dinner. She was at that blissful age of 18 months where she could find anything to entertain herself with while I was busy cooking.

"What's for dinner?" Turning to face the door when Carson came into the kitchen, I did my best to control my urge to give him a piece of my mind knowing there were three children watching our every move. "Nothing for you."

"And why is that?" When he rose an eyebrow at me, I shrugged my shoulders turning my attention back to the stove. "Because you made my children sad."

"Your children?" I could instantly hear the amusement in his tone as he came up behind me placing his hands over my baby bump. "Yeah, when you make them sad they become my children and my children only."

"I don't know Trouble, I'm pretty sure they're mine too. That is, unless you have another bed friend I don't know about?" When he whispered the words into my ear, I couldn't help but smile as I leaned back against him. "Oh didn't you know? Everyday when you go to work my boy toy comes over to-"

"Say one more word and I'm taking you upstairs to put you back in your place." His words caused my eyes to flutter closed as I bit back a moan. "That sounds really good right about now."

"Well that's too bad because your children are waiting for their dinner." When I heard the amusement in his tone, my eyes snapped open when he stepped back to put some distance between us. "You played me."

"I did no such thing, mama." When he flashed me a smirk, I shook my head at him trying to ignore the flutter in my tummy from his words.

Every time.

"Just go and sit down with them please. I'm almost done with the food." Hiding the blush that was coating my cheeks I turned back to face the stove listening to his laughter as he left me and went over to the table where our children were sitting.

That was the table where we once dreamed that our children would sit and have breakfast and dinner together. Now it was real.

Everyday they would sit there for their meals and I would just watch them wondering how in the world I became so lucky to have such a perfect family.

They were all the spitting image of Carson, they had his olive skin tone, his dark brown hair and those brown eyes with the gold flecks that mesmerise me even to this day.

While I was busy finishing off the cooking, I watched Carson as he interacted with the three of them somehow managing to divide his attention equally between the three of them.

He was the best father to them, even if he did sometimes get annoyed when they were too loud or when they made a mess. But, he never ever took his anger out on them. I don't think I can remember even one incident when he truly let his anger get the better of him.

Actually who the hell am I kidding? He got irritated with them day in and day out and he never bothered to hide it.

But for some reason our children loved it. They loved winding him up and even though I tried to remind him of that, he always gave them exactly what they wanted. He was never good at controlling his anger, but he did learn with me through our journey as a couple.

But then our children came along, unleashing a whole new type of anger that neither of us had ever experienced before.

Only parents can relate to that.

But he was perfect. The perfect father and the perfect husband. We'd been married for just over eight years and honestly, it was the best eight years of my life.

Carson and I got married a few months after he proposed to me in Los Angeles. Actually, we chose to get married on the 14th of July which was our one year anniversary of the day we met - the day we woke up in the van together. We wanted to make it a day to celebrate rather than a day remembering what we went through when we were kidnapped.

After that, I fell pregnant with Tyler in November and he was born the following August just after our first wedding anniversary. So I guess Carson got his wish about speeding the whole process up. Dalton was born when Tyler was two and a half years old and then Poppy was born when he was five and a half.

Now I'm pregnant again, but this time will definitely be the last. Ironically, after how careful we were to have our first child when we were ready - this fourth one was a complete accident. We were happy with two boys and a girl but I guess fate had other ideas because just before Poppy's first birthday I found out I was pregnant again.

It was tough raising three with the promise of a fourth one coming along, but I still wouldn't change it for the world. All either of us ever wanted was a big family and we were lucky enough to have that, there was no way I would ever complain about it.

"Babe can you come and help me with the food?" Once I was finally done cooking, I called Carson and over and he helped me take the food to the table along with some plates before we eventually all sat down for dinner.

"Dalton eat slowly please, you were sick earlier so be careful." As I put the food into his plate, he gave me a smile. "But I feel better now after I sicked."

At this Carson let out a scoff next to me, clearly still annoyed about his car.

"That's good my baby, but you still have to eat light foods until your tummy settles again." I don't think he really understood that, but still he nodded his head as he picked up his fork.

At first most of dinner time passed with us making light conversation while trying to make sure Poppy and Dalton were eating in a civilised manner.

Mostly Poppy actually since she was eating her spaghetti with her hands.

"So Tyler, what happened at school?" When I rose an eyebrow at my six year old, his eyes widened a little before he turned to look at Carson and then back at me. "Um...well...mama you look pretty."

"Thank you, now back to your story." When I narrowed my eyes at him he gave me a nervous smile before he quickly took a large bite of his garlic bread causing me to let out a sigh. "Tyler."

When I said his name in a warning tone he just sat there trying to chew through the bread that was in his mouth.

"Do you know what happened?" When I turned to look at Carson he shook his head keeping his eyes on Tyler. "His teacher wanted to talk to me but Dalton was sick so we had to get home."

"Tyler you have ten seconds to tell me what happened otherwise you can't watch TV today."

"Damn that's harsh." When I heard Carson mutter those words I turned to glare at him noticing the amusement on his face. "You better tell her Ty, or you can't watch the game with me."

"Oh the Lakers." Tyler's eyes widened at the apparent reminder once he finally finished chewing. These two were honestly as thick as thieves, Tyler and Carson did absolutely everything together. "Fine mama I...I got in trouble for making Mary Lou cry."

When he pouted his lips, I couldn't help but frown. "What did you do?"

"Um...I kissed her, on the cheek."

The moment Tyler finally told us why he got into trouble, Carson suddenly burst out laughing next to me causing my frown to deepen.

"Holy sh- crap that's funny."

"Hey!" When I turned to glare at him, his eyes widened a little as he raised his hands in surrender, clearly trying his best to control his laughter. I can tell you, it definitely wasn't working. "Sorry, sorry, excuse my language. So you...you made her cry by kissing her?"

The entire time he spoke he was still struggling to contain his laughter while Tyler sat there frowning at him. "It's not funny daddy, I kissed her and she cried."

Cue another round of laughter, followed by Carson saying the 'f' word while he attempted to catch his breath. Once Carson had finally calmed down again, he cleared his throat turning to look at our children. "You didn't hear that word."

That's his parenting style, just tell them they didn't hear it and it's fine.

"Tyler you can't do that, it's not allowed." In comparison to Carson's parenting style, I unfortunately had to be the stricter parent if we didn't want to raise a troop of monkeys. "But she's pretty."

"And that's sweet but you need to ask permission to kiss a girl, even on the cheek."

"Does daddy ask?" When Dalton suddenly spoke up for the first time in a while, both Carson and I turned to look at him instead. "He did the first time, sort of."

"Oh come on, I told you I was trying not to kiss you and you told me to stop trying."

"Yeah but you didn't actually ask, did you?" When I quickly fired back my response, he let out a scoff giving me an incredulous look. "Dani, you gave permission."

"Oh be quiet." When I waved him off taking a bite of my food, both Dalton and Tyler giggled from where they were sitting across from us. "I'm sorry mama, tomorrow I will ask her."

"No, tomorrow you give her a flower and you say sorry. Then if she forgives you, you can ask her." When I told him what to do, Tyler nodded his head just as Carson spoke. "Hopefully she's not playing hard to get, otherwise you'll end up buying her a billion gifts just to say sorry."

Oh he didn't.

"Carson, sweetheart, you disappeared for two weeks and then you had the nerve to treat me like poop."

Yes, some of us actually stick to the no swearing rule in this house.

"Why are you bringing that up? We moved on years ago babe." Completely unfazed by my anger, he flashed me a knowing smirk while I narrowed my eyes at him. "You brought it up."

"No I didn't, I was just telling my son that this Mary Lou girl might end up playing hard to get with him." When he shrugged his shoulders, Tyler let out a soft sigh just as Carson took a sip of his water.

"She might, Mary Lou has lots of boyfriends."

Have you ever wanted to kill someone? Because the moment Carson spat his water out and my three babies burst out laughing, I was ready to stab him with my fork.

"You're such a child." When I handed him a napkin, he was still laughing to himself but thankfully this time he didn't swear.

"Mama?" When Tyler broke the short silence that fell around us, just as I reached out to help Poppy with her food. "Yes baby?"

"How did you and daddy meet?"

"You asked us that yesterday." This time it was Carson who spoke, giving Tyler a smile. "I like the story."

"Me too." When Dalton flashed us a toothy grin, I couldn't help but laugh as I nodded my head. "Okay, well...mama and daddy were taken by the bad guys and we were locked in a room together. We weren't friends first and then we started making friends because your daddy became nice."

"Oh please I'm always nice." When he muttered those words from his place next to me, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Anyway, then we escaped from the bad people and we had to go on a long long journey together to get home. That's when we fell in love."

"And then we were born?" Dalton's innocent question caused me to laugh as I shook my head answering his question. "That's not quite how it happened Dalton. It took some time."

"Mama and I had a lot of practice first."

Oh dear Lord.

When I turned to give him a glare, Carson only flashed me a smirk in response as he placed his hand on my bump. "Right mama?"

The tone of his voice once again dropped dangerously low as he emphasised that word like he knew the effect it had on me when he said it to me.

"Be quiet." Grabbing his hand, I placed it back next to his side as I took the final few bites of my food. "Mama can I watch TV with daddy?"

"Yes." When I nodded my head, Tyler flashed me a smile while Dalton frowned. "Me too mama?"

"Of course Dalton. Maybe you can take Poppy too? Then I can have a bath." When I gave him a hopeful smile, he gave me a grin in response. "Daddy said Poppy is too loud during the basketball."

"Did he now?" When I turned to raise an eyebrow at my highly amused husband, he turned to look at Dalton instead. "Do you not remember when I told you not to tell mama that?"

"Oh. Sorry daddy, I won't tell mama anything you say ever again." Shaking my head at my four year old son's words, I let out a sigh as I started clearing up the plates. "What time does the stupid game start?"

"6pm, but don't worry babe I'll watch Poppy too. You can go and relax for a bit." As he spoke he reached out to rub my back with one hand while he used his other to take the plates from my hand. "Go baby, I got this."

"But-"

"I know what to do. I have to do the dishes and put away the leftovers while they finish their homework."

"And-"

"Don't forget to give them a glass of water each while they take their vitamins. I know my queen." When he flashed me a smile, I nodded my head as I stood up from my chair. "Okay."

~ Carson's POV ~

"Daddy?" When I heard Dalton say my name I let out a sigh peeling my eyes away from my phone and turning to look at him instead. "Yes?"

"How do I do this one?" When he pointed to another math problem similar to the last six we'd just been over, I honestly had to hold back every single curse word known to man.

I've dealt with shady Mexican cartel leaders, I killed the entire Hollande Family, I've argued with stupid Russian mobsters I can't even freaking understand and I've even dealt with the Japanese Yakuza who only ever want to kill me.

But I have never, ever, had to deal with this before - until I met Dalton.

This four year old boy challenged me in ways I never saw freaking coming.

"Okay, let's go over this one more time. If I have three children, and one of them mysteriously disappears, how many do I have left?"

A moment of silence passed in the room while he frowned, trying to count the numbers on his fingers.

"Four?"

Someone kill me now.

"It's two Dalton. When Poppy disappears it's just us." When Tyler muttered the answer from his place across the kitchen at the island, I flashed him a glare. "Hey, I put you over there for a reason. Stop telling him the answers."

"But it's four daddy." Turning my attention back to my four year old son, I shook my head at him.

"Dalton you're supposed to subtract the children, not add. That's my job." When I muttered the last three words, part of me wished Dani was here to laugh at my joke since she was the only one who was old enough to understand it. "I don't like math daddy."

"Don't say that to mama, she loves math."

"It's true. Yesterday she told Poppy a bed time story about numbers who were all friends." When Tyler spoke from his place across the kitchen again, I couldn't help but laugh at that.

Both of us really missed Dani working for me as my accountant, but right now obviously wasn't a good time. As much as she wanted to work, she still believed that putting our children first was more important.

That didn't mean I still didn't ask her for her opinion on almost every contract that I had to sign. She was and always would be the only person I trust when it comes to that, I was just counting down the days until she came back to work again. Even Grey still texts her sometimes to ask for her opinion.

"Mama?" When I heard Poppy speak from her high chair, I flashed her a smile as I reached out to stroke her cheek. "Sorry baby, mama got rid of you so you're stuck with me for the evening."

"That's not nice." When Tyler once again spoke from the kitchen island, I flashed him another glare. "You're supposed to be quiet over there."

"Didn't mama tell you to do the dishes?" Any other day I would have given the little twerp a piece of my mind, except for the fact that he was absolutely right. "Oh fu-"

"Don't swear daddy." As I stood up from the table Tyler gave me a frown when he cut me off. "You didn't hear that."

"Wait daddy." Just as I was about to take a step away from the table and towards the kitchen, Dalton lifted his hand to stop me before he pointed at another math problem. "This one please?"

"Hold up three fingers." When he heard my instructions, he counted three fingers on his hand before he showed them to me, waiting for me to tell him what to do next. "Now add two more."

Somehow he had to sit and count his fingers all over again.

"Five?" When I nodded my head the cutest smile stretched across his lips. "I did it."

"Well done baby." Giving him a kiss on the forehead, I left him to sit with Poppy who was busy scribbling away on some paper while I went to clean up in the kitchen. "You forgot the vitamins and you're supposed to put the left overs away."

Oh.

"Don't tell your mama." When I turned to look at Tyler he nodded his head, getting up to get a glass of water for himself and one for Dalton. After that he jumped up onto the counter and took the little box of multi-vitamins out of the cupboard, before getting back down on the floor again.

It didn't take long for him to take his own vitamins and then help Dalton to take his before he came back to me with the two empty glasses for me to wash up. After that he put the leftovers in the fridge before he came back to me.

"My wallet is in my jacket. This stays between us." When I gave him a look, he nodded his head just like he always did. "I know daddy."

Once I'd finished loading all the dishes into the dishwasher and cleaning up the kitchen, I made sure that the boys had finished their homework before we went into the living room to watch the Lakers game.

"Can I sit next to you?" Just as I dropped down on the couch, Dalton came up next to me giving me a nervous smile.

This kid was so freaking cute it hurts.

"You can, or you can sit on my lap instead?" When I rose an eyebrow at him, he nodded his head excitedly before he got on the couch and shuffled into my lap. Wrapping my arms around him, I held him like that while Tyler sat down next to me and Poppy busied herself on the floor playing with her toys.

Just like usual I spent most of the game explaining what was going on to Tyler and Dalton since they were still learning how it all worked, especially Dalton since he was younger. It was actually so freaking cute when they cheered every time I did since they just copied me.

Even Poppy clapped her hands from where she was sitting on the floor by my feet.

"Daddy." When I heard her speak from the floor, she stood up holding onto my leg for support while she handed me a plastic tea cup. "This is for me?"

My question caused her to nod as she stood there watching me with her brown eyes that reminded me so much of my sister. Giving her a smile I lifted the cup to my lips pretending to take a drink from it.

I would only do this for her since I absolutely hate tea - I wouldn't even pretend to ever like it for anyone else.

"Poppy Isabella Agnello you need to tell me what your tea recipe is, that's amazing." When I gave her a smile, she grinned before she handed me a plate with a fake slice of pizza on.

"Tea and pizza? Are you sure?" When I grimaced at the combination, the frown she gave me was enough to tell me she was absolutely sure about the rather gross combination. "Okay then."

"Wow, I can't believe in my 34 years of life, I've never had pizza with tea." When I forced a smile onto my face to hide my disgust, she smiled before taking the plate from me and sitting back down on the floor.

The rest of the game continued like that with Poppy giving me her toys whenever she wanted to play with me and the boys rambling next to me.

Six years ago before Tyler was born, I would have hated to be so distracted during a Lakers game - it was the only time I took to relax alone. But now, I welcomed every single freaking distraction if it was from my children.

They were my world now.

Once the game was finished, my favourite time of the day came. Bedtime for the children. I may love them but that didn't mean they weren't irritating as hell sometimes.

"But I'm not tired." When Tyler pouted his lips I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes as I carried Poppy and Dalton in my arms. "You say that to me everyday and then you almost always fall asleep before the story even finishes."

"But...but I'm not tired." When he whined again as we went up the stairs, this time I did roll my eyes. "Whatever you say little man."

As usual it took way too long to get them ready for bed. When I tried to brush the teeth of one child, the other two ran off to go and cause chaos in another room upstairs. Then I had to change them into their pyjamas which is a lot freaking harder than it sounds.

Once I finally put Poppy in her crib in her room, I went into the boys' room where they were busy playing with their toys as if it was the middle of the day and not bed time.

And that's how I spent the next ten minutes trying to get them to lie down. "It's bed time, that means you have to get in the bed."

Once again the two of them refused to listen, deciding to test every last one of my nerves.

"I won't tell you again. Get up and get into bed."

Did they listen? Absolutely not.

"Just get in the damn bed."

"No." When Dalton shook his head, I took a threatening step towards him having had enough of this argument. "You little-"

"Carson." When I heard Dani say my name in a warning tone, I turned around noticing how she was leaning against the doorframe watching me with a disapproving expression. "You didn't hear what I was going to call him."

"And what was that then?" When she rose an eyebrow at me, I turned to look at Dalton who was smiling at me as if he knew I was the one in trouble now.

What a little sh- sorry, rascal.

"A little munchkin, obviously." Once again she rose an eyebrow at me while Tyler and Dalton quietly got into their beds now that it was clear she wasn't in the best mood.

"Munchkin? Really? I've never heard you say that, ever."

"I'm trying something new." When I flashed her a smile, she shook her head as she made her way into the room, heading over to Dalton first. "Next time daddy tells you to get into bed, you listen please."

"Sorry mama."

Rolling my eyes I dropped down on the bed while she tucked him in, pressing a kiss to his cheek before she went and did the same to Tyler. I don't understand why they were more scared of her than me. I'm the mafia boss here and yet they're scared of an accountant.

It just doesn't make any sense to me.

Although she does scare me too, but that's besides the point.

"Tell them a bed time story and then kiss them goodnight, I'm going to go and check on Poppy." Without sparing me another glance she left the room, leaving me with my two sons to begrudgingly tell them a story.

She was so much better than me at this kind of shit. But, at least they were boys so they enjoyed it when I told them stories of assassins, mobsters and bank robbers and stuff like that.

I just paid them not to tell Dani anything afterwards which worked for all three of us since they enjoyed my stories much more than her happy go-lucky, child friendly stories.

Once I'd finally told them a bedtime story and given them five dollars each to keep the contents of the story to themselves, I gave them a goodnight kiss each before I left the room, leaving the door cracked open.

I couldn't hear Dani in Poppy's room which was right next door to our bedroom, so instead I went straight into the master bedroom where I found her combing through her damp hair in the dressing room.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing Carson."

She really thinks after eight years of marriage I can't tell that somethings wrong?

Letting out a sigh I stepped up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. "Talk to me baby, just tell me what's wrong."

"I miss you." When she muttered those words quietly, I couldn't help but smile as I turned her around to face me. "What do you mean? I'm right here my queen."

"I don't want to talk to you about it Carson."

After eight years of marriage and now four pregnancies, I knew better than to push her to talk to me when she was in a weird mood. But, I also knew better than to just leave it because then she'd get annoyed at me for not caring enough.

It took me quite a while to find the right thing to do in this kind of situation, but I think I've finally got it figured out.

"Okay so let me get this straight, just so I understand. You miss me?" When I rose an eyebrow at her she nodded her head. "But you don't want to talk to me?"

This time she shook her head confirming the answer causing me to let a sigh. "Fine then Mrs Agnello, I didn't want to have to do this but you're leaving me no other choice."

Almost instantly a frown formed on her face as I began to walk out of the dressing room grabbing my keys as I left.

"Carson? Where are you going?"

~ Daniela's POV ~

This bitch just left the house. Without another word.

As soon as he disappeared out of my sight, I let out a breath turning to look at myself in the mirror.

Maybe it's because I'm fat? This fourth pregnancy wasn't exactly planned, maybe he didn't want me anymore? Or maybe he was tired of me and my mood?

Maybe he was tired of me and my mood and he thought I was fat.

Oh my gosh.

He thinks I'm fat.

As soon as the realisation dawned on me I felt this sudden wave of sadness replace all the frustration and anger I was feeling a few moments ago when I told him I missed him.

I don't get how he didn't understand what I meant. Yes he was right there but it's not like we ever spent much time alone now that we have three children and since I'm pregnant, the evenings are just too tiring for me to enjoy them with him. My backaches and sore feet were just two of the wonderful symptoms of being seven months pregnant.

He should have understood that but instead he just gave me that clueless expression which only irritated me even more. Now he's gone and left me with my fat thoughts.

Once I got over the shock of my husband just leaving me, I got changed into some comfortable pyjamas before I got into our bed with the intention of resting and watching some Netflix before I went to sleep.

Of course the moment I sat down I realised I was hungry. That's when the tears started, because I realised I was now hungry and fat.

And husbandless.

After about fifteen minutes of crying, I finally gathered the energy to get out of bed, heading into the bathroom to pee quickly before I went downstairs.

Another one of the symptoms was peeing, all the time.

Once I finally got downstairs and in the kitchen, I was busy rummaging through the fridge to find some food to eat that I didn't have to cook when I heard the front door unlock.

So the bitch returns.

Deciding I was going to ignore him, I let out a huff as I continued looking through all the items in the fridge - the only thing I could find was a child sized pot of strawberry yogurt.

I could demolish this thing in one spoon.

Tossing the yogurt back in the fridge, I was just about to grab some ingredients to make a sandwich when I heard Carson come into the kitchen behind me.

So I know I said I was going to ignore him, but the rage got the best of me in those couple of moments.

The second I heard him enter the kitchen I spun around to glare at him. "Who the hell do you think you are? You can't just walk away from me when I...what's that?"

When my sentence trailed off he gave me an amused smile as he brought the bags over to where I was standing.

"Your favourite food from Pirlos."

"Oh." When I clamped my mouth shut he let out a laugh as he started taking the packaged food out of the bag. "So here is what we're going to do; you're going to sit and eat until your heart is content and then we're going to go upstairs to our bed and if you still don't want to talk to me, we'll watch whatever you want to watch on Netflix until you fall asleep."

As he spoke he closed the gap between us before he eventually pushed me up against the fridge after he closed the door behind me. "How does that sound mama?"

When he murmured that sentence to me, giving me that smirk since he knew exactly the effect that word had on me, I shook my head hiding my face in his chest. "Carson don't say that to me right now."

"Why?" This bitch knew why. He knew exactly why and usually I would be better at controlling myself, but this time I just couldn't.

First I was frustrated, then I was sad when he left then I was angry again when he came back home and now I'm just...needy as hell.

Without a word I pushed him away from me, heading over to the kitchen door. I could feel his eyes on me as I stopped to listen for a second to make sure the children weren't still awake before I closed the door, heading back over to him.

As soon as I stopped in front of him I grabbed him by the front of his shirt pulling him into me so that I could kiss him. Of course he smirked into the kiss because even after all these years he was still the most arrogant human being.

"Stop smirking and just hurry up." The moment he detected the frustration in my tone he laughed into the kiss, lifting me up into his arms so that he could put me down on the kitchen table. "Whatever you say mama."

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"I've missed this." When I whispered the words to him Carson nodded his head as he pulled me tighter against his chest in the bed. "It's your fault for wanting so many children Dani, it's hard to find a moment of peace."

"What? It wasn't just me." When I gave him an incredulous look he flashed me a grin as he placed his hand on my current accidental baby bump. "No? You were the one who forgot to get the implant put back in."

"No, I had an appointment booked, you were the one who forgot to put a condom on."

"Hey, let's not throw blame around now, it's not very nice mama." The moment he used that name I let out a groan nuzzling my face in his neck. "Carson stop, you know what that does to me."

"Oh I know, but that's all part of the fun my queen." As he spoke he ran his hand through my damp hair causing a smile to tug at my lips. "Carson?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry for saying I didn't want to talk to you earlier. I do, you know I always want to tell you stuff I was just...in a bad mood." Letting out a sigh Carson gently pushed me back a little so that he could see me, moving some hair out of my face. "I know baby."

"When I told you I miss you, it was because we don't get to spend much time together in the evenings anymore. You're either busy with work or one of us is tired." Nodding his head in agreement he pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I'm doing my best Dani, but this whole thing is hard. I'm juggling work and the kids and baby appointments with you and-"

"I know Carson, I'm not trying to pressure you. You're doing amazing, you dropping and picking up the boys up from school really helps me." When I gave him an appreciative smile, I could tell he was anything but happy about the arrangement we had going on.

We would both wake up in the morning and I'd get the kids ready for school while he got ready for work. Then he'd take them to school before he went to work while I went back to sleep for an hour and then fed Poppy. Then in the afternoon he would pick them up and bring them home, sometimes staying here with us or he would go back to work again at the mafia mansion.

"I can start picking them up again if it's a problem?"

"No, no baby it's not. Today Eleanor asked Grey to pick up Noah and Sara from school, so when I had to leave at the same time things kind of got complicated. We had a meeting which one of us needed to attend with the new accountant." Letting out a tired sigh he untangled himself from me in the bed before he sat up, leaning against the headboard as he grabbed the TV remote.

"Wait, you got a new accountant?" When I gave him a frown, I sat up copying his movements so that I was leaning against the headboard too. "Yeah, I accidentally killed the last one."

"Why?"

"Just work reasons."

Maybe from his short answer I should have noticed his bad mood, but unfortunately being pregnant and surrounded by children all day made me a little slow.

"This is the third one you've got rid of this year, why?" Once again when he didn't answer, I sat there analysing him for a moment while he clenched his jaw keeping his eyes on the TV. "Carson what's the problem?"

"Damn! It's because they're not you Dani! That's why!" When he suddenly snapped at me, I frowned, flinching at his sudden outburst. For a moment it fell silent between us now with the only sound being the TV in the background.

"I can't do it without you Dani. I need you there with me. I need your advice, I need your calming presence when I'm angry or having a bad day. I need to see your smile to brighten my days. We were almost done, a year or two more and Poppy would have been old enough for day care. Now...now we're having another one."

When he whispered the last sentence to me, he made sure to look away from me so that I couldn't see the expression on his face.

He was ashamed to say it, he was ashamed to admit it.

But we both knew this one wasn't planned. We were ready to stop at three. Once we realised how hard three were to handle and how much I missed working with him and how much we missed our freedom, we decided to stop there.

Then one thing after another happened after we'd both been drinking one night when Fox and Aviana took care of our children and I got pregnant again.

"Look at me." At first he didn't respond and he didn't turn to look at me, until I turned his face towards me. "Carson look at me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that Dani." Almost instantly he shook his head, panic and guilt taking over his expression. "Carson it's okay. I'm your wife, you can tell me how you feel."

"I love her, I do. I promise I do love her." As he spoke he glanced down at my baby bump, keeping his eyes focused on it instead of me.

"I know you do, but we both know she wasn't planned Carson. We had other plans, I know that and I don't blame you for feeling some type of way about that."

"But she's my daughter...it's freaking selfish Dani. I know it's selfish but I've wanted you back at work since the day you left before Tyler was born. Even when you've worked on and off over the years I've just wanted you back there with me permanently. I don't trust anyone but you, I can't be there with anyone else but you."

For the first time in a very long time he showed me a weaker side to him, a more vulnerable side. He was always so good at holding it together, at being the one I could depend on. He tried his best not to show me how hard he found raising three children and running the mafia.

But I always knew, deep down I knew he found it hard. Parenting isn't easy, every parent out there knows that. But it doesn't mean you don't want the job, it just means you're human and you find it hard too.

"Baby it's not going to be forever. In two months she'll be here and then the first three years will go by just like that. Then they'll all be in daycare and school and we'll be in your office arguing over who has to pick them up and whose work is more important."

As I spoke reaching out to stroke his cheek, Carson let out a laugh although he still kept his eyes solely focused on my bump.

"I shouldn't have said all this. I'm supposed to be strong for you." As much as I found it sweet whenever he said that to me, I honestly hated this stereotype where the man always has to be the 'strong' one. "No, you're not. We're strong for each other when the other one needs it, that's how a marriage works."

Deciding not to argue with me on that, he just nodded his head as another silence fell around us. That was until he put his hand on my bump causing our little daughter to kick instinctively inside me.

"I love her Dani, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just love you too."

"I know. But think about it this way, you'll be sacrificing three years with me at work for a life time of memories with our baby girl. And anyway, one day she'll be running around this house causing chaos for us and you'll be thinking 'I can't believe I ever doubted her for one second'."

When I gave him that image he nodded his head cracking a smile as we sat there in silence for a moment.

"I miss you too Dani." When he repeated my words from earlier, he lifted his eyes to meet mine, I could see the raw emotions on his face that he'd hidden for so long. "You're the only one I can talk to about this."

"I'm your wife and your best friend, you can tell me everything - your deepest darkest secrets and your selfish desires. I'll never judge you."

Leaning in closer to him, I pulled him into a hug as I whispered my next sentence quietly to him.

"You can tell me all your secrets Carson, maybe like how you're paying my sons to keep secrets from me." As soon as I said that he tensed up in my arms causing a smile to tug at my lips. "What did you just say?"

At first when I didn't respond to his question, he pulled away from me, holding my stare before he eventually let out a laugh. "How did you find out?"

"Mama knows everything." When I sent him a wink he chuckled again nodding his head as he pulled me back into him. "It sounds so sexy when you say it."

So he's trying to change the topic?

"You know what's even sexier?" I whispered those words into his ear causing him to stiffen up next to me when I pressed a kiss to his jaw.

"All the foot massages you're going to give me for teaching my children to lie to me."

"Are you trying to tell me that you have a foot fetish?" When he pulled away raising an eyebrow at me in amusement, I couldn't help but laugh, shaking my head at his words. "Oh Carson you better hope you have one considering the amount of time you're going to spend rubbing my feet."

When I gave him a sweet smile his amusement very quickly disappeared when he realised I wasn't joking.

"Now get to it." When I patted his chest twice, he eventually let out a sigh before he got out of the bed grabbing a bottle of lotion before he came back. "You could have just asked for this, you didn't have to blackmail me."

"Oh baby don't exaggerate, it's not blackmail it's a punishment." When I flashed him a smirk he rolled his eyes as he got to work while I scrolled through Netflix trying to find something to pass the time until I was ready to sleep.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"Carson."

"Carson."

"Carson!"

"Damn! What?" When he finally responded to me from where he was lying in the bed beside me, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Your daughter is crying, go and get her."

For a moment it fell silent while I curled up further into the bed getting comfy before he eventually sat up when the sound of Poppy's cries got louder.

"So now she's my daughter then, huh?" I definitely didn't miss the annoyance, bordering on anger, in his tone when he got out of our bed heading over to the door.

What a bitch.

After a minute or two Carson finally came back into our bedroom carrying Poppy in his arms. Despite the fact it was 6am and he was definitely being a bitch, I couldn't help but smile when he placed her on the bed next to me, pressing a kiss to my temple as he did.

Without a word Poppy snuggled up in my arms, resting her head in the crook of my shoulder like she did every morning after she got into our bed.

And just like clock work, a few minutes later Tyler and Dalton came into our room since they were almost always woken up by Poppy's crying.

The two of them wandered through our dimly lit bedroom until Dalton came up to my side of the bed.

"Mama can I lie next to you?" When Dalton attempted to whisper the words to me, Carson let out a groan, turning to face the other way clearly still in a bad mood.

He was never a morning person.

"Sure baby but don't talk, daddy is still tired."

"But we have school." This time it was Tyler who spoke much louder than Dalton, as he got up on the bed on Carson's side, trying to climb over his father so that he could lie in the gap between us.

Of course that didn't end well when he accidentally kicked Carson in the balls causing him to let out a curse word, a few of them actually.

"Are you kidding me right now?" His words came out in his thick morning voice laced with pain as buried his face in his pillow, clearly trying to work through the pain while Tyler stilled above him.

"Ty come here." When I extended my hand for him to take, Tyler grabbed it and carefully climbed over Carson until he was now lying next to me.

So now I had Poppy in my arms, Dalton on one side and Tyler on the other. Not to mention my furious husband a little further down on the king size bed.

"Mama?" Dalton again tried his best to whisper which was so cute, even though he wasn't doing a very good job. "Yes baby?"

"I have tummy ache." Pouting his lips he moved in closer to me causing me to frown as I reached up to check his forehead for a fever. "You don't have a fever, do you feel sick?"

"No, I just have tummy ache."

"Do you want to stay home from school today?" As much as I was reluctant to let him stay home, if he was already sick the day before I couldn't risk him going into school if he was unwell.

All he did was nod his head which immediately caught Tyler's attention. "Can I stay home too?"

"No you're fine so you have to go to school." Of course when I instantly shut him down he turned to look at Carson who was now lying on his back with his arm over his face.

"Daddy can I stay home too?"

"Shut up."

"Okay daddy." His response caused me to crack a smile before I eventually let out a sigh. "Come on, let me help you brush your teeth and then we'll make breakfast."

When I gestured for Tyler to get up, unlike a normal child who could just crawl to the end of the bed to get off, he decided to try and jump over Carson again.

It's as if he couldn't tell his father was in one of his moods, or maybe he just didn't care.

Either way, when Tyler tried to do it again, Carson suddenly wrapped his arms around the six year old holding him tight against his chest. "If you try to move Tyler I'm going to take you to school in your pyjamas right now and leave you there until tomorrow."

"But...fine." Letting out a huff Tyler rested his head on Carson's chest causing me to shake my head in amusement. "I'll be back for you in five minutes Ty."

Once I got Poppy and Dalton ready for the day, I went back in to save Tyler from the clutches of his father before I got him ready for school. Then we went downstairs to make breakfast and while they ate I was busy making Tyler's school lunch.

Once that was all done, Carson finally came downstairs dressed in one of his fancy ass Brioni suits. I honestly don't understand why he still wears them now that we have three children who are unpredictably messy.

The worst part was if any of them messed up his suit, I was the one who would get shouted at for it. Kind of like the car situation yesterday.

And just like that once Carson had his breakfast, he gave each of us a kiss before he took Tyler to school leaving me with Dalton and Poppy at home for the rest of the day.

It wasn't that bad for the first few hours, I managed to get some housework done while Dalton watched his cartoons and Poppy played with her toys in the living room.

By 1pm I thought I was going to survive the day alone with my two youngest children.

That was until all hell broke loose.

It started off simple really. I had two children calmly sitting in the living room going about their business and then I had two children who decided to throw a tantrum at the exact same time.

I had no clue what caused it, all I knew was that I had no freaking clue how to stop it and calm them down.

"Poppy please just...just sit still for a second." As soon as I put my 18 month old baby down on the couch she started shuffling towards me again, doing her usual clingy routine.

Usually I didn't mind, but this time I had Dalton screaming and crying on the floor. It definitely wasn't unusual for him to throw a tantrum and when Tyler was this age he did it too. The hardest part was trying to calm them down and give them both my full attention when they wanted it.

"Dalton what do you want? You have to tell me otherwise I can't help you." When I tried to reason with him, explaining that he needed to use his words - one advantage that Poppy didn't have yet, he just shook his head.

"If you don't stop screaming I'll give you a time out, but I don't want to do that."

"I want daddy." When he forced out the words through his sobs I shook my head as I put Poppy back down on the couch for what felt like the tenth time while I sat on the floor. "Daddy is at work."

"I want daddy!" This time when he shouted those words at me, I let out a frustrated sigh, keeping one hand on Poppy so that she didn't fall off the couch while I was trying to talk to Dalton on the floor.

The reason she was up there was so that she couldn't throw her toys when she got angry which was her new favourite thing. It was much easier to move her away from the millions of toys than to try and move the toys while both my children were crying.

"Dalton listen to me, daddy will be home later, you know that."

"No, now." Shaking my head at him I was about to try and reason with him when Poppy suddenly let out a frustrated cry reaching out to grab my hair from where she was sitting on the couch above me. "Ow! Poppy let go."

Did she let go? Absolutely not.

"Poppy stop!" Grabbing her hand I tried to open her fist so that she would release her grip on my hair, but all that did was annoy her even more. A few moments passed while I tried to release her grip which only tightened as if she was trying to get my attention again.

"Poppy no." This time it was Dalton who spoke to her as he stood up from his place on the floor and came over to her, putting his hand on her arm. "It hurts mama."

Have you ever just wanted to cry at how cute a child is? Because I wanted to cry at that, and because of the pain my scalp was in.

Finally once she understood that I was in pain, she let go of my hair, using her hand to rub it gently like I usually did for her if she ever got hurt. Of course she rubbed my actual hair and not my scalp, but it was the thought that counts.

"I'm sorry for shouting mama." Turning to look at Dalton I gave him a small smile as I pulled him into my arms. "It's okay baby."

As much as I wanted to be angry at him for throwing a tantrum, the fact that he stopped it because he thought I was hurt just showed he was really the sweetest child ever. He didn't deserve to be told off.

When Dalton sat down on the floor next to me, I put Poppy on my lap when she tried to get off the couch again so now we were all sitting on the floor.

"Daddy." This time it was Poppy who said his name causing me to roll my eyes as I pulled Dalton in closer to me. "Honestly I don't understand why you want him so bad. He's not that special."

"Mama can we go and see daddy? I miss him." Letting out a sigh I ran my hand through Poppy's curly hair to calm her down, while I turned to face Dalton. "Baby he's working."

"Please? We can take him a present." As soon as I saw the hope light up in his eyes, I knew I was absolutely going to give into him, although I decided to drag it out for as long as possible.

It was smart really because if I made him feel like he finally convinced me to take him to Carson, he would be good for the rest of the day. He didn't need to know that I was already planning on doing it now.

Half an hour later once I'd got changed into more presentable clothes for my first time leaving the house in two weeks, also doing my hair and make up, Dalton and I decided to take Carson a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as his present.

It's amazing how easily impressed children are.

Once that was done, I had the task of getting the two of them in their car seat which took another ten minutes.

Thankfully the drive was only six minutes to the mafia mansion so I didn't have to worry about them losing their minds later. But, even though they were calm for those six minutes, I was busy panicking about the fact I hadn't told Carson we were coming.

There was only one reason for that - this morning he wasn't exactly in the best mood when he left for work after getting kicked in the balls. I didn't want him to say no and leave me with two angry children, so I decided a surprise was better.

Of course it probably wasn't, but this is coming from the girl who accidentally got herself kidnapped by trying to save a complete stranger.

Holding Poppy in my arms and Dalton's hand, I walked up to the familiar doors of the mafia mansion where I once used to work every day. As much as I really freaking missed working since this house wife role never suited me, I loved my children more than anything.

Being with them here was sometimes still such a surreal feeling - bringing them to a place where Carson and I used to spend all our time together before they even existed was so weird.

"Mama I knock?"

"You don't have to knock baby, I can open the door." Giving Dalton a smile, I let go of his hand for a second to open up the door before we made our way inside together. Even though both Poppy and Dalton have been here many times, they still looked around in awe at the huge entry hall, just like I did when I first came here.

"Mrs Boss." When I heard someone say my 'name', I turned around to see one of Carson's men nodding in my direction before he turned his attention to my children, nodding at Dalton and then Poppy in my arms. "Baby Boss, other Baby Boss."

I couldn't help but laugh as I glanced down at Dalton who was looking at the man with a frown.

Stranger danger?

"Hi." When I gave him a smile, he gave me one in return before he continued on his way leaving the three of us in the entry hall. "Mama was that man your boyfriend?"

"What? No!" Giving Dalton an incredulous look, I shook my head at his question heading towards the stairs. "Daddy will be sad about your boyfriend."

Am I allowed to leave him here?

"He's not my boyfriend Dalton, I'm a happily married woman."

"But Tyler said girls can have lots of boyfriends." When he referred back to that conversation at dinner time yesterday I couldn't help but roll my eyes as we walked up the stairs. "That's definitely not true and your daddy is my only boyfriend."

Thankfully he didn't say anything else stupid as we walked down the familiar hallway on the first floor.

"You know mama used to work here?" Just as we reached my old office door, my steps slowed as the memories from my time here came flooding back - all the good times I had in my office with Carson and with his friends, the office sex, the arguments I would have with other criminals when I called them to pay up.

I can't believe when I first started I was nervous to ever have to call someone and tell them that they owe us money. I could do it without hesitation now.

"Can we see?"

"We can't, the door is locked baby." When I gave him a sad smile, Dalton nodded his head as we carried on walked to Carson's office.

Even though they'd hired many, many accountants in the time that I hadn't been working here, Carson still left that office as mine for when I decided to come back. Even according to Grey no one would ever have that office after me, he said it would always be mine.

He told me that while I was pregnant so of course I burst out crying which was totally embarrassing but felt justified at the time.

"You want to knock now?" When I rose an eyebrow at him, Dalton nodded his head as he stepped towards Carson's door and knocked on it - rather softly might I add. A silence fell around us for a moment while Dalton put both his hands on the door bringing his ear to it, clearly trying to listen for Carson's response.

"I don't think he heard you baby."

"Oh." With a cute little determined frown, Dalton knocked again this time a little louder than the first time, but loud enough for Carson to call us in.

As soon as the door opened Dalton ran inside causing me to sigh as I followed him, noticing how Carson was instantly confused by our presence.

"Daddy!" Carson only just about managed to turn his chair to the side when Dalton ran behind his desk to hug him. Still with a confused frown he lifted Dalton up into his arms as he stood up.

"What are you doing here Dalton?"

"Visiting! We got you a present." From his place in Carson's arms Dalton turned to look at me expectantly while I put Poppy down on Carson's desk. Choosing to sheepishly avoid my husbands gaze, I reached into my purse to find the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that I'd wrapped for him before I held it out to him.

"You brought them here to give me a sandwich?" I couldn't tell if he was annoyed or just confused, but either way he took the sandwich from me. "Sorry, they just really wanted to see you."

Without a word Carson put the sandwich down before he reached out to lift Poppy up into his arms too since she'd been trying to get his attention ever since she saw him when I walked in.

While Carson was busy talking to Dalton and Poppy, I just stood there awkwardly looking around at the office where I'd spent so much time over the last 9 years since Carson and I met and the 8 years that we've been married.

All the laughter, the hugs and kisses, the arguments and the tears and of course the sex.

You can never forget the sex in this office.

"Are you okay?" When I heard Carson's voice, I turned away from the couch I was staring at to look at him instead. "Yeah, why?"

For a second he narrowed his eyes at me before a smirk tugged at his lips when he glanced over at the couch that I'd just been staring at, probably also remembering our last time on that couch a few months ago.

"It was good, right?" When he rose an eyebrow at me, I shook my head at him although I couldn't stop the smile that tugged at my lips. "Don't."

"Mama?" When I heard Poppy call me I turned to look at her to see her stretching her arms out for me. "Are you being serious? After all that crying you only wanted Daddy for two minutes?"

As I spoke to her I gently took her from Carson's arms, placing her on my hip. Instead of responding to my question because she was obviously too young, all she said was 'wuv you' as if she knew I couldn't stay mad at her when she said that.

"And in five minutes you'll love daddy more." My words caused Carson to chuckle just as the door to his office opened catching our attention.

"Oh my Gosh!" Flinching at the sound of her voice I gave her Aviana a smile as she rushed over to me in her heels. "Oh I missed you so much, where have you been? Why don't you call me anymore?"

"What are you talking about? We spoke yesterday Avi."

"I wasn't talking to you." Just as she reached me, she took Poppy out of my arms causing her to giggle. "My little Poppy Bear! I missed you so much."

Rolling my eyes at her behaviour, I took the opportunity to sit down on the couch since I finally didn't have a child in my arms. For the next ten minutes or so, Aviana was busy entertaining my children while Carson went back to work and I took some time to relax.

Even if I was just sitting on the couch watching the kids play with her, it was definitely a much needed rest. If you've ever had children you'll know that once you're alone with them, they want your attention constantly which is just exhausting.

After a few more minutes passed, the door opened again this time revealing Fox and Grey who seemed like they were deep in conversation before they realised how many people were in Carson's office.

When they suddenly stopped in the doorway, Carson was the only one who seemed concerned by that since he obviously knew they wanted to discuss something important with him.

"What's wrong?" When he spoke from his place behind his desk, Grey shook his head glancing over at me and then the children playing with Avi. "We'll talk about it later."

"We can go, if you need us too." When I spoke up, all three of them turned to look at me while Carson instantly shook his head. "No babe you don't have to, it's okay."

At least he didn't seem like he didn't want us here.

Once that was all cleared up, the two of them came to sit down next to me while Fox wrapped an arm around me pulling me into him. "How you doing Little One?"

"I'm alright, just a little tired." When I gave him a smile he nodded his head pressing a kiss to my forehead. "How are you?"

"Running on three hours of sleep, but other than that I'm fine." When he muttered those words I couldn't help but laugh. "The twins are keeping you up all night?"

"Well, they're keeping one of us up - the other one sleeps through everything." As he spoke he glanced over at Aviana who was full of energy playing with my children.

"That's because this other one carried them for nine months and therefore shouldn't have to wake up anymore." And apparently she can hear everything.

"I don't think that's how it works Avi. When El gave birth to Jamie we agreed to take turns for the night shift." When Grey jumped into the conversation, Aviana shot him a glare from where she was sitting on the floor. "That was one tiny little baby, I had to carry twins, twins Grey! Do you know what that did to me? I was the size of this room!"

"Jamie wasn't that tiny."

Just as a side note, my little nephew Jamie was the cutest little 1 year old ever.

Ever.

When Grey defeatedly muttered his response I couldn't help but laugh as I patted him on the back. At least he tried to defend his wife, but let's be honest no one ever wins against Aviana.

When she was pregnant with her twin boys, she was probably the hardest person ever to be around. It was probably a good thing she gave birth just before my hormones started going crazy from this pregnancy otherwise we probably would have fought by now.

A while passed by after that before I took the kids to the kitchen for a snack while Carson dealt with his business with Grey and Fox. Once he was finally done, we decided to go and pick Tyler up from school together to surprise him since it was rare that both Carson and I ever went.

"Mama can I go and say hello to my friends?" Just as we pulled up to their school, Dalton looked excitedly out the window when his class started coming out to meet their parents. "You're supposed to be sick, of course you can't."

"I am sick." This time when I turned around from the front seat to look at him, he sent me a cheeky smile causing me to roll my eyes. "Yeah, you look really sick."

"Uh...Dani..." When I heard Carson's nervous tone, I turned to look at him in the drivers seat to see him looking at something out the window. "I think that's Tyler's teacher."

Turning my head in the direction he was looking in, I frowned when I saw his teacher looking at us through the window and let me tell you - she didn't look very happy.

"Be good, we'll be just outside if you need us, okay?" Giving Dalton and Poppy one last look, Carson and I got out of the car heading over to the teacher who was waiting for us with Tyler.

It was weird because she looked angry and he looked happy.

"Mr and Mrs Agnello, we really need to have a conversation about Tyler's behaviour in the playground."

"Is this about the kiss?" When Carson questioned the teacher, I had to resist the urge to hit him over the back of the head when he cracked a smile at the mention of the kiss. "Yes, it is. It is against the school rules for children to act in such a manner."

"Look, Tyler told us what happened last night and we talked to him about it and he told us he would apologise today. As long as he did that, then I don't think there's any harm." As I spoke I turned my attention to my son, giving him a pointed look.

"Oh, I did apologise and she forgave me." When he quickly jumped in, I gave the teacher a tight smile, taking a step back towards the car. "See? It's all been fixed so-"

"She broke up with her boyfriends and me and Mary Lou are getting married."

As soon as Tyler dropped that bomb, both the teacher and I stared at him in shock while Carson suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh my God, that's funny as fu-"

"Let's go." Quickly cutting Carson off, I gave him glare as I grabbed Tyler's hand pulling him over to the car. Without another word I opened the back door for him, helping him to get in next to Poppy and Dalton before I closed the door.

The entire time Carson and I got in the car, the teacher still just stood there staring at us as if we were crazy.

"You just swore in front of his damn teacher Carson."

Of course he just found some kind of amusement in the fact that I was now the one using strong language in front of the kids.

"Relax, it's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal? Carson you're covered in terrifying tattoos, you swear like it's second nature, there are weapons on you and everywhere in this car right now and your resting bitch face scares the hell out of the other parents! Of course it's a big deal."

By the time I'd finished my rant, the car was deadly silent. Absolutely silent, apart from Poppy humming to herself in her car seat of course because she was too young to understand what was going on.

For a moment Carson just carried on driving, before he suddenly pulled over at the side of the a quiet road, turning the engine of the car off.

"Sit still and be good, we'll be back in a second."

Deja Vu anyone?

A frown formed on my face when he turned around to speak to our children before he got out of the car, coming around to my side.

"Carson what are you- hey!" Before I could get my sentence out he pretty much pulled me out of the car, slamming my door shut before he dragged me behind the car so that the children couldn't see us through the window.

Before I could even process what was happening, he pushed me up against the car before he crashed his lips to mine. A laugh escaped my lips when he pulled me in tighter against him, deepening the kiss.

"Carson stop." When I finally ran out of air I pushed on his chest causing him to step away from me. "Why are you kissing me in the middle of nowhere?"

"Because I love you and me and my tattoos, and my weapons and my resting bitch face all want you to know that." Cracking a smile, he leaned in to kiss me one more time while a smile of my own stretched across my lips.

"Well, we love you too." Rubbing my baby bump I flashed him a grin before I took a step away from him, heading back to the passenger side.

Once we got back on the road, it didn't take us long to get back home where we continued with our usual every day routine.

Bath, homework, dinner, play, and then bed.

We did that on repeat, everyday, all the time.

It was hard, we both felt it everyday when we couldn't just go out and do what we wanted like we used to before our children were born. But, that didn't mean we would ever change any of it for the world.

Getting into bed next to Carson at the end of our day, I shuffled over to his side of the bed, laying my head down on his pillow. "Hi."

"Hey mama." When he whispered those words to me, I couldn't stop the smile tugging at my lips as I ran my hand through his hair. "You must be tired if you're in bed before your very pregnant wife."

"It's been a long day." Nodding my head in agreement, I let out a tired breath as I rubbed my hand over my bump, a movement that caught his attention. "You think she'll keep you up tonight?"

Turning my head to look at Carson who was already watching me, I shook my head. "I don't know, sometimes she's alright but other times she kicks likes she's playing soccer in there."

"Soccer? No tell her she needs to be a basketball fan. I'll add her to my little group of basketball watching children." His words caused me to let out a laugh that was very quickly followed by a yawn. "Go to sleep my queen."

Nodding my head, I shuffled across the bed to turn off the lamp before I shuffled back across to Carson, turning to face him while throwing my leg over his.

I'd tried pregnancy pillows before but honestly nothing was as comfortable as him.

"You comfortable?" Even though he was serious, I could hear the amusement in his tone at my actions. "Carson Salvestro Agnello, you put this little Princess inside of me, so you're going to help me fall asleep without the attitude."

"I don't think that's how it happened. You see when we had our relations, my sperm and your egg mushed together to create our baby girl so actually-"

"Shut up." When I cut him off, sending him a glare he let out a laugh nodding his head. "Okay."

Once I finally got comfortable without having to listen to his commentary, surprisingly I fell asleep pretty quickly. That was a very welcome change from all the recent sleepless nights that I'd had.

Of course that was until I felt my little girl kick my bladder and I woke up with the urge to pee sometime during the night.

"I don't know if you heard what I said yesterday Nessa, but I'm sorry. You know I love you, right? I cried like a baby when your mama told me she was expecting you. I guess I cried because I realised I was in for another few years of sleepless nights and being covered in baby puke, but I still cried so that has to mean something, right?"

When I heard Carson whispering quietly, I forced my eyes open to see that he was lying with his head on my legs, right next to my bump while he spoke to our daughter.

"I was just sad that mama will be gone from work for longer now and your mama also finds having three children hard, so four is going to be a challenge. But maybe you'll be a good girl? You can let us sleep peacefully at night and instead of screaming like a banshee like all your siblings did, maybe you can just wake us up and ask for milk politely? We'll give it to you, I promise - you don't have to cry like your life depends on it."

His words caused a smile to tug at my lips as he lay there with his eyes closed, letting out a breath.

"I know you weren't planned my little Ness, but I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone - apart from your mama, and Tyler and Dalton and Poppy. But, you're going to be my littlest baby, you know what that means, right? You're going to be my favourite."

While he spoke, whispering the last part even lower since it was clearly supposed to be their little secret, he placed his hand on my bump causing her to kick.

"One day, you're going to come out of your little home in there and we're going to have so much fun my little Nessa. All those sleepless nights, the full diapers, the baby puke and the crying. Oh the crying is my favourite part Ness, it's like a sweet melody that wakes you up at 3am after you just fell asleep at 2:56am following a long shower to scrub away the puke after the previous feed."

I think the one thing he hated the most about the newborn period was the puke. Baby puke on the bedsheets, clothes, in your hair, in the car.

It gets everywhere.

"Then when you finally grow up, I'm going to spend your entire life watching over you baby Ness. I'll be there to remind you that you're the most beautiful girl in the world, that you're perfect and that you're the most important baby Nessa in my entire life. I'll be there to remind you to dream big and to follow every single desire you have and I promise I'll do my best to make them all come true."

For a moment his words faltered as a soft frown formed on his face, before he eventually continued.

"In a few years, a day will come when you won't need me anymore Nessa, you'll be all grown up and independent. You'll want your space and your chance to show the world what you can do, but I'll always be here for you baby. I'll be here to make sure you remember how much you deserve and that you know your worth, and never forget it. Your grandmama taught me that and it's stuck with me everyday since. I know you'll never meet her Nessy, but I promise she loves you. She loves you just like your mama and I love you so much."

By the time he'd finished, there were silent tears running down my cheeks as I watched him turn to look at my bump with a smile.

"This is going to be fun Nessa Maya Agnello, so feel free to make an appearance any time you want. I'll be here, waiting for you."

Pressing a kiss to my bump, he turned back to look at the ceiling causing a peaceful silence to fall around us, until I sat up, catching his attention.

"You're awake? Did I wake you up?" Sitting up he gave me a smile which soon faltered when he noticed my tear stained cheeks. "What's the matter my queen?"

"Nothing." Shaking my head I wiped my cheeks as he came towards me on the bed, pulling me into him. "Why are you crying?"

"Because of what you said to her." I didn't know what his reaction would be when I told him I heard him speaking to our daughter, but all he did was smile as he pulled away. "It wasn't supposed to make you sad babe."

"But you said she won't need us one day. Our children are going to grow up, Tyler is already six years old and-"

"Children grow, that's all part of life, my darling." Even though he was smiling, he didn't seem amused when his voice softened since it was obviously a sensitive topic for me. "But I don't want my babies to grow up. They won't need us Carson but I need them."

As soon as more tears formed in my eyes, Carson pulled me into his arms again as he rubbed my back soothingly. "Don't cry my queen, it's okay. It's still a long time away and they will always be your babies."

Letting out a shaky breath, I buried my face in his chest as he held me for the next few minutes.

"I know the future is scary Dani, but I'll always be here with you. From the day that we were kidnapped together, it's been me and you against the world - as cliche as that sounds."

His words caused a smile to tug at my lips as I pulled away allowing him to wipe away the tears from cheeks.

"Our babies will always be our babies, nothing will ever change that Dani. But it's cute that it makes you sad." When he added the last bit I couldn't help but glare at him although a smile did tug at my lips. "Don't make fun of me."

Letting out a breath, I started shuffling away from him when the pressure on my bladder became too much.

And since he was so damn perfect, he already knew exactly where I was going.

"You want me to come with you babe?" Turning to look at him, I gave him a sheepish smile. "Yes please, it's getting hard to get up."

When a blush formed on my cheeks, even after three pregnancies where he'd have to come with me to pee during the night, I was still embarrassed to ask him on the fourth pregnancy.

"Come on then my beautiful." Once he helped me up out of the bed which he almost always had to do if I didn't want to take half an hour getting up, he took my hand guiding me towards the bathroom.

A while later I was finally done with my business while Carson leaned against the bathroom counter seeming to be half asleep with his eyes closed.

"Are you done?" When he finally cracked an eye open I nodded my head until I felt another kick. "Hold on, maybe not just yet."

Letting out a laugh he nodded his head as he closed his eyes again, waiting for me to finish.

I really didn't find it awkward to have him in there with me, after 9 years of knowing him and four pregnancies, he'd seen me at my absolute best and worst. There wasn't anything he hadn't seen.

He was there for me through everything and I had no doubt that he would be here for me forever after this.

"Okay I'm finished." When I finally confirmed I was done, he pushed himself up off the counter and came over to me to help me stand up, the entire time keeping his eyes locked on mine.

"Hold on babe." After he helped me to pull my underwear and pyjama shorts back up since I couldn't bend, I flushed the toilet before I washed my hands.

"You can go back to bed now Carson."

"Nope, I stay with you through everything - that's what I promised, remember?" Turning to look at him, I nodded my head when he repeated the words he told me when we found out I was pregnant with Nessa.

"I remember."

"So how have I done so far?" Raising an eyebrow at me, he handed me a towel to dry my hands with. "You've been perfect baby."

"Good, because I will be here for you through absolutely everything my queen, you have nothing to worry about."

And he was.

Through everything, when I went into labour two months later and then had our baby girl in the middle of the night he was there to hold my hand through the pain. He was there when I cried and screamed, he was there when I threw up during labour, he was there when I was absolutely sure I couldn't do it anymore.

And he was there when she finally came into this world - our last baby.

She definitely wasn't planned, but she was absolutely the most beloved baby girl on earth in those few minutes when Carson and I held her in our arms for the first time.

And just like that time flew by, I don't really know where it went, but it went nonetheless.

In the end he was right because it was and always would be Carson and I against the world, no matter how cliche it sounded.

He was my everything. He was the one who made me stronger, who brought out the confidence inside me, who allowed me to see my true potential and ability when I worked for him as an accountant in the mafia.

He taught me how to love myself and to accept my imperfections that he only ever saw as perfect.

He taught me it was okay to have mental health issues and he taught me how to deal with them and how to get through them. He taught me it was okay to have scars from my past and how to love them. He taught me how to take the positive out of those scars and how to learn a lesson from them. He taught me how to battle with my demons from my past.

He taught me how to love and to laugh, how to be happy and the best version of myself. He taught me that our kind of love did exist in the world. The kind of love I always thought was one in a million - he taught me I could be that one.

He taught me how to know my worth and never forget it.

He was my best friend, the love of my life and my husband. He was my everything and I was totally and blissfully in love with him.

And I always would be.

The End. ✨

Omg 😭

There's still two bonus chapters to go, but still it feels like the end 🥺

Thank you so much to everyone who has followed along for the journey and read this book and to all those of you who have commented so much 😭 I love reading your comments it's my absolute favourite thing.

I hope you loved it ❤️