* * *

We are here in Florida now, holidaying with our entire family, including all of my brothers and their wives and kids, my parents, plus Benny and Marian.

Marian had moved in with us as our housekeeper, and she also helped out with the kids on the rare occasion I ever left them on their own.

It turned out that Marian was originally from Scotland and had been Cam’s mum’s best friend. They had moved to the bright lights of London together as innocent sixteen-year-olds and both ended up marrying Londoners.

I look down at Cam as he bites on my nipple, his eyes still looking up at me.

“Ouch, that hurts, I thought we had to get up?” I complain.

He kisses where he just bit me. “We do, but I think we need a quick fuck first. What d’ya reckon?”

“I reckon you should’ve left me to sleep for another half an hour or at least brought me coffee.” He grinds his hips and his hard on into me.

“I’ve got something much better than coffee for you, Kitten, and this comes with a double shot and extra cream.” He winks as he smiles his sexiest smile. I don’t know at what age men are supposed to lose their libido, but at forty-eight, Cam most definitely hadn’t got that memo and I don’t mind in the least that he is still my Martini man; any time, any place, anywhere.

Our bedroom door flies open and Tallulah storms in. Cam rolls off me and pulls the quilt to cover us both up.

“Shit,” he hisses quietly.

“It was an accident. I didn’t mean to do it and now they’re all shouting at me.”

She’s wearing her Tinkerbell costume, complete with wings and a pair of pink and silver Converse, and for a not yet five-year-old, she’s totally rocking the look.

She looks up at Cam with her big blue eyes as he sits himself up in bed and holds his arms out for her. Sucker. I know that look. It’s one I’ve used on the men in my life since I was a bit younger than my daughter is now and I know as sure as shit that whatever it is she’s saying she didn’t do; she did it. I’d bet my last pound on it.

“What happened, princess. Who’s shouting at you?” Cam asks her as she climbs on the bed and into his lap.

“Daddy, don’t be daft. I’m Tink not a princess. Kiks is a princess. She’s got her Aurororora dress on.” Cam winks at me as we both try not to smile at her mispronunciation of Aurora.

Harry and George come through the door next, both wearing swim shorts that are dripping wet.

“Boys, stop right there. What are you doing in the house while you’re all wet like that?” They both come to a halt. For anyone who didn’t know our family history, you would assume Harry, George and Kiki were triplets. They are all the absolute image of Cam. “Why were you in the pool? You know the rule. No pool unless there’s an adult with you.”

Before the boys can defend themselves, Marley walks in carrying a soaking wet and sobbing Kiki, still kitted out in her pink Sleeping Beauty dress and tiara and I’m now absolutely certain that Lulah is behind the chaos.

“What happened?” I ask Marley, who, I notice is also fully clothed and dripping wet.

The boys start to speak, but Cam points his finger and they both fall silent, their big brown eyes looking from me to their dad.

“Your daughters had a difference of opinion and one of them ended up in the pool.” All eyes turn to Lu.

“Well,” she says, turning her baby blues and all her charm to Cam, “it was like this, Daddy. Kiks had orange flip flops on with her pink Aurororora dress and I said they looked ugly together and she pushed me and I pushed her back and she fell in the pool and the boys jumped in to save her and then Uncle Marls jumped in to save them all, but I didn’t mean it, Daddy, and she pushed me first.” Her eyes fill with tears as the boys and Kiki start to all talk at once.

“Shush, the lot of ya!” Cam shouts over them. “One at a time. H, you’re the eldest, you start.” Harry frowns as he looks at Tallulah and shakes his head. I can’t help but smile at how much like Cam he is.

We have told him a little bit about Tamara. He knows that she’s his mum and she’s now in Heaven and that Cam chose me to be his Mummy instead. He’s never really asked any questions and he has only ever known me as his mum. As far as he and the rest of the kids know, they are all special. We have told them that because Mummy’s belly was broken, they had to be grown in Ash and Jim’s bellies. As they get older, we will explain things to them in a more adult way, but for now, they are happy with those explanations. I want Harry to know about his birth mother, but I also want to protect him from the truth of what she was and what she did. Cam and I have decided that if he asks, then we will tell him as much truth as we feel is age appropriate.

“Lulah told Kiks that her flip flops were ugly,” Harry starts, “and that a princess would never wear flip flops, so Kiks said that Tink would never wear Converse and that Lu looked stupid.” His big brown eyes look between myself and Cam. “And Lulah just pushed, just like that; she just pushed, and Kiks went in the water and all her dress puffed up and I thought she would drown and so I jumped in and then George jumped in and we pulled her to the side.” He stops talking and takes in a breath.

“Is that what happened, George?” Cam asks.

George nods. “Yeah, then Uncle Marls jumped in and pulled Kiks out.”

Marley has been into our bathroom and passes towels to the boys and wraps one around Kiki’s shoulders before passing her to me, saying, “Yep, that’s about it. I’m off to sort my own tribe out. Good luck with this lot.” He winks and shuts the door behind him as he leaves our bedroom.

“Come here,” Cam says to the boys and they obey him instantly, joining us on the bed. Cam is a strict but fair dad. He’s always calm with the kids, and where I tend to fly off the handle, he generally keeps it together, Tallulah being the only one who pushes his buttons.

The boys sit cross-legged at the end of the bed and Cam shifts Lulah to join them while I strip Kiki out of her wet princess outfit and dry her off some more with the towel. Cam reaches down the side of the bed and hands me his T-shirt, taking Kiks from me so I can slip it over my head.

“Mummy’s nudie under there,” I hear H whisper as the other three giggle. Cam looks at me and tries not to smile at the kids’ remarks. Luckily, he’s still wearing his jocks and I admire his beautifully sculpted arse, back and legs as he climbs out of bed to get one of my T-shirts from a chair in the corner of the room and puts it over Kiks’ head. He sits her at the end of the bed with her siblings and climbs in next to me.

“Tallulah, what you did today was a very bad thing. You must never, ever push anyone into a swimming pool. You shouldn’t actually be pushing people anywhere, but especially not into swimming pools. Your sister could’ve drowned.”

I’m so glad in that moment my kids have all been swimming since they were babies. We have a pool at the house and a lake in the grounds and it had been something I was paranoid about. Because there were four of them, and it was easier, we’d hired an instructor to come to our house twice a week and give them lessons from an early age. They were all now strong swimmers and even knew what to do in an emergency.

“But I did drown, Daddy. I drowneded a lot before the boys and Marls saved me,” Kiki says.

“You didn’t drown, baby. If you had drowned, then you would be an angel in Heaven right now,” I tell her.

“Oh, well the water all came out my nose like I was drowneded,” Kiki adds.

“Nobody drowned, but they could have. Do you understand that, Lulah? What you did was very dangerous. Kiks could’ve drowned and then your brothers could’ve drowned, too, trying to save her.”

Tallulah looks mortified. Her eyes shine with tears and her lips are trembling. I want to pull her into my lap and give her a cuddle, but she needs to understand the dangerous consequences her actions could’ve had.