Nathan Fields.

When there's no answer after I knock, I open Iris' bedroom door to wake her and my heart warms at the sight in front of me. Bailey is beside her, his head on her bump while they both sleep peacefully.

Bailey's tail begins to thump against the bed as I walk into the room, but he still makes no effort to lift his head from our girl's belly when I take a seat next to him.

He surprised us with his presence on Christmas morning while we were building a snowman in the front yard, with no collar in sight, so we took him in. The next morning we went to a vet to find out who his owners were so they could be reunited, but unfortunately, he had no microchip. We were then given two options by the vet regarding Bailey; they were going to call the nearest shelter to come get him, or we could keep him, as long as we got him microchipped and vaccinated.

We gained yet another family member that day and he's setting in well, especially in this room with Iris.

I'm no stranger to dogs, I love them; I grew up with them and if it wasn't for my job, I would have had one myself by now, but I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't apprehensive at first about taking him in.

In my mind, I kept thinking that soon we'll have two newborns in the house and I have three girls to protect as well, so taking in a stray with no idea of his background or behaviour was a risk. In such a short space of time, though, my anxiety surrounding it had eased because I saw how good he was with the girls. He's truly a gentle giant and already so loyal to Iris; he doesn't leave her side and I can't say I love it.

"You're stealing my girl," I stroke the top of his head and he leans into the palm of my hand, "You're lucky you're cute, Bailey. I wouldn't put up with another man doing this."

A giggle comes from Iris and I quickly look over at her; she's awake and smiling at me, "He's not stealing me, did no one ever teach you to share?"

"Oh, baby," I let out a laugh as I lay down, "I don't like sharing, especially things that are mine."

"Keep talking," she grins at my words, draping her arm around the back of my neck.

I kiss her sweetly, pulling her into me, so we can start this evening alone properly, but Bailey has other ideas when he crawls up the bed, squeezing between us. I look down at him in pure disappointment, "So, you're a cock block too, where's the bro code?"

"Don't be mean to him," she pouts, and I watch in disbelief as she opens her arms for a cuddle off him.

"You're both traitors," I scoff, earning a loud laugh from Iris.

"Dad loves you, I promise," she tells the dog, earning a lick on the cheek.

You won't believe me when I say it's New Year's Eve and it hasn't even been a week since he stumbled into our lives, yet he's this settled in.

"I do," I sigh, stroking the top of his head.

"You don't sound so convincing," she mumbles, smiling at me.

"I do love him, but I'd also love nothing more than to spend this time with my head between your thighs instead of cuddling our new dog."

She blinks at me, speechless and I can't help but chuckle; she's not a prude, nor at all innocent, but every time I say something remotely sexual, she acts like a deer in headlights. I seem to always startle her out of the blue and it amuses me how she's not yet used to it.

"Get used to it, Fields, soon enough we'll have two babies in the world and they'll be feeding off me like I'm a cow; our dog wanting attention will be nothing in comparison," she comes back with and I nod, agreeing; we're not going to have a moment to ourselves once the babies are here, "I can't wait though, I'm ready for them to come, it'll be hard but I'm excited."

I smile in response because I can't bear to agree with her when in reality I'm dreading the day more and more as we await their arrival. I am completely and utterly terrified for the moment they do. I haven't voiced this to Iris, nor am I ever going to because it's my burden to carry, not the mother of my unborn children's. I'm so happy to be having these babies with her and I can't wait to become a father again, but there is nothing that can dust off the constant anxiety I have surrounding their birth and Iris' health following it.

Bailey finally divides his attention to me, leaving slobbery, wet kisses on my cheek and the action causes me to cringe into my shoulder as a laugh rumbles out of me, "Hey, boy."

"He loves you, he just rarely shows it."

"I love him too," I smile at the dog that has greatly changed our family dynamic in the last week.

"When shall we start getting ready?" Iris turns to me to ask.

While Bailey settles on my chest, I reply, "That's why I woke you from your nap, we have three hours until we need to leave, I figure we can go for two hours, show our faces, bring in the new year and come home."

"That's perfect," she admits, touching her bump.

Neither of us is drinking, she's uncomfortably pregnant and I'm not as young as I used to be, so a New Year's party isn't something either of us wants to be at for hours on end. When we were invited, I said we didn't have to go, but she insisted because she wanted to meet more of my teammates, so this was our compromise.

"What are you going to wear?" she asks.

I hadn't thought about it yet, but it's never a hard decision, "Pants and a dress shirt; what about you?"

"I remembered the other day that I still have this brown dress that I bought last year, but it was way too big, so I think I'll be able to squeeze the bump into it and it should hopefully fit," she tells me and I simply just smile at her, "What? What's that look?"

"Nothing," I mumble, "You're just going to look so beautiful, how am I supposed to keep my hands to myself?"

"Maybe you don't have to," she teases and I groan, lying my head on her shoulder. If I could, I certainly would, but I won't publicly put her or myself in a situation like that as tempting as it sounds to do so. "I guess I should shower and start getting ready then."

"Dinner will be ready soon, the enchiladas are in the oven," I'd turned them off before I came upstairs.

"Oh, that sounds incredible, I'm so hungry."

"It's ready to eat if you want it now. We can shower after dinner," I propose the idea since I'm also ready for something to eat; I haven't had anything since I worked out hours ago.

"Let's do it," she nods with a grin, sitting up in bed, which wakes Bailey.

He jumps off the bed and waits by the door for us, wagging his tail happily. I walk over and open the door, "I know, Bailey, it's your dinner time too."

We're dropping Bailey off later with my brother Max and his fiance for the night, so he's with someone when the fireworks are going off because I would hate for him to be alone.

Iris finally stands from the bed and makes her way towards me, "Are the girls at your mom's already?"

"Yeah, she picked them up an hour ago, Amelia went with them too, she promised me she'd stay away from Sam before I even had to ask," I must say it's progress. I don't trust my little brother to stay away from her, he's eighteen years old and full of hormones, but Amelia isn't stupid and I do trust her word.

She laughs, "I'm not worried anymore, baby, she admitted that at first she was intrigued, but assured me she'd never go there and do that to us two because she knows that's weird and uncomfortable; she's now just annoying us by entertaining the fact."

"You don't know how happy that makes me," I tell her, but I'm sure she feels the same way.

I'd hate for something to happen and put a wedge between our families, not when it's just gotten good for us all. Truth be told they deserve better than what they can give each other at their age, especially since she lives in London and he's still in high school. They're both adults, so we can't control anything, nor do we want to, but I'm so relieved to hear this new information.

"So, it's just us two for dinner then?" she asks.

"Bailey too," I chuckle, watching the golden retriever pad to the stairs in front of me, wagging his tail.

"Of course," she says, and without looking back, I know she's smiling at the mention of him.

✯✯✯

Once we have eaten our dinner, Bailey included, he follows Iris back up to her room and I can't help but envy the dude. He gets to sit and watch her shower, whereas I've not yet had the privilege of doing so.

So, yes, I'm jealous of our dog.

I quickly rinse off the soap suds before I step out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my hips and then I head through my closet into my bedroom, the red walls welcoming me.

There's only one room Iris has never seen in this house; strangely enough, it's this one. During the tour when she first moved in, I found it inappropriate to show her my room because back then it was different between us. I figured she'd see it at some point like the optimist I am, but somehow we've never found ourselves coming in here, we're always in her room upstairs.

Iris will be staying here with me when the babies arrive, but as I look around the place, I wonder if she'll even like it.

The walls are a deep shade of maroon which is my second favourite colour, and the four-poster king-sized bed on the centre of the main wall is all black, the headboard and two nightstands aside it, too. That, I think Iris will like, but I don't have any plants, extra furniture, blankets or even photo frames that bring light to it like she does; overall, it's quite boring in comparison. The basicness once brought me comfort, but I can't help now reflecting on Iris' room upstairs and how I can make some changes here for us both.

There's more than enough room around and beside the bed for extra furniture, and there is no harm in some minor decorating if that makes Iris feel more at home.

That's all I want for her.

My eyes flick over to the digital clock on my nightstand, it reads 20:25, giving us a little over an hour until we need to leave.

Once the towel around my hips drops to the floor, I grab my boxers and begin to get ready, so I can take Bailey for a quick walk around the neighbourhood while Iris finishes her makeup.

I've never been fussy with clothes, I practically throw outfits together and they either end up working or they don't. Today is no different, and when I look in the mirror opposite my bed, I'm pleased with how it's come together. I'm wearing grey jeans, a white button-down shirt and a black blazer; it's somewhat casual, but still smart for a New Year's party with my colleagues.

My hair doesn't take much styling, so once I've raked through a small amount of gel, I leave my room and head straight to the bottom of the stairs to yell, "Iris, can you let Bailey out of your room?! I'm taking him on a walk!"

After a few seconds, her bedroom door opens and Bailey's paws pad across the hardwood flooring.

"Bailey, do you wanna go on walkies!?"

Immediately he races across the floors and down the stairs, greeting me at the bottom at record speed.

"Good boy," I rub my hand over his furry head, and he follows me into the mud room where his leash is hung on his coat hook.

Over my blazer, I shrug on my winter coat, protecting my clothes and keeping me warm from the snow outside. Since Christmas, it's been snowing every day and as much as I loved it at the beginning, it's becoming an annoyance now, especially with the roads.

Fifteen minutes later, after Bailey has finished his business, we head back to the house, getting out of the cold weather, which we aren't particularly fans of. I dry his paws with his dog towel and once he's dry, I open the door from the mud room, walking out behind him.

To my surprise, Iris is waiting in the kitchen already and when she spins around to greet us, my heart stills at the sight of her. My feet follow, stopping in my tracks and I take her in.

"Woah," I have no other words.

The dress is perfect, outlining her gorgeous bump and I can't help but admire how she looks in it. It's a soft brown, knee-high, sleeved dress and has a slit in the left leg that isn't high enough to accidentally flash anyone.

"You're so fucking gorgeous," I walk over to her, and with a large smile, she takes my face in her hands, pulling me in for a kiss.

The kiss wraps me up in a haze, blurring any rational thought I may possess, but when her tongue swipes over mine, I have to put a stop to the passion, so I don't lose control and fuck her on the sofa behind us.

"And you look very fucking handsome," she says once we part, mumbling the words against my lips.

My hands drift down her body, keeping her close to me, "Can we not stay in? Celebrate in our way?"

"As much as I'd love to, Olivia is going to be there tonight and I can't wait to see her," she tells me, a smile finding its way on her face at the mention of our friend. Iris and Olivia have a lovely friendship, something I couldn't possibly be happier about, but right now I'd wish anything in the world for that to not be the case, so we could stay in and I could have her to myself.

"Let's not waste any time then; have you got everything?" I check.

"Yep, I'm ready," she grins, picking up her purse.

While I lock up the house and set the security, Iris gets in the car, buckling herself in. I help Bailey onto the backseats, putting the bag of his things in with him before I shut the door and slid into my seat.

"Are you ready?" she checks.

"I hope so," I don't think there's anything I've forgotten. It can't be important if I have.

✯✯✯

"Oh, I missed you," Olivia greets Iris with a hug, pulling away to say, "Look at you; you're glowing."

"Don't be fooled, I look like a whale most of the time, this is a rare sight," she shrugs off the compliment, and I can't help but frown at her words. She's always glowing, even when she's just wearing one of my shirts, I've never seen pregnancy look so good on a woman.

I slip my hand around her waist, keeping her close to me because as midnight nears, it's getting busier in here. My coworker Michael and his wife decided to host this year's party in their home, but I don't think they took into consideration how many people would turn up.

We've been here over an hour already, not that it's felt so because I've been catching up with people and introducing Iris to them, so we haven't had a single minute to ourselves.

"You look gorgeous any day of the week, baby, don't put yourself down," I say in Iris' ear so she can hear me properly over the loud music and conversation.

She looks up with a gentle smile, "I try not to."

"I'll continue to tell you just how beautiful you are until you don't have to try anymore," it's a promise.

There's nothing I hate more than hearing Iris speak badly about herself; Elise too, she's getting to that age now where she's pulling apart her appearance and it guts me to hear because she's only eight.

"Do you both want a drink getting?" Dan asks his attention mostly on me.

"We're okay for drinks, I'm driving us home," I decline, "Thank you, though."

"No problem, I'll be right back," he leaves, heading through the crowd of people.

Olivia watches Dan as he disappears into the kitchen before her attention is back on Iris and me, "So, how's preparing for the babies coming along?"

"We have a lot of stuff, don't we?" Iris chuckles, looking at me with a smile, "We just haven't built any of it, nor taken a single thing out of the packaging. We're doing the nursery soon though."

"Yeah, either next week or the one after that," it's all dependent on the days I'm working and we're still waiting for the cribs to be delivered.

"I loved decorating my son's nursery; nothing beats the feeling," Olivia sighs, reminiscing I assume.

"Are you planning on having more?" Iris asks.

"Dan and I agreed that anytime after Noah's first birthday we'd try for another," she answers, clearly happy and ready for their future child. Noah's eight months old now, so it's not too far away.

There's no telling if Iris and I will be having more after the twins, we haven't spoken about it. I'm certainly in no rush and I don't think she will be either, we'll have our hands full enough with five at home.

A total of six kids doesn't sound too bad, though.

Soon enough Dan joins us with a beer in his hand and a wine cooler for his wife, "I hope that's okay, darling, there wasn't much choice."

"It's perfect, thank you," she replies, cracking open the can.

When I lift my wrist to check the time, I'm shocked when I see 23:52 staring back at me.

"It's eight minutes until midnight," I tell Iris and she frowns back at me, shocked too.

"That's gone fast, what the fuck," she unscrews the bottle of water we've been sharing to take a sip.

Time keeps going by too fast and not just tonight, but in general. Every December thirty-first I find it hard to believe a full year has passed, but this year especially has sped by. I first met Iris in July and we're about to head into a new year together; the last five months have simply gone nowhere.

Conversion builds up between us all again, speaking about our kids and the next thing we know, the countdown to New Year begins to chime through the speakers, cutting us all off.

"I can't wait for next year," Iris tells me, draping her arms around my neck, "But I couldn't be more thankful to have met you in this one, for moving in with you, for meeting your girls and for these babies."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," I admit, my hands resting on her waist, "Onto bigger and better things, baby."

"That's right," she grins.

"Ten! Nine..." the countdown rings around us.

We share bright smiles and as the words, "Happy New Year," leave everyone's mouth in a cheer, I pull Iris in for a kiss. My hand comes to her cheek and before we fully pull away, we smile against each other's lips.

"Happy New Year, handsome," she says to me.

"And Happy New Year to you, too, my love." 

~~~~~

A/N

I'll admit, this is the chapter that gave me insane writer's block and I didn't finish it for thirteen days, so blame this, not me. 

I'm still not happy with the end result, but I hope it's okay. Let me know if it's shit!

Lots of love!

Also my birthday is on New Year's Eve so I love this celebration, but I'm just horrible at writing it apparently haha.