Nathan Fields.

Four kids; I'm going to be a father to four now. I didn't lie when I told Iris I always wanted a big family; I come from one myself, being one of six children, but four children as a single father is quite daunting though I'd never admit it. If I didn't have the support I do have, I would have drowned before now.

What's worse is I still don't know if Iris is staying, and if she doesn't, then everything is so much more complicated than it already is. How am I supposed to be a good dad to my baby who lives on the opposite side of the country? I simply cannot.

My Apple watch beeps, letting me know my time is up in the gym; I work out four times a week, twice a day if I can - it helps that I don't have to leave my house and it's just downstairs in the basement. I can get a workout in before any of the kids even wake up.

I shut off the lights after cleaning up and head upstairs to jump in the shower. By the time I'm out and back in the kitchen, it's seven AM and Elise and Addie will be awake soon for school; Nova however should still sleep for a bit, as she always does. I start fixing breakfast for myself before I wake them.

Mid-pouring milk into a bowl of cereal, my phone beeps with a message and after shoving a spoonful in my mouth, I check it.

Iris: 'hi if the room is still available for me, i'd really appreciate it. i'm still looking for places in the city, so i shouldn't be in your hair for too long. oh and i have a doctors appointment, the soonest one was in two weeks which is better than i was expecting, they've prescribed me some folic acid as well'

A smile comes to my lips as I read her message, and I put my spoon down to reply.

Me: 'The room is yours, when do you want to move in? Also, two weeks is amazing, how's the morning sickness been?'

I don't have to wait too long for her reply.

Iris: 'it's not the best, but i'm okay, and thank you for the room, is friday okay? i know two days is short notice'

Me: 'Friday is good, any time around noon is okay with me'

Iris: 'perfect thank you again!'

I finish my cereal off, rinsing the bowl before going up to wake Elise and Addie for another day of school, and to also tell them about our new roommate.

✯✯✯

The two days waiting on Iris go by like seconds, using up any spare time I have between the gym and being a father to make her room as welcoming as possible. I only remember a few details about her apartment, so after going back and forth, I decided to just leave her to decorate; it was her room after all, but I made sure it was nice enough for her.

Nervous would be an understatement; I'm glad she's moving in here, and I want her to, but the nerves that come with another woman living in this house and being introduced to my children, scares the living shit out of me. The girls' reaction to Iris moving in was surprising, I thought my sassy four-year-old, Addie would at least have something to say, but she didn't, not negatively anyway, all of them were excited to meet someone new, especially Elise. Nova's still too young to understand anything, but I'm sure she's excited about a new face around here.

The doorbell rings and I rush to answer, tripping slightly in the process before opening the door to meet Iris, her face paler than the last time I saw her.

"Hey," she breathes out, dropping a massive bag down in front of her, "I, um, just need a second, need to breathe."

"You stay, I'll grab the rest," I offer.

"You don't have to; there's only two bags, the boxes can stay in there," she shakes her head.

"Are you sure? I can grab them as well," I insist, considering she is carrying my baby and all.

"The boxes are just kitchen kind of stuff; the bags are all I need for now; thank you, though," she manages a smile while catching her breath.

I grab the two bags from her back seat, shutting the door behind and as I make my way back over to her, she locks the car with her keys.

"Well, Iris, welcome to the madhouse; I'll give you a tour," I lead the way into the house.

"It's massive, do you not get lost?" she jokes.

"You'll get the hang of it, don't worry."

As you enter through the front door, to the left there's the dining room we rarely use and to the right, the study, but we continue through to the open plan living room and kitchen. The double doors at the back, illuminate our outdoor kitchen and backyard.

"Woah, this is gorgeous," she mutters, "I can't believe you saw my apartment and willingly stayed."

I laugh, "Iris, I grew up in an apartment much like yours, I know I wouldn't have anything like this if not for my career."

She smiles and we move on with the tour. To the left of the kitchen, there's a door where I show her the laundry room and mud room, which also leads to outside. I explain the basement is where my home gym is and she's more than welcome to use it, but to keep the baby gates locked.

"Oh, we have two double garages, this door leads to the one you can put your car in, the other is my junk garage and Santa's grotto," I also add the latter.

"Okay, perfect, can I put my boxes in your junk garage," she finds herself amused by that, and I quirk my brow, "Well, I just didn't think you'd have junk in a house like this."

"I have three kids, sweetheart, there's more junk than you think, you don't even want to see the attic."

She laughs, following me back through to the kitchen, and I lead the way into the first bedroom, to the right of the kitchen.

"This is Elise's room, she has a bathroom and a walking closet; everything a seven-year-old doesn't need, but she isn't going to be seven forever and it's the second biggest, so it was only fair for her to get it," I explain, but I don't think Iris is going to judge me for giving my girls the best, "All of my girls are on this floor with me, the three spare rooms are upstairs, so as I said, you will be getting your privacy."

"You have three spare rooms?"

"Well after today, only one," I correct, because it's true.

"What's the other room for?"

"The baby," I point out obviously.

"Nathan, I don't want to outstay my welcome, I hopefully will have found a place by the time the little one is here, there's no need."

"If you are here or not, they will still need a room; of course, if you're not here, I'll do some moving around so they're closer to me, maybe Elise will get the dream of having an upstairs room, but either or, this baby will be having a room inevitably."

"Oh, yeah," she whispers, like the idea that I'm stepping up to be the baby's father has only just dawned on her, "Thank you, really, I appreciate it."

"C'mon, I'll show you the rest."

Passing the living room, I show her the main bathroom, which holds a bath with shower, and two sink basins. It is solely used as the youngest girls' bathroom because they don't have an ensuite and it's nearest to their rooms. As you exit, to the left is Nova's room, the youngest of the bunch. It's not the smallest, but it's the closest to mine and when she was younger, I needed her closer. Then the one to the right is Addie's, she didn't care about the size of her room, but she did love the window seat, so it was a win-win situation; I didn't have to deal with tears.

"So, those are the girls' rooms, my room is down there, it's nothing special, I just have a bigger closet," I joke, because it's true, granted it is for two people, not one.

"I can't believe we're only on the first floor."

"We'll go up now, let's grab your things and I'll show you to your room first." We go back through to the hallway and pick the bags up, and I lead the way. I turn towards her as we get upstairs, "Again, if Nova is up here, not that she will be without me anyway, but the baby gate should be shut, same with downstairs, but don't worry about that."

"Got it, noted," she nods, following me.

"This is our more chilled living room, comfier sofas and chairs, it's where our nights usually are, where we watch television," I explain, because it certainly isn't normal to have two living rooms. I turn to my right, "That end door leads to the attic, and then there's the playroom, so if you ever wondered where's all the toys, that's where."

She laughs, "I won't lie, I was concerned about how tidy it is and that there are no toys with three kids."

"They're all in there, of course, they're sometimes in this living room, but the girls know to put everything back before bedtime. But I'll show you that later, I'll show you your room now."

Her room is at the very bottom of the hall, and I open the door but allow her to walk in first.

"Woah, it's..." she spins towards me, "Did you get inspiration from my place?"

"Guilty," I shrug, "I wanted you to feel at home, I know some decor won't change that, but I do hope it helps."

The walls are cream as is the rest of the house, but I bought a new rectangular dusty blue shag rug that is half under her bed, half out; a cute lamp, some picture frames she can fill, a plant in one of the corners, and a replica of the cute little chair she had in the corner of her room.

"Oh, I love it, Nathan, thank you so much," she wraps me in a hug, catching me off guard. I hug her back, though, and appreciate the sudden affection, but it doesn't last long until she steps out of my hold, "Sorry, it just came over me, but thank you, I appreciate this all so much."

"It's more than okay, Iris, I'm happy to have you here," I stress so she knows that she isn't burdening anyone by being here. "Oh, the door to the left is a closet, to the right is your bathroom; you do have a bath with shower, but you can use the walk-in showers in the spare rooms at any time if you need to."

"I prefer baths, it's perfect, thank you again; I don't think I could thank you enough," she says, looking around the room.

"You're growing my kid, that's more than enough," I point out and she smiles, putting her hand on her flat stomach, "Almost seven weeks, right?"

"Seven weeks tomorrow, yeah," she sighs, "I don't know how women cope feeling like this every day for almost ten months, I'm ready to dip within a week of knowing."

"It should get easier in your second trimester," I hope those words comfort her.

"I hope so, I've been so sick this week."

If she hadn't said, I would have guessed by her appearance; she looks amazing because she's Iris, but she looks tired and washed out; the baby is definitely taking it out of her.

"I'll show you the rest of the rooms and then I'll leave you be so you can settle in."

I explain the room next to hers is a home theatre but it's rarely used, so it stays locked from the kids. I showed her the nearly identical spare rooms, one which will be the baby's, the other for my sister when she stays, and then I finished the tour by showing her the playroom.

"Oh, now this does have character, they're so lucky!" she gushes, walking towards the princess's castle, "This is every little girl's dream."

"I am not to blame for this, blame Laura," I joke, but she still winces at the reminder of my sister and how badly she misinterpreted the phone call last month.

The playroom has a sofa for me to sit on when they're playing, or if any of them want to join me they can, but the rest of the room is complete chaos. The princess castle is something they can enter, so the size does take a lot of the room up, but their toys fill the remaining. They are lucky, but they certainly are not spoiled, they don't have phones, they don't have iPads, a television is the most technology my kids use, and even then they rarely watch it.

"Don't judge me if you see me in there with them while I can still fit," she says, and I don't believe she's joking at all.

"No judgment at all."

Before I can say I'll leave her to settle in, the front door opens and the sound of sweet giggles echos up the stairs, alerting me that we really did lose track of time and my girls are home.

"Dad, where are you!?"

I laugh, "That's Elise, I should go down, you don't-"

"I want to," she nods, pulling her hoodie over her stomach a little more, "Does Laura know?"

I assume she means about the baby, "No, not yet, not until we're ready."

"Okay, good," she lets out a breath, "I'm good, I'm ready to meet them."

So, I lead the way. 

~~~

Meet the girls next chapter <3

Hope you're enjoying so far!