Rapid knocks pound on my door with giggles filtering under it, "Iris, Iris, Iris? Are you in there, Iris?"

"I am, Elise, come in!" I laugh, closing my book.

The door creaks open and she jumps up onto my bed, "Daddy doesn't know I'm asking you this, but-"

"Elise!" Nathan's voice travels throughout the house and she looks at me with wide eyes.

"Hurry," I whisper and she giggles.

"We're going to go see grammy, do you want to come too? She's very nice and I know daddy would like you to meet her."

I freeze, not knowing how to answer because this is Nathan's family and it isn't my place to practically invite myself, "Did you ask daddy if I could?"

"Not yet, but-"

"Okay, why don't you go ask daddy?" I suggest.

"I'll be right back," she whispers, running off, leaving my door wide open.

"Don't run, Elise and be careful on the stairs!"

Putting my book away on my bedside table, I stand up to stretch; I'd gotten lost between the pages of a romance, so much so that two hours had gone by. I rub my hand over my little bump and sit back down, waiting for Elise to update me. I'd love to meet Nathan's mother don't get me wrong, but it's still so early, I've only been living here three weeks and truth be told, I don't know what his family even know about me.

The story we've been going with is that I'm his friend and he's letting me stay until I can find a place to live, which is all true, however, no one has yet to question where he met me, or how we became friends. I fear his mother may have both of those up her sleeve and I simply don't have an answer that is suitable yet.

Footsteps much heavier than Elise's come up the stairs and within a few seconds, I'm greeted by Nathan walking into my room, with Nova on his hip.

"I sure am popular today," I joke.

He laughs before pouting at a whining Nova, "You're moody today, aren't you, Nov?"

"Oh dear, did someone not sleep great last night?" I ask and she looks at me with no facial changes, just her eyebrows pinched together in a frown. "You know, your daddy once told me that frowning gives you wrinkles, Nova."

"I started saying that because of these girls, not a care in the world between them," he scoffs, before turning to me, "Elise asked me to ask you to come with us, but I didn't know if you wanted to meet everyone yet, so I'm here to ask because you can say no to me."

"I'd like to, but I don't want to intrude," I say.

"You won't be intruding, Iris, it's my mom's birthday, and she'd love to see you there."

"Will it not be weird?" I find myself asking.

"Weird that my friend is coming with me to wish my mother a happy birthday?" he questions with a cheeky smile.

"So, that's all they know?" I ask, just getting the entire story before I say something they don't.

"They know you're living with me, so I will most likely get interrogated about that, but I'll stick to the story that you're here until you find a place," he explains.

"What about how we met?"

"What degree did you graduate with?" he randomly asks me.

I pull a face, "Accounting, why?"

"You work at the New York Rangers, we met through work," he explains and I catch onto what he's talking about.

"I'd never be able to get a job in such a place, look at me, Fields," I point to myself.

"You're smart, Iris, of course, you could; you used your degree and you got a job in finance. But they won't even ask that," he assures me.

"What happens when they find out it's a lie?"

"The moment they eventually find out about the twins, they'll want details on what really went on and will understand," he explains and then chuckles, "Don't worry about it; I've got to go downstairs, Elise and Addie are only trusted alone for so long, but we're leaving in ten minutes, is that okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be down in five," I nod, accepting the invitation.

In the most fatherly way, he looks at Nova and says, "Say, 'See you in five minutes, Iris, I hope to be in a better mood then!'"

She hides in his neck and I point at him, "Told you, it's nap time."

"You're going to be a great mom, Rhodes," he says with a smile before he turns around and leaves.

"I hope so," I whisper, touching my belly again.

Within five minutes, I'm downstairs, my hair is presentable and I'm wearing a cream woollen sweater with black leggings, comfortable for me but nice enough to meet his mum in, I hope.

"Iris, you're coming!" Elise jumps up from the sofa to greet me.

"I am," I grin.

Nathan picks up the kids' bag, putting Nova on his hip, "Iris, can you please open the car and make sure these two are strapped in? I'm going to quickly make Nova a bottle, she's going to nap in the car."

"Of course," I chuckle, taking his keys off the island before I turn to the girls, "C'mon chickens, let's go get in the car and wait for daddy."

The girls giggle, running ahead and into the garage. I unlock the car with his keys, and Elise opens the door on the left for them both. I hold it open, Elise crawls into the middle seat and once she's buckled, I help Addie into her car seat, bucking for her.

"You girls in okay?" I double-check.

"Yes!" they both exclaim. I chuckle, shutting their door and I go around to the passenger side, getting into my seat.

Nathan joins us within a few minutes and with a cranky Nova in the back, he lets out a big sigh when he gets into the driver's seat.

"Dad, she's kicking me," Elise whines, and he turns around.

"I think we need a bigger car, huh?" he says, giving Nova her bottle which quickly quiets her, and I see Elise nod in the mirror.

"Can it be yellow?" Addie asks.

"Of course it can," he sits back down and I hand him his keys, "Thank you."

The image in my head of Nathan driving a bright yellow car causes me to giggle, and he looks over at me with a knowing smile before he starts the car and we set off to his mother's house.

"Iris? Daddy?" Addie asks, only a few minutes into the drive.

"Yes?" I turn around.

"Are you the real-life Rapunzel and Flynn?" she murmurs with her bright green eyes, and she goes on, "You have blonde hair and daddy has brown hair like mine."

"Yeah, he does, but darling, your daddy didn't save me from an evil woman in a large tower, nor is he a prince," I explain, and she nods with a pouted lip, "But, how about for Halloween, next month, we can pretend and dress up as them?"

That causes all pouting to stop and she nods with a bright smile, allowing me to sit guilt-free back in my seat.

✯✯✯

Nerves swarm my belly when we pull up at his mom's house, and nausea starts to sink in due to the sudden anxiety. I push it away as best as I can and focus on the kids as we get out of the car.

Nathan opens the girls' door, before opening the trunk on the way to getting Nova, "Iris, can you grab the presents out of the trunk, while I get Nova out, she's still asleep?"

"Of course," I say, and when I see the gifts he's bought her, I smile. There are two birthday bags and a gorgeous bouquet.

"Can I help?" Elise asks.

"Yes," I give her the smallest and lightest bag.

Addie goes skipping towards the front door, taking that as my cue to go with her and Elise, and Nathan shortly follows behind us with Nova in his arms, still fast asleep.

The door opens as soon as we're all on the front porch, with a guy similar to Nathan, but much younger, greeting us.

"Uncle Alex!" Addie launches herself at his legs, and he laughs, picking her up in the air.

"Hey, cheeky monkey," he lifts her upside down, which causes loud giggles to escape her.

"Alex, this is Iris; Iris, this is Alex, my younger idiot brother," Nathan points at the grinning guy who is still holding his neice upside down.

"But not youngest," he points out, putting Addie down before looking at me, "It's nice to finally meet you, Iris."

"You too, so, you're the second youngest, right?" I double check I've got that correct.

"Yeah, Sam's the baby, make sure to bully him for it, we sure do," he chuckles.

"Let's go in, my arms going dead," Nathan complains, and Alex laughs, leading the way.

Their house is so very welcoming and homey, which is quite the opposite of my hostile childhood house, though I can't say I'm surprised by this after hearing the little things about his family he's shared with me. Photos of their family litter the walls in the hallway and stairway, and it warms my heart; this is the type of home I aspire to have for my babies, full of love and memories to cherish.

When we enter the living room, the exclamations of greetings for Nathan and the kids drown all other previous conversations out.

Nathan gently puts Nova down on the sofa to continue her nap, then goes up to his mum and wraps his arms around her, "Happy birthday, how's sixty feeling?"

"Cheeky," she slaps him on the shoulder and I smile at the interaction, "Fifty is feeling good, thank you very much."

"Happy birthday, grammy!" Elise and Addie then get in for their cuddles.

Nathan's hand snakes its way around my waist as he takes the flowers from me, before dipping down to whisper, "I can tell you're nervous, but don't be, they'll love you, I promise."

"I'm okay," I nod with a smile. I'm nervous, but at ease now that I'm here.

"God, you need to stop growing up," Charlotte, his mom kisses them both on the cheeks before looking up at me with a big smile, "And you must be Iris; I have to say Nathan never told me you were this gorgeous."

"That's what I said," Laura says from the other sofa that she's sitting on along with her twin brother, Max and his wife, whom I don't know her name yet.

"She's Rapunzel, really," Addie whispers, and I chuckle, smiling at the little girl.

"Happy birthday, Charlotte, and thank you, you're too kind," I say and Nathan passes her the flowers and two bags.

"These are from us and the girls."

"Oh, these are gorgeous; thank you, my darling boy," she says to Nathan before turning to her other son, "Alex, can you get another vase for me please?"

"Of course," he nods before taking off into the kitchen.

"I'll open these soon, let me introduce you to the bunch, Iris," Charlotte says, "Nathan's my eldest, soon followed by the twins; Laura and Max, then there's Alex, who you've met, and Sam is upstairs just finishing some homework off, he said he'll be down soon. Max's wife is Renee, and they have a baby on the way."

"It's nice to meet you, I've heard lovely things about you all," I say, though truth be told, we've barely touched on the subject of our families, more so because I'm not ready to speak about mine.

"Now, sit, get comfortable," she says, gesturing towards the sofa Nova is still sleeping on. Nathan gently picks her up, so we can and I take her in my arms, letting her sleep on me and so my belly is disguised completely.

"Are you okay with her?" he asks.

I nod, looking at her peaceful face, "Yeah, she's perfect."

"How's the baby, Renee?" Nathan asks, and I look up at the expecting mother-to-be. She's gorgeous, she's got long brown hair with matching brown eyes; Max's arm is around her as they sit together, and she lights up when asked about their baby.

"All is good, measuring at twenty-one weeks now, she's getting bigger," she puts her hand on her small but slightly noticeable bump.

"Four granddaughters now," Charlotte says, "Do you think I'll ever have a grandson?"

Everyone laughs, though I do hope I'm carrying one for her, I'd love a little boy amongst all the girls in this family.

Nova stirs at the sudden noise of everyone laughing, but she makes no fight to move from my arms when her eyes open.

"Good morning, you sleep well?"

She nods, cuddling into my arms as she wakes up and Nathan combs his fingers through her messy curls.

Alex comes back into the living room with a vase along with their youngest brother Sam, who again, looks so much like the others, just a baby-faced version.

"You got everything done?" Charlotte asks.

"Yeah, I just need to read through and submit it for eleven PM," he throws himself down on the sofa next to his mom like a typical teenage boy.

As soon as Nova has woken up a little more, she's playing with her sisters on the floor with the toys they have here, and conversations between us adults continue, bouncing between the subject of work and kids. Both of which I need to play dumb about.

Charlotte stands eventually and picks up her flowers, "Iris, would you be a dear and help me in the kitchen with these?"

"Of course," I agree with a smile, though I'm secretly filled with worry and nerves in case I stumble and just blurt out that I'm having her grandchildren.

I follow her into the kitchen and I smile when I see two other bouquets she's received for her birthday.

"These flowers are gorgeous," I whisper, looking at the bunch of mixed roses.

"They are, those are from Alex, he may not be the sharpest tool in the shell, but he picks a nice bunch of flowers for his mom," she chuckles, placing the flowers Nathan got her on the kitchen island, grabbing the scissors. "I thought I could do these in there, but I didn't realise how big the stems were."

"I'll fill the vase up for you," I offer, picking it up from the countertop and taking it over to the sink.

"You're not what I expected, you know?"

Nerves sink in further, "Let me guess, I'm worse than he made me out to be."

"No, no, of course not," she chuckles, turning towards me, "I didn't ask you in here to interrogate you."

My nerves slightly calm down, "I'll admit I thought that was what you were doing."

She shakes her head, "I just wanted to have a moment with you and say that I'm glad you're in Nathan's life; he's happy and I can tell you're a massive reason for that."

"We're not-"

"I know," she smiles knowingly, "But that doesn't mean there's nothing between you two at all. A mother can always tell with these things."

"Maybe," I bring over the vase, "I appreciate that he's letting me stay with him and the girls, they're a set of little sweethearts."

"Oh, but they're devils sometimes," she chuckles and I laugh. "How far shall I cut these stems, short or keep them a little lengthy?"

"Hmm," I look at the size of the vase, "Cut off two or three inches, I think that'll look nice."

"Ooh yes, I think you're right," she smiles, making the snip, and it's a perfect fit, "He's found a good one in you, Iris; you're always welcome here, I hope you know, whatever happens, or doesn't."

"Thank you," I whisper because I fear if I talk at a normal volume, my emotions will get the best of me and her words will make me cry. No maternal figure has ever spoken so highly of me, including my own mother. 

~~~~~~

A.N

Hope you love Nathan's family as much as I love them.

Another small chapter is coming next, don't hate me for it! x