3 years & 10 months later

~ Madison's POV ~

"Mama?" I lifted my head from my pillow when my bedroom door opened allowing a stream of light from the hallway to come in.

Just like clockwork.

A small smile tugged at my lips as I watched Kenzie slowly walk into my room, holding her plush rabbit in her hands.

"Come here baby." When she saw me smile she pushed the door closed and padded over to the bed, doing some kind of jump that she usually does to get onto my bed since she was still a little short.

"I woke up by accident."

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into my chest as I let out a quiet laugh.

"Oh you did, did you? That's so unlike you." She nodded her head in agreement as she closed her eyes, holding her bunny to her chest. It was the bunny Santiago had got her for her third birthday, ever since then she's carried it with her everywhere.

Kenzie quickly fell asleep in my arms like she usually did, and it wasn't long until I was asleep again too. We slept for another few hours before the door opened again, waking me up.

As a mother of two young children it's like I got used to being a light sleeper. Before they were born I could sleep through anything but now even the smallest sound woke me up.

"Hello mama." I lifted my head, watching as Cameron walked around to the other side of my bed before he put his hands on the edge and jumped up onto it.

Now I had one twin on one side and one on the other side, just like every morning.

"Hello my baby boy. How you doing?"

"Good." He nodded his head before he rested his head on my shoulder, wrapping his hands around my arm.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes." I felt him nod his head on my shoulder before he started telling me about the dream he had last night. We lay there for our usual ten minutes after Kenzie woke up, and then I had to get them up, get their teeth brushed and get them ready for the day.

"So what's for breakfast today then?" I rose an eyebrow at them as I stood across from where they were sitting on the stools at the kitchen island.

"Mama you ask everyday, it's pancakes."

"You want pancakes again?" Cameron nodded his head excitedly while Kenzie just sat there giving me that look, telling me that my question was so unnecessary.

"Right, okay. Pancakes it is." They both gave me a grin as I started getting out all the ingredients I needed, keeping them talking as I did.

Even though half the time whatever they were saying didn't make much sense, they were still super cute.

"Mama door." I turned around to look at Cameron just as I started tidying up the kitchen.

"Someone's at the door? I wonder who it is." Cameron looked at me as he placed another, rather large, piece of pancake in his mouth.

"Its daddy."

"Hey, don't talk with your mouth full." When I said this, he quickly clamped his mouth shut and gave me a sheepish smile. Throughout this Kenzie just let out a giggle as she took a sip of her water.

"Mama open the door for daddy."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her words and I put down the kitchen spray bottle and cloth I was using to clean.

"Why? It's not like daddy is going to help with the cleaning, is it?" Kenzie let out another giggle as I walked past her, tickling her under her chin as I spoke.

"I'll help."

But you can't even the reach the countertop my baby girl.

"Thank you Mackenzie." I heard her say something to Cameron before they both let out a laugh as I went over to the front door. I took a deep breath before I opened the door, coming face to face with Santiago.

"You're early." He nodded his head as he stepped into my apartment, closing the door behind himself as I went back over to the kitchen to get on with the cleaning.

"I know, there wasn't as much traffic as I thought there would be."

At the sound of his voice, both Cameron and Mackenzie turned around to look at their father as he walked over to where they were sitting on the stools.

"Daddy!"

"Cameron, what did I just say?" I rose an eyebrow at my three year old son who quickly put one hand to his mouth when he realised what he'd done.

"Sorry."

Santiago frowned as he stood behind the stool Cameron was sitting on and placed a kiss on the top of his head.

"What did you do you wrong?"

This time Cameron waited until he'd finished chewing before he turned slightly to look at his father. "I talked with my pancake in my mouth."

I mean, when he says it like that it doesn't sound very bad. Instead he makes it sound cute.

It is bad though.

Isn't it?

"Oh, yeah I guess that's not good." Santiago let out an amused laugh as he went over to kiss Mackenzie aswell.

Of course I just rolled my eyes at this. It isn't really a surprise that he wouldn't care much about teaching them manners, the day I went to his house to tell him about the twins he was busy doing drugs with his friends.

And he let his girlfriend call me fat.

For the next ten minutes Santiago was busy talking with the twins as they ate their breakfast while I cleaned up the kitchen. Once they'd finished eating he went and sat with them on the couch while they played with their toys, trying to involve him in any way that they could.

This was just a typical day for them. They would come into my bed for a bit, brush their teeth, have breakfast and then play.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

He rose an eyebrow at me curiously before he nodded his head. He stood up and came over to where I was standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter as he waited for me to speak.

"We have that meeting tomorrow, at the preschool." Santiago nodded his head in response to my words, without looking at me.

This was the third preschool we were going to visit for the twins. The first two...well they just didn't like Santiago. At all.

"I know, I haven't forgotten. I'll be here at 9am to pick you up."

I nodded my head as an awkward silence fell around us until I finally gathered the courage to say the next thing on my mind.

"So...I'm going back to work soon, when they start preschool." At the mention of this, Santiago turned to look at me with a frown.

"Work?"

"Yeah, at the hospital." He still seemed confused at my words before realisation flashed in his eyes.

"Oh yeah, you wanted to be a nurse." It sounded like he was saying it more to himself than to me, but the fact he even remembered that...I wasn't even sure how I was supposed to feel about that.

Is it cute?

Kind of.

"Yeah. Anyway, I was kind of hoping you could start taking them over the weekends? I'm starting off with a couple of shifts during the week and then some night shifts over the weekend."

"You know you don't have to work Madison. I give you enough money to-" As soon as he mentioned this again I just shook my head cutting him off, causing him to let out a frustrated sigh.

The one thing he would always say when he gave me any money was that I should use it for myself too, which is why he gives so much.

But, I never did. We weren't together, we weren't even friends and we never would be, so I didn't want to spend his money on myself.

"I'll take them on the weekends then. But, they might need a couple of trial runs first. I don't know if they'll be comfortable there straight away without you."

I nodded my head in agreement, trying not to smile at the thought of Kenzie screaming his house down in the middle of the night.

I would love to see that.

"When?"

"How about tomorrow, after the meeting? I have some stuff to do first but you can drop them off in the evening...maybe if you're there first it might be easier to get them used to the place."

"Okay, but prepare yourself, a night with them isn't easy. They've been in this apartment since they were born, I have no idea how they'll react to being in a new place."

He glanced over at the twins who were playing quietly on the floor before he turned back to look at me.

"But, what do you mean? They're angels, look at them." I couldn't help but let out a laugh as I shook my head, ignoring the worried expression that appeared on his face.

"You'll see."

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

"Just play quietly here okay? I'll be with daddy in that room over there if you need us."

Cameron nodded his head as he held Mackenzie's hand in his.

He was the best big brother to her, even if she complained he was only fifteen minutes older.

"We'll be good mama." I gave him a smile as I kissed his forehead, before I did the same to Kenzie. Giving them one last smile I followed Santiago into the office of the head of the preschool.

"So, your children are...Cameron Miguel Hernández and...Mackenzie Carmen Hernández, correct?"

Aren't their names so perfect?

I nodded my head in response to her question as I took a seat across from her and next to Santiago.

"They're twins, right?" I nodded my head again as she put the papers down and focused on us properly. The first time she really took us in, I could tell what she was thinking almost instantly.

She's so young, she must have got pregnant by accident.

"Okay. So this is a pretty standard procedure for new children, I just want to get a feel of what they're like and what their home life is like."

She started off with some normal questions about their social skills, whether they're fully potty trained, how often they nap, things like that. It all seemed to be going pretty well until she started asking her next set of questions.

"So you're twenty five years old, correct?" She turned her attention to me and I nodded my head, trying to keep a smile on my face.

"Your job?"

"I'm a nurse, but I'm out of work right now." She rose an eyebrow at this. "How come?"

I let out a small scoff at her question before I responded, I mean, it seemed pretty self explanatory to me.

"Because I'm a single mother to a pair of three years olds."

"You don't have any support? Maybe from the father?" This time she turned her head to look at Santiago who was unsurprisingly glaring at her.

"She has my support if she needs it, so what's your point?"

The woman shrugged her shoulders as she leaned back in her chair, averting her eyes to paper in front of her instead of Santiago.

His glare probably became too much for her to handle.

"I'm just trying to understand their home life. Having parents who don't live together, or who don't get on, at this age a child will start to notice. It could start to affect their behaviour."

"We treat them well, if that's what you're trying to get at." Almost instantly the woman shook her head and gave me a reassuring smile.

"No of course not Miss Clarke. I'm just saying, if you and he, don't get along and the children start to pick up on those vibes it could impact their behaviour outside of the home. This time in a child's life is very important, they pick up on a lot more than they let on."

She seemed like she was just trying to give me some advice, although I could tell by the looks she was giving Santiago, she was probably trying to get her point across to him too.

He didn't exactly seem very approachable with the glare on his face and his tattooed arms which were visible thanks to his T-shirt.

She was probably also wondering how people like us could afford a private preschool for our children.

But to be honest, so was I.

I had no clue what Santiago's job was or how he ever had so much money to spend on the twins.

But I guess that's his business.

"We get on just fine, especially in front of the children." I nodded in agreement with Santiago, but she still continued to ask her questions.

"What are your interactions like around them?"

"We freaking talk like normal human beings, what else do you think we do?"

Her eyes widened at Santiago's reaction and I let out a sigh, covering my face as I leaned back in my chair.

This was the third time he'd been rude to a teacher.

No wonder they're concerned about our children if he can't even control himself for a ten minute meeting.

"I'm so sorry about him, he didn't mean to-"

"It's quite alright Miss Clarke." She gave me a small smile as she took off her reading glasses and stood to her feet.

"We'll see you on Monday then, we start at 10am, you want them here for three days a week, correct?"

I watched her in surprise before I quickly nodded my head, standing up as I gave her grateful smile. I completely ignored the fact that I could see Santiago still sitting down, glaring at me from the corner of my eye.

"Yes, thank you so much."

Once we left her office, we had to sign a few parent-teacher agreements with the school and Santiago begrudgingly paid the fees for the rest of the school year since it was already March.

After that he stayed silent for the whole walk back to the car and while I put the twins in their car seats. The second I closed the door, he started complaining.

"Why the hell would you be nice to her. You know what she was trying to say, don't you?"

"Of course I know, but your attitude doesn't help Santiago. You already screwed up the first two interviews for us and you almost blew the third one too."

"She was being a nosey little-"

"No, she wasn't. She was doing her job." He narrowed his eyes at me when I cut him off but before he could say anything, I just got in the car, ignoring the angry look on his face.

It only took him a moment to get back into the drivers side and we quickly started the drive back to my apartment while the twins just talked between themselves in the back.

A few minutes passed before Santiago spoke.

"You're still dropping them off later, right?" I nodded my head as I looked out the window, watching the scenery go by as we drove.

"Yeah, do you still live at the same address?"

Believe it or not I haven't been back to Santiago's house since before the twins were born. It was the last place I ever wanted to go.

"No, I don't. I moved." I turned my head to look at him when he said this. "You did?"

"Your private investigator managed to find me, so I had to move."

"Why would you need to move because of that?" He glanced over at me as he drove and he seemed to think about his answer but in the end he just changed the subject.

I should have expected it. As I said, we never tell each other about our personal lives.

"You said I need to prepare myself for tonight, what should I expect?"

I rolled my eyes at his question before letting out a sigh as I rested my elbow on the edge of the open window.

"Well, Kenzie wakes up at 4am everyday to get into my bed, Cameron might wake up too since they'll be in a new place. If they do, just keep them calm and let them sleep in your bed with you. It might actually be better if they just sleep with you in the first place."

He nodded his head as he listened to me speak, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of us.

"They'll demand pancakes for breakfast tomorrow, but don't forget, you can't give them anything with nuts in so you can't use any pancake mixtures, you need to make them from scratch."

A frown formed on his face when I mentioned the nuts and no doubt he was thinking back to the time when we found out that the twins were allergic to nuts. Once they were old enough to start eating solid food I eventually gave them some nuts to eat, like their doctor had told me to. Since neither of us were allergic to nuts they said it should be okay but almost ten minutes after eating them both of the twins started coughing and struggling to breathe.

Thankfully I was watching for any signs of an allergy and I live pretty close to a hospital so they were absolutely fine in the end. But at the time it was a terrifying experience. Santiago wasn't in the country at the time but when I told him what happened I could tell he was affected by it, he just tried to hide his emotions from me.

As usual.

"Are they allergic to anything else?"

"No, I don't think so. Not that I know of." He nodded his head as he let out a nervous sigh, glancing at the twins in the rearview mirror.

"You can call me if you need me Santiago. I know it's the first time they're staying with you, but I'm sure you'll be fine."

As we got closer to my apartment, I told Santiago the rest of the things he needed to know before they stayed over with him.

~ Santiago's POV ~

"Where were you?" I rose an eyebrow at Arturo who was sitting in my kitchen when I walked in, scrolling through something on his phone.

"What are you doing in my house?"

"Whenever I miss you and I want to feel close to you, I come here. I particularly like to lie in your bed and-"

"Shut the hell up." He laughed when I cut him off, sending him a glare as I put my car keys down on the counter.

"I was in a meeting."

"Which meeting?" Why can't he just keep his questions to himself? I let out a sigh as I sat down next to him.

"At a preschool." As expected as soon as I said this he let out a laugh. "Really? Damn, that's something I never thought I'd here you say. I could never imagine the great Santiago Hernández at a preschool."

"Shut up." I rolled my eyes as I took out my phone. It fell silent for a while while we were both busy on our phones. The weirdest part was we were busy messaging each other on our group chat with the others, and yet neither of us were saying anything in person.

"Santiago I have serious question I need to ask you." I lifted my head, nodding as I gestured for him to speak while he just sat there with a serious expression on his face.

"Did you knock over any crayons while you were there?"

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

"We only have a few minutes to deal with this so hurry up."

"Why?" I glanced over at Nicolas who was frowning at me as he sat down at my kitchen table.

"Santiago's having a sleepover soon." Arturo didn't even seem fazed by the glare I was sending in his direction as he laughed, causing everyone else to laugh too.

"Shut up, just focus."

It wasn't unusual for us to have a meeting about the cartel at my house, although I did usually prefer it to be at Arturo's house.

I wasn't really a fan of having so many idiots in my house at one time.

"Sorry, sorry. So, almost everyone who's come up on our list has been dealt with, but the only one we haven't been able to actually find is Pedro."

"Still?" Arturo nodded his head, a serious expression now replacing any amusement he previously had.

"He's hard to find."

"We need to get him soon. The longer we wait, the more time others have to retaliate."

Pedro was one of the last people we needed to dispose of, before I finally reached the top of the ladder, so to speak.

I took over the pathetic little street gang from my father when I turned nineteen, a few weeks after we left Santa Ana. But I wasn't happy with it, I'd thrown my whole life away to run that gang and I wanted more. I thought if I built it up and became stronger and more powerful it would make up for everything I had to leave behind, everyone I lost.

So, when I met Arturo, who is one sadistic son of a bitch, he suggested we just kill our way to the top. Usually, if someone at the bottom wanted to rise, it takes years to do it. You would have to build your contacts and strengthen relationships with people until eventually you became stronger and richer.

Of course we didn't do that, we just worked our way up by killing those above us and taking their place. It probably wasn't the best thing to do since it left a lot of dangerous, angry people looking for me. At the time it didn't matter though, because I never thought I would have a family, a girlfriend or a wife.

My life was already screwed up so if I died, it didn't matter to me.

This was all before Madison told me she was pregnant. Ever since then, over the last few years we've been trying to make amends with the cartels and gangs that we pretty much destroyed. Some of them were easy to buy, if they didn't care about their leader that we killed, some of them weren't so easy.

This just meant we had to kill all of them too before they started coming after us.

It was a very bloody mess.

But, I ended up with one of the most powerful cartels in America, so for me it was worth it.

"We'll keep an eye out for him." I nodded my head just as the sound of the front door bell rang throughout the house.

"Crap."

Arturo rose an eyebrow at my reaction but when I glanced over at Nicolas and Noah who were staring at me, he seemed to understand.

He was the only person who I'd ever told about my past, including Madison.

"Arturo just keep her in the hallway or take her in the living room. I'll be done soon." He nodded his head and he stood up, leaving the kitchen so that he could go and answer the door.

It fell silent for a moment before Noah spoke in an amused tone.

"You don't want us to meet your baby mama?"

"No."

They just laughed at my reaction clearly not thinking too much of it.

If only they knew who it actually was.

"What about us?" I turned my head towards the only two women who I've ever let spend so much time at my house.

"No."

"Oh come Santi, just let me see her. I want to know what I'm missing out on." Sienna wiggled her eyebrows at me with a smirk causing me to let out a laugh which I quickly cut short, replacing it with a glare.

"No."

I wasn't worried about Madison meeting Sienna as much as everyone else, she'd probably just be a little uncomfortable with her advances since Sienna is very openly gay.

Along with Noah and Nicolas, the other one was a problem.

Katia.

Everyone knew she had a crush on me, the last thing I needed was for her to say something stupid to Madison which would just make her hate me even more. Katia was the only one out of all my friends who wasn't happy for me when I told them about the twins.

I'm not even sure if I would class her as a friend really. She was just really good at her job so I kept her around.

"All of you just get out. Go out the back way."

Noah rolled his eyes as he and Nicolas got up, leaving my kitchen followed by Sienna. Thankfully she left without saying anything else - she was good at knowing when she could annoy me and when it was better to stay quiet.

"Santi, you're not with her, right?" I turned my head to look at Katia who was lingering by the backdoor watching me with hopeful eyes.

"No, I'm not." Ignoring the cold tone I used, she nodded her head and a smile stretched across her face. I watched as she came over to me, suddenly wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." She gave me one last smile before she happily left my house causing me to let out a sigh. She really was annoying.

Once I'd cleared up the kitchen, I went out into the hallway, following the sounds of the twins voices until I reached the front door.

"Daddy!" I let out a laugh as Cameron ran over to me, lifting his arms so that I would pick him up.

"Hey baby."

"Mama says we're sleeping here today." I nodded my head as I carried him over to where Madison and Arturo were standing with Kenzie.

"You are, that's cool, huh?" He nodded his head excitedly causing Madison to laugh.

Her laugh was definitely a sound I'd missed hearing, although I could never tell her that.

Instead of focusing on Madison, I turned my attention to Mackenzie who was rightly holding her mom's hand with a small frown on her face.

"Princess what's wrong?" All she did was take a step away from me when I spoke, moving closer to Madison instead.

"She's just a little scared that's all." Madison spoke as she knelt down to Kenzie's level, giving her a smile.

"Don't go mama." Mackenzie's lip started to wobble as she moved closer to Madison, wrapping her small arms around her in a hug.

"Oh my baby, don't cry, it's okay. You'll be with daddy and I promise I'll see you tomorrow in the morning."

I could tell it wasn't easy for Madison to keep the smile on her face as she pulled away from our daughter, wiping her tears away from her reddened cheeks.

"Daddy loves you just as much as I do, Kenzie. He doesn't like to see his princess cry."

"But..." Mackenzie turned to look at me again before she turned her head back to face Madison.

"I promise it won't be as bad as you think baby. You get to stay in this big house just with Cammy and daddy, you'll have so much fun."

"You promise to be here tomorrow?" Madison nodded her head before raising her hand, sticking her pinky finger out.

"Pinkie promise?" Mackenzie studied her hand for a second before she eventually linked her pinkie with Madison's.

"Go and say hello to daddy now." Madison placed her hands on Mackenzie's shoulders turning her to face me and, like she'd forgotten all about what had just happened, a smile stretched across her lips as she ran towards me.

"Hello daddy!"

I couldn't help but laugh as I bent down, using my free arm to lift her up into my arms with Cameron.

"Hello mi princesa." (My princess.)

It wasn't long until Madison eventually left after saying goodbye to the twins and thankfully there were no more tears.

We ended up playing with some toys I bought them in the living room for a while before they 'helped' me to make dinner.

That pretty much meant I let them sit on the counter as I made the food and they just passed me any of the items I needed.

Once dinner was eaten, we went upstairs so that they could brush their teeth and change into their pyjamas.

By this point everything was going pretty smoothly.

"So which movie do you want to watch?" I sat down between the twins who were all curled up on the couch in my living room, staring at the tv.

"On that?" I nodded my head letting out laugh when Cameron pointed at the huge TV in awe.

"Do you have Frozen?" Kenzie smiled innocently at me but before I could reply, Cameron let out a whine next to me.

"No!"

"What's Frozen?" My question seemed to offend Kenzie while Cameron just let out a sigh.

He really had a lot of attitude for an almost four year old.

"It's the silly one with Elsa and Olaf."

"It's not silly!" My eyes widened when I turned my head to look at Kenzie who was now sitting up, peering around me so that she could glare at her brother.

"It is, Kenzie. Let's watch Cars."

"That's a boy movie."

"No it's not!"

I let out a sigh as I leaned back against the couch, listening to the two of them bicker.

How does she deal with this on a daily basis?

"Okay, both of you please just shh."

"But daddy-"

"I said shh." When I turned to look at her, Mackenzie covered her mouth with both hands and quickly nodded her head.

She was so freaking cute.

"So this is what we're going to do. Both of you will be quiet and choose a movie together, and then you will watch quietly without arguing."

"Kenzie argued not me."

"No I didn't!"

Before either of them could say another word I placed my hands over their mouths.

"No more. Nod if you understand."

They both nodded their heads innocently and I really had to try hard to hide the smile that was threatening to show. Although that was enough to make me smile, I chose to keep up my 'annoyed' facade as I finally released them.

We started scrolling through the movies on the tv and moments later Kenzie let out a yawn before moving closer to me and resting her head on my chest.

I ran my hand through her hair as we sat there for the next few minutes until they finally agreed on Toy Story.

I didn't see what all the fuss was about because both of them fell asleep before we even got to the halfway point.

We could have just watched stupid Frozen.

Once they were both fast asleep I let out a sigh and turned the tv off, standing to my feet as I lifted them both up into my arms. Once I'd carried them upstairs I decided to take Madison's advice, letting them sleep in my bed.

"Daddy?" Just as I put her down in my bed, Mackenzie opened her tired eyes.

"Yes baby?" I sat down at the side of my bed, stroking her cheek as she lay there.

"I want mama."

She really was attached to Madison, a lot more than Cameron was.

"Mama will be here in the morning babygirl." I could tell she was trying to fight her sleep the longer she was awake, so instead I just got into bed next to her.

"Let's go to sleep together, then when you wake up in the morning, we will have pancakes and then mama will be here. How does that sound mi princesa?"

All she managed to do was nod her head as she curled up against me, closing her eyes. I lay there with her in my arms for a while until I eventually managed to fall asleep too.

"You shouldn't have done this, you should have listened to me." My father shook his head as a sick smile tugged at his lips.

"Dad you don't have to do this. I'll leave her, okay? I'll let her go."

"It's too late for that son. I told you years ago to let her go but you were too stupid, too selfish. Now look what you've done."

I turned my head to look at Maddie who was watching this whole thing unfold with tears in her eyes.

"I'm begging you, please don't...don't do it." For some screwed up reason, my father found her words amusing as she begged him.

"This is Santiago's fault. It's all his fault Madison." At the mention of my name, she turned to look at me and this time a cold glare over took the previous fear in her eyes.

"I hate you Santiago."

Her voice was so cold as my father slowly walked up to her, holding his gun to her stomach.

"Very fitting last words."

Before I could try and scream, he'd already pulled the trigger and her body jerked, before she eventually fell to the floor.

"No!" I was vaguely aware of my father's retreating footsteps as I dropped down to my knees next to her, tears filling my eyes.

"I'm so sorry, I was selfish. I was so selfish Maddie. I just wanted you with me, I love you. You know that. I couldn't leave you."

"You should have left me behind Santiago. You should have let me go. You brought me into this life and now I'm dying...I'm dying." Tears began to fall down her cheeks as she lay in my arms, struggling to breathe.

"No baby, you're going to be okay. You'll be okay."

"No I won't, I'm dead because of you."

"Maddie-"

"You killed me Santiago. I'll never forgive you for this. I died because of you, it's all your fault."

My eyes flew open as I sat up in the bed and the first thing I felt was my heart pounding in my chest. It took me a moment to fully come to my senses as I leaned back against the headboard letting out a deep breath.

"Goddamn." I ran a hand tiredly over my face before I picked up my water bottle, drinking the water to help myself calm down.

The light from the sun was streaming in from the uncovered window since Madison told me the twins hated sleeping in fully dark rooms.

"Daddy?" The sound of a small voice speaking next to me caused me to turn my head and a frown formed on my face when I saw Cameron and Mackenzie staring at me with wide eyes.

"How long have you two been awake?"

"Um..." Cameron turned to look at Kenzie for the answer but she shook her head before she spoke to me.

"We're not."

"You're not?" Once again she shook her head in response to my question before she turned to look at Cameron. "Close your eyes Cammy."

I watched as both of them closed their eyes before she spoke again.

"We're sleeping."

Even after the dream I'd had, I couldn't help but laugh at them, and as soon as they heard my laugh they both opened their eyes again.

"You're not angry?"

"Why would I be angry my beautiful?" I lay back down properly next to Mackenzie, pulling her into me.

"You were angry when you woke up." I let out a tired sigh as I shook my head. "I'm not angry baby, I had a bad dream."

"You have bad dreams?" I nodded my head as I looked at Cameron who was watching me carefully.

"Me too."

I couldn't help but frown at his words, he was only three years old, I hated the idea of him having bad dreams. "About what baby?"

"You and mama. If you ever left us."

Instead of replying straight away, I shifted Mackenzie to the otherside of me and I moved closer to Cameron so that I could wrap my arm around him too.

"We will never leave you, either of you, ever. I promise you that baby."

Both of them fell quiet for a moment as we just lay there before Kenzie spoke, breaking the silence.

"I don't want to sleep anymore daddy."

I nodded my head in agreement with her words before I sat up, turning to look at her.

"Lets go and have some fun then."

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

"Woah, what the hell?"

I watched with a frown as Noah came strolling into my kitchen followed by...everyone else.

"We're bored and we thought it was time we met your children." I narrowed my eyes at Katia as she came and sat down next to me, giving a sweet smile to the twins who were watching everyone come into the kitchen with wide eyes.

"You opened the door for them?" Instead of replying to Katia I focused my attention Arturo who gave me an apologetic look.

He had come over earlier on his own this morning to go over some work stuff with me while the twins napped. Our play time at 5am had really tired them out.

"I tried to stop them." I let out a sigh as I leaned back in my seat, running a hand over my face.

"She's going to be here any minute."

This is the last freaking thing I needed.

"You mean mama?"

Kenzie smiled at me excitedly when I nodded my head in response to her question.

"Oh come on Santiago, it's not like we're going to hit on her or anything. Why are you so worried?"

Once again I shook my head at Noah's question, sending him a glare.

After that dream again this morning, I really wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone.

"Just go, all of you. I didn't invite you into my house."

And I was also trying extremely hard not to swear in front of the twins.

Before anyone could say anything else the doorbell rang.

"I think it's too late."

Great.

It's all about to get juicy 😍

Also aren't the twins just so cute already ❤️

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote and comment to let me know what you thought ❤️