Page 152 of Bound By Blood and Lies

We were originally supposed to take a break after Luca. That was the plan anyway. Finn was still a baby; Luca had been born eleven months later and for at least five minutes Roman pretended he agreed that maybe two under one was enough chaos for one household. Then somehow, I ended up pregnant with Elsa barely a year later despite very much being on the pill and before I could even fully recover from that disaster the twins appeared too. The irony is Roman physically cannot lie which means every single time over the years I’ve casually asked if he swapped my birth control again, he’s suddenly remembered an urgent meeting, discovered a suspicious security issue somewhere in the house or conveniently needed to take a phone call. Miraculously though my pill hasn’t failed once since the twin pregnancy nearly killed me so that tells me everything I need to know.

At thirty-seven years old I think I’ve more than fulfilled my duty to this family anyway. Roman however still looks at me like five children somehow wasn’t enough.

“Disney?” Robyn’s voice calls from the hallway and I roll my eyes.

She pretty quickly dropped girly pop after hearing Felix call me Disney so could you imagine her delight when she realised we’d named our children after Disney characters. I didn’t even realise we had until it was too late. Roman very much led thecharge in that area and I did wonder why he suddenly had a very specific list of names I could choose from. Apparently, every princess needs a fairy godmother, I mean mum.

“Out here!” I call back before turning to see Robyn entering through the sliding doors with a handful of presents.

I walk over before stopping abruptly as I take in the bags dangling from her hands. Unless Finn has suddenly developed his dad’s obsession with Disney princesses, those presents definitely aren’t for him.

“What the fuck are you carrying?”

“What, these?” Robyn frowns, lifting the offending bags slightly.

“Yes, Robyn. Them.”

“Oh, they’re for the girls.”

“You do know it’s Finn’s birthday, right?”

“And?”

“And how would you feel if I got presents on your birthday?”

Robyn blinks at me. “Hate to break it to you, but you’re not my actual sister, Fae… so that would be weird.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose before looking up to the sky and silently counting to ten. This is why only children scare me and somehow, I ended up marrying one whilst befriending another.

“Aunty Robyn!” Aurora cries the second she spots her across the garden and immediately takes off running toward her.

Robyn has less than five seconds to brace herself before she’s rugby tackled at full speed. She just about manages to dump the presents on the floor beforehand.

“Be careful!” I bark before cutting a look towards Roman. “More of them? Really?”

“What do you mean more of us?” Luca asks, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. I physically jump before clutching my chest.

“Jesus Christ, Luca.”

His eyes narrow immediately. “Are you pregnant?”

“No!” I snap at the exact same time Roman mutters, “Hopefully soon.”

“I bring presents!” Robyn declares and the twins squeal before immediately dragging her towards the seating area.

Robyn kisses Luca on the cheek as she passes and makes her way over to Elsa. Elsa smiles softly as she lifts her forefinger up and Robyn immediately mirrors the motion. They touch their fingers together like E.T. before Robyn carries on walking. Elsa has the same touch aversion Roman does but I think somewhere along the way she realised Robyn needed little physical reminders that she was loved, so the two of them quietly created their own version of affection instead. As we all gather around the seating area Finn is the last to arrive. He walks straight over to Robyn, so much like the group of boys I grew up with that it makes something ache in my chest, before bending down to kiss her on the cheek and plonking himself beside her.

“Happy birthday, Fi,” she smiles as she passes him an envelope.

“Thanks, Birdy,” Finn winks and Robyn chuckles quietly as she shakes her head.

He opens the card with a grin but his entire expression suddenly drops and I frown at the reaction. A piece of paper slips out and he unfolds it carefully. His hands start shaking more and more the longer he stares at it until the page is physically flapping between his fingers.

“Really?” he says as he cuts a look to her with glassy eyes and a wobbly lip.

“Yup!” she smiles wildly. “I’ll take you next Saturday!”

“Thank you!” he gasps before leaning over and pulling her into a big hug.