Chapter 72

“I’m not sure where you guys come up with all these rumors. I know you live off of them, but at least have them make sense. For starters, she has a name, Selene Tempest, and she’s my girlfriend, not just my son’s mother. Kai Tempest is a brilliant man, and Selene is just as smart and gifted. Everybody marveled at their story about the start-up, and now suddenly the narrative changed. Have you forgotten how much they’ve done themselves?” I began to say, spitting everything out. “I’ve only recently come into their lives, and my influence was never needed for them,” I added lastly.

The meeting continued like this, and by the end of it, I had made sure to drill into their heads that they should never talk about Tempest Inc. the way they did. I thanked my agents, and on the way out, I received a call from Selene.

“You looked so hot on TV defending us, but you need to get Roman. I have to get to the hospital. Anya went into labor,” she explained hastily, and I could feel the rush of excitement and nervousness in her tone.

Everything was going great. I had dropped Roman off at school, then returned to work. Balancing both Kai’s and my own workload was quite hard, but I knew he deserved the rest and time with his wife. Soon enough, he and Anya would have two babies to take care of, and Kai never once took a break. I think he deserves one now after his continuous work and perseverance. I looked into hiring someone to help me out with the workload, and so far, I’ve narrowed down my list to two people.

I was busy studying their portfolios and backgrounds. I had to be sure of who I accepted into the company. In our first year, when everything was rising up, we needed more people, so we put up job offers and had many applicants. One guy seemed a little too good, and we almost hired him, but Kai had a nagging feeling, so we did some research only to find out he was a relative of our rivals and, on top of that, he had been a silent partner with said company. Ever since, we had been more careful, especially since we were in the IT department. One privacy breach and we were done for.

I looked through all the information gathered on candidate number 2; she seemed good. Very professional and took pride in great performance work. I was about to head to the next page when my phone began to ring, and I was informed about Nathaniel’s press meeting.

A smile formed on my lips when I saw the meeting, and I listened to everything he said. He gave credit where it was due, and the success of Tempest Inc. wasn’t somewhere he had credit. Kai and I had given it our all, even Anya had to make some sacrifices in the beginning. I was glad Nathaniel made that clear to the world. He made it clear that I didn’t get some payoff from him for simply having his son.

He also made sure they respected me as a businesswoman and a person in general. I wasn’t some incubator like one or two had said in an article, and honestly, this entire meeting was heartwarming to see. Nathaniel jumped up to my defense.

My phone rang yet again. I immediately picked up when I saw it was Kai. He must be worried about me hiring someone, or he wants to talk about Nathaniel and how amazed he must be right now.

“Hello, I’m tak–” I was talking when Kai suddenly cut me off.

“Anya just went into labor. I’m freaking out, I’m taking her to the hospital as we had agreed on,” Kai said on the other side of the line, the panic and worry heavy in his tone.

“Do you need me there?” I asked. I knew their birthing plan; Anya wanted me with her, but I also knew in moments like these, things could change.

“She demands your presence there,” Kai replied, and I just chuckled. Of course, I’d be there.

“I’ll be right there. The birthing plan hasn’t changed, has it?” I promised. I was already up and had grabbed my bag in one hand.

“No, everything is still the same for now,” Kai said, and I could hear him running around like crazy. “Be quick,” he demanded.

“I’ll be right there,” I promised.

I contacted Nathaniel for help with our son, then headed straight to the hospital.

Anya’s labor took a long time, but the twins were finally here. Chase Sylvester Tempest and West Simon Tempest; one got a middle name I picked, and West’s middle name came from Anya’s late father.

The boys were every bit perfect, and I was happy to be a part of this journey. After a while, Nathaniel and Roman were allowed inside to visit, and Anya was finally ready for more visitors.

“Hey Romie, excited to meet your cousins?” Anya asked, a weak smile on her face as she looked at Roman. Kai and I told her to rest the day; everyone could wait, but she refused to let them wait. She was tired but still stubborn as hell.

“Mhm. I got you this,” Roman handed her some flowers and balloons that Nathaniel must’ve gotten for him. I smiled at the two.

“Wow, thanks buddy, I love these,” Anya laughed at the twin’s balloon.

“Look, this is Chase, and this is West,” Kai brought Roman to the twins. He introduced him carefully to the sleeping babies, and Roman just stared at them in awe.

“I love them,” Roman gushed and stroked their cheeks. “I will teach them to play ball,” he said excitedly, his voice a little too high, and the twins moved to the sound. Roman gasped and put his hands over his mouth.

“You promise?” Kai asked.

“I do,” Roman nodded.

“They look adorable; I’m glad everything went well,” Nathaniel said to Anya.

“Thank you, Nate,” Anya replied and looked between the two of us.

“I know how much you missed sushi, so I snuck you some,” Nathaniel revealed the package from Anya’s favorite spot.

“Oh my god, I missed this so much,” she gushed and accepted the food immediately.

We stayed a bit longer before having to go. Anya needed some rest, and her sister also wanted to visit her along with her mother. Roman held onto Nathaniel and my hand as we walked out together.

“Will you have babies too, mama?” Roman asked, looking up at me with sweet eyes.

Nathaniel and I almost stumbled down. I cleared my throat and looked over at Nathaniel. Everything was going great, but we hadn’t exactly discussed our future yet. No marriage and no kids talk.

“Well, maybe one day, for now, you are the only baby we need,” Nathaniel answered when I was unable to. He picked Roman up and kissed his cheek.

“I’m not a baby,” Roman complained.

“But you will always be our baby,” I teased while Roman groaned.

Roman had accepted his defeat, and we went home. Nathaniel and I served dinner to Roman, then put him to bed. Next on the list was taking care of Kai and Anya’s house; they had left in a hurry, and we wanted to make sure everything was in order. We planned on hosting them a welcome home party, nothing too fancy. Just some decoration and cooked meals along with promises to help with the household. The idea was organized by Anya’s sister, and I immediately went on board with it.

Nathaniel and I returned back home and got ready for work immediately.

“So, Roman asked something interesting,” Nathaniel finally brought up.

“He did… What do you think?” I asked nervously, applying my night cream.

“I want more kids with you, Selene, as many as you want,” Nathaniel said bluntly.

“Calm down Nate, what if I only want one?” I asked nervously.

“Then we’ll have only one,” he smiled at me, his gaze catching mine from where he sat.

“Really? You don’t desire more?” I wondered.

“I desire a complete family, and I only have that when you’re the mother of my child or children,” Nathaniel said truthfully, ever the poet.

“I like that answer,” I sauntered to him. “I’ll be honest Nate, I don’t know yet if I want more,” I confessed.

“That’s ok, one day you’ll know,” he leaned over and kissed me. “We can practice making it now though.”

I stared at the twins, Chase and West. I can’t believe they’re both a year old already. They are sweet but wild boys, truly taking after their father. Chase and West both shared their mother’s light eyes but had the complexion of Kai and me, tan smooth skin. Their hair was brown and straight, the perfect mix between Kai and Anya.

The past year had been about the same for us all; the only thing that changed was the fact that Jennifer and Jonathan visited us more often. They met the two boys and fell in love with them too. Nathaniel and I had been on many dates and had gone out with our boy several times already. Everything was running quite smoothly.

Kai and Anya had their anniversary almost 2 weeks ago, but due to some issues, they couldn’t celebrate until this last weekend. Nathaniel and I were on babysitting duties for the last five days; today marked the last day.

The house was abnormally quiet, and I didn’t trust this, so I slowly made my way down the stairs. I looked around but couldn’t find anyone. Finally, I got to the living room, and that’s where I saw them all.

Nathaniel was passed out on the couch, with Chase on his left and West too. The twins were snuggled on his chest with a tiny blanket over their bodies, grasping Nathaniel’s shirt tightly with their binkies in their mouths and clearly in dreamland. Roman was right next to Nathaniel, peacefully asleep too, and Nathaniel had his hand resting on his head, a book that Roman loved right next to him.

I began to wonder who passed out first but not without snapping a quick picture first. I carefully went into the kitchen again and began to prepare dinner for everyone. I made some food for the twins too, in case Anya and Kai would arrive late to pick them up; there was no way I’d send those babies home hungry.

Once dinner was served, I woke them all up. Roman ran to the table; he’s going through a growth spurt I think because he was eating a lot more these days. It was so nice to see my boy grow up, but at the same time, I missed the tiny baby I’d cradle to sleep.

“So did you put them to sleep, or did they put you to sleep?” I asked teasingly as I helped him with one of the boys.

“The plan was to tire them out, but I didn’t think they’d fall asleep on my chest,” Nathaniel chuckled and carried West with him.