Chapter 381

The sun was already up, sunshine streaming in through the slightly parted curtains but Hayden wasn't ready to wake up yet, hiding his face in his mate's neck.

Virgil smiled softly at this unconscious action, wrapping his arms tighter around him, he knew that this peaceful and quiet moment they had would soon be shattered, it was only a matter of time.

He shouldn't have thought about that because he jinxed it, the door swinging open.

He could feel Hayden's lips curl up in a smile against his neck at the sound of the door getting thrown open, quiet pattering of feet making their way across the room. 

They were both awake but pretended to still be asleep, it was more fun for what was coming anyway. 

"They're still sleeping." Lake whispered sneakily to his twin sister.

Lily nodded in a very secret agent kind of way, placing a finger to her lip exaggeratedly.

They were both taller now, able to jump on the high bed in one move, Lily still insisted on keeping her hair cut short, complaining that it always got in her eyes.

Lake didn't mind, his Papa left his hair long so he would have a child to play hairdresser on seeing as Lily was averse to it.

They were five now and no less a menace.

"We'll jump in five okay." Lily whispered to her brother, a sneaky smile on her face. "Let's aim for dad's head, he made us sleep early last night."

"But that was because we have to go on a trip today." Lake excused for his father.

Lily rolled her eyes in frustration. "Don't be such a daddy's boy, Lakey…"

"Don't call me that!" He snapped at her, eyes flashing. 

"It's not a lie right?" She teased savagely.

Lake didn't take a moment to breathe, as much as he would definitely kill someone for his sister, she also had the flawless ability to burn down his self-control.

He tackled her, they bounced on the bed at this, ruining their planned sneak attack.

Virgil had seen this coming from their escalating argument and quickly moved his mate out of the way, cradling Hayden in his arms as they both lifted their heads to watch their children roll around on the other end of the bed.

"You know we could always dump them at their grandparents' house and spend the weekend at your beach house." Virgil suggested, a tad too seriously. 

"What? No!" Hayden smacked his chest, looking scandalised. "We should make memories with our children, it's not like you'll give me more."

Virgil's face instantly hardened at the suggestion. "Well, we're done with that conversation and we should probably stop them before they hurt themselves." He reminded.

Hayden glanced at the bed, Lily had her twin brother trapped under her, his arms drawn behind his back.

"Kiss me good morning first." He requested, leaning forward and puckering his lips.

Virgil wasn't about to say no to that, he moved his head upwards to claim his mate's lips.

Lily was the first to catch sight of them. "Ew!" She exclaimed, her eyes went wide in horror.

Her shock made her lose her balance and topple over the edge of the bed, dragging Lake down with her.

Mumbles of 'ouchs' drifted up and Hayden smiled against Virgil's lips.

"This also works." He grinned, pulling away from Virgil to check on their children.

Hayden leaned over the edge of the bed, a smile on his face, tawny hair wild. "Good morning to you too."

"Good morning, Papa." They mumbled in sheepish voices, huddled against the side of the bed, in matching pj's. 

"Come on, give Papa a kiss, did you sleep well?" He tried to restore their happy spirits, helping them on the bed.

This somehow escalates into a tickle fight which starts off with Hayden tickling his children and progresses into Lily and Virgil turning against the two most ticklish people. 

Hayden snagged his son's hand and he and Lake took off, trying to escape from Virgil and Lily who are brutal with their tickling. 

They all end up chasing each other around the house, a now old Apple watching them from a pillow she was perched on the couch, looking unimpressed with her owners' life choices.

~♡~

"Eek! Baby, your nose is cold, stop rubbing me with it." Dream half sleepy voice scolded his husband as he rolled to the far end of the bed, taking all the blankets to wrap himself like a croissant. 

Dale sat up unhappily with an expressive pout on his face. "But I like you, don't you like me?" He grumbled, inching closer to wrap his arms around his padded mate.

"We have a big day ahead of us, let me catch a few more minutes of sleep, I can't do that with your cold nose on me." He complained, refusing to budge.

Dale pouted but was about to acquiesce when Dream shot upright, his eyes wide in panic.

"Honey, what's wrong?" He asked in confusion, framing Dream's face with his hands so that he could softly kiss his nose.

Dream looked up at his husband, their faces barely inches from each other and he felt a familiar heat start-up within but they didn't have time for that.

"Sunshine is carrying her brother, I can feel it." He said in a grave voice.

He was referring to their second child, Jade, the male Omega was two and his older sister acted like her sole purpose in life was to dote on him, Sunshine herself could barely carry her brother but that didn't stop her.

When he was born, she would sneak into his cradle and chatter to him for hours until she fell asleep, when she started to get too big for it, she took to stealing him out of his cradle to sleep in her bed.

There was that one time, they had woken up to an empty cradle and panicked, searching for their son for almost an hour, noting that Sunshine was missing too and going batshit, dragging their friends into the panic only to find Sunshine hiding in her closet with a sleeping Jade. 

They share a look of pure love and extreme exasperation. 

"Let's go." Dale took Dream's hand, helping his mate off the bed. "Hopefully we'll catch her before she can get to him."

"Hopefully." Dream mimicked under his breath.

As usual, they made their way first to Sunshine's room and what do you know? She was nowhere to be found.

Dream threw his weight on his husband, Dale easily catching him by the waist to support him.

"I can't handle all this on a morning like this." He groaned.

"That's why you have me." Dale reminded, sweeping his husband off his feet and heading for their son's room. "Hopefully, she's there."

"Hopefully huh?" Dream cut the Alpha a glare from where he was cradled up against him.

Dale hid a smile, dark green eyes twinkling as he looked down occasionally to take in his mate in his arms.

Dream was dressed in one of his shirts and loose shorts, he started growing out his hair again after Jade's birth.

As much as they loved the beautiful blonde locks, it wouldn't have mattered if his love decided to go bald.

"Dale, as much as I love being the centre of your attention, if you don't look forward, we're going to smack into a wall." He pointed out, making Dale colour up slightly and pick up the pace.

They opened the door to another empty room, Jade's bed empty and the room looking much the same.

"We need to set up cameras in this room." Dream said, placing a hand on his face.

Dale stepped closer to encircle his arms around Dream from behind, tilting his head to the side to nibble against his scent glands.

"That is starting to seem like a wonderful idea with each morning that we wake up to missing children."

"Let's get Mints, he'll be able to find them." Dream suggested, taking his husband's hand this time as they went to go free the dog from his room.

Mints was also one of Jade's loyal followers so a room had to be arranged for him so he wouldn't constantly wander into their youngest son's room and slobber all over him.

They ended up being down the hallway, on the balcony, Sunshine showing her baby brother the sunrise.

Jade had midnight black hair and smoky grey-green eyes, Sunshine was giving him a piggyback ride and pointing at the rising sun, Jade giggling at something she said.

Dale and Dream stopped to watch them, holding back Mints who bounced around impatiently, eager to get to his best friends. 

A click went off behind them and they both turned around to Erin nodding appreciatively at the camera in her hand, in their surprise, Dale lost hold on Mints who charged forward, alerting their children to their presence.

"Morning, Alpha, Luna." She greeted them with a grin, turning around and heading back in the direction she came.

"Dad! Papa!" Sunshine exclaimed happily, running in their direction. 

Dream's eyes widened in a panic at this, she still had Jade in a piggyback and Mints was bouncing excitedly around them, it was the perfect scene for a nasty fall.

Dale swept forward before that would happen though, easily picking up both of his children while Dream smiled from where he stood, holding onto Mints so that they could all make their way back inside the house, where it was warmer.

Another click went off as they started the journey off the balcony. 

"Erin!" Dream called in a warning tone.

"Sorry! I couldn't help myself." The secretary called back sheepishly, the evident pattering of her feet ringing out as she hurried back to her apartment.