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CAM POV

"Ow?!"

I grimace in confusion, staring at the deep slice right under the fingers of my left hand. Thorns. It's always the rose thorns—or prickles, whatever you want to call it. Whatever it is has my hand pouring a fresh stream of blood, right back into the Earth. I watch as it drips onto the grass, then sinks beyond the dirt. I focus on it for a moment, intrigued, and then I snap out of it. I take a look at my surroundings for a clue on where that thorn came from, and I see only a single rose laying on the grass beside me. I don't have a rose bush, so I don't know where that came from.

Now slightly creeped out, and very curious, I place my mini shovel at the edge of the planting holes that I'm digging. They're to start up my new, fresh garden for the upcoming spring season. I've only gotten a few in because of my paralyzed arm, but I absolutely refuse any help. Late gardening is my therapy, and it's the perfect time for me to clear my head. Alone. Almost everyday around 7:30, right when the kids are about to go to sleep. I get some time away from everything, and just reflect on how blessed I am with this life. I don't know why I need privacy to reflect on my blessings, but part of me feels like it's because I can't believe that after all we've been through—we've finally made it. Finally made it to peace.

"Anthony," I smile, walking into our home. Our beautiful home. Anthony let me pick. He told me whichever house I wanted, I was gonna get. When the babies were born, I found the perfect home right in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn. Six bedrooms. Six bathrooms. A large, beautiful yard space, and a backyard space that is so abundant in vines, leaves, flowers, and all kinds of plants. It was perfect, and it was mine—ours.

And speaking of plants, there goes the man of my life sitting on the couch, with rose petals all over his clothes. And though it sounds romantic, the three terrors surrounding him who are ripping the leaves off the stem, then throwing them onto his clothes, make it very obvious that this is everything but romantic. And I still don't know where those roses came from. And Ant doesn't seem to have a clue either.

"Get your kids," He mumbles, shaking his head. It's like perfect timing. At that moment our son Ace hits Ant's arm with the stem, causing the thorn to scrape the skin of his arm, causing a bit of blood to come to the surface. Talk about coincidence.

Anthony grabs the stem from Ace, "Come on, time for bed. All y'all," he says like that was his last straw. I laugh at the look on his face—over it, unimpressed, and tired. I thank God for my husband because he willingly deals with the triplets uncontrollable energy before they go to bed, just so I can catch a break.

"No!" Tamiyah screams.

"No!" Ace copies her.

"Mm!" Takiyah follows, making her own noise that means no. "Mm, Mm, Mm," she repeats, hitting her head against Anthony's chest. I laugh at her, and Anthony can't help himself but to smile a bit.

I grab Takiyah off of Anthony's lap, and hold her in my arms, "Okay Kya, shh, shh, shh," I smile, soothing my almost two year old baby that's extremely upset at her daddy for telling her it's bedtime. I playfully shake my head at Anthony is disappointment.

Because Kya is the way that she is, she jumps out of my arms and runs off to the kitchen, causing Ace and Mya to follow her, all trying to avoid going to bed.

"Same thing every fuckin day," Ant sighs, getting off the couch to go get the kids. I wait a couple of seconds before making my way over there too—really to make him do all the harder work.

By the time I get into the kitchen it doesn't look like he needs my help. But, it doesn't look like he's got everything under control either. It looks like the triplets were able to put Anthony under their spell—the proof being the way that they're sitting on the kitchen counter, each with one of the fresh baked brownies I made earlier, squished in their little hands, with chocolate all over their faces.

"Anthony," I scold seriously. He knows they do not need to be eating brownies right before they go to bed. He must want them to be up all night, especially with Tamiyah's stubbornness.

Ant blatantly ignores me, playfully chewing on Ace's cheek instead as our baby giggles away.

I walk up to them with my hands on my hips. Both my hands. I thank God for the day my arm started moving again. Right before my babies were born, too. I don't know how I would have managed three babies with one arm. Of course I had Anthony, but for the times that he's working or whatever the case is, I was worried that I'd struggle to keep up with three babies at once. But one day, I woke up and my arm was moving perfectly normal. I was so happy.

"No no. No sweets right before bed," I say, looking at our kids who are currently too busy stuffing more brownies into their mouths. First, they all give me this blank stare. Then Kya starts to cry. Then Mya is next. Then Ace finally completes the crying trio, brownies slowly falling out of all of their hands. Oh God, now I'm the bad guy.

"Nah, daddy said you could have it," Anthony interjects, etching them on to eat the brownies by shoving their hands towards their mouths. They waste no time in chewing on the brownies again, while they're still crying.

I give Anthony a look. A look that says 'seriously?' "You're putting them to bed," I say. Now when they get a sugar rush I don't want to hear it.

"You got it all out on the counter. They seen it so how I'mma say no," He says, now caressing Kya's head.

"But how did they get up on the counter. They could only see it if someone picked them up, and placed them on the counter. They're like two feet tall."

Anthony shrugs, "Ion know," he mumbles, now pinching Tamiyah's nose. I wish that I could stand here and continue to pretend to be mad, but I'm not mad even a little bit. These days the only emotion I feel is grateful, so something as simple as my babies enjoying an uncommon late night treat could never throw me off track. A smile sneaks it's way onto my lips. I reach over for the tray of brownies that are almost gone. Tyler came over earlier and ate almost half the brownies. Leah and Aj took two each then disappeared off to their rooms like three hours ago, as usual. I had one earlier, the triplets each had one earlier, and Mr. 'I don't like sweets' refused to eat any.

"Mm," Ant raises his eyebrows when he sees that even I can't resist a brownie at this time of night. Oh well. Everyone is a hypocrite once in a while.

"Did you give Kya her meds yet?" I freeze and ask as I'm mid bite. Anthony shakes his head. It's no big deal, she just has to take it at night before she goes to bed.

As we stand in front of the triplets, patiently waiting for them to finish their brownies, Ant gently wraps an arm around my waist. I mindlessly lean into him, keeping my hand on the counter to spot the kids, just in case. I don't want them to hurt themselves. Whenever they do hurt themselves, I can barely breathe. It's weird, and it sounds exaggerated, but it's true. I can't breathe when my babies get hurt which  is why I'm keeping my left hand up on the counter.

"Eat some," I beg Ant, holding the brownie up to his lips. He turns his head away. Rude.

"I'm good baby," he says.

"Come on, one bite." I always try and convince him to finally like sweets. But there's not one dessert that I've made that Anthony will eat, except for when I bake boring cake with reduced sugar. That's what he tolerates. Plain, low sugar cake. Where is the fun in that.

And like I thought, Ant refuses again at first, but Tamiyah's little hand starts to push the brownie in my hand towards him.

"Daddy. Brownie," she says.

"Daddy brownie," Ace says.

"You want daddy to eat the brownie?" I etch on.

"Yes." "Yes, brownie." "Daddy," comes from the triplets simultaneously, and since Takiyah is not verbal yet, she does her little screams that I assume is her joining in on the bicker.

I hold the brownie up to Anthony's lips, waiting for him to take a bite. He glances over at the triplets who are all giggling on the counter, finding joy in this. Anthony finally musters enough courage to take a bite of my brownie for the sake of the babies happiness, and possibly mine. I grin as he chews with an unreadable expression on his face. I know he probably hates it. I shake my head, pulling the brownie away from him until he grabs my arm and shocks me by taking another bite.

I audibly gasp with a big smile on my face, the triplets laughing and squealing in the back, "Shit good baby, ain't gon lie," he mumbles, heading to the fridge, "I need water but it's straight," he grabs a water bottle from the fridge, downing the whole thing when he's done.

"You liked it?!" I question in excitement.

Anthony laughs at me. No, this is a big deal. "Yeah," He says.

"Aww. So for your birthday, do you want a brownie cake?" His birthday is next week, and I've been trying to figure out what I could do for him. He doesn't want to go anywhere, he doesn't want a party. He just claims that for his birthday, he wants to spend the day with me alone. Drop the kids off at Tyler's house and spend time together at home and off work. But, that's so boring.

Ant shakes his head, "I ain't like it that fucking much," he says. My jaw drops and I playfully hit him for two reasons. One because he's so rude. And second because I told him a million times already to stop swearing in front of the kids.

"That fuck much," I hear from the counter. See. Ace picked up on that quick. And he's smiling about it too.

"That fuck much," Tamiyah repeats. "That fuck much."

I sigh deeply, and just stare at Anthony who is staring at the triplets with an observant look on his face. I told him to stop. I did.

"Aight, time for bed," he says. Oh really?

"Mm, time for bed huh?" I frown at him with my arms crossed. The damage has already been done. Sleep won't fix it.

Ant picks up Takiyah and Tamiyah, and I pick up Ace. They're all done with their brownies so there isn't any screaming. Plus, they're all clearly very tired.

We make our way to the bathroom first so that we can bathe them and brush their teeth before bed. Of course bathtime doesn't go by smoothly, because as soon as the water goes off and they're dried, all three of them run off to God knows where. Now I have three kids running all over the place.

"But brownies before bedtime right?" I scold Anthony. He kisses his teeth, knowing that I was right the entire time.

We eventually catch the kids. Takiyah fell and scraped her knee while running away, so while I was cleaning her up and giving her her meds, Ant dealt with Tamiyah and Ace. Soon all three of them are laying down in their beds, still wide awake. They share a big room that has three beds, so I focus on Takiyah again as Ant tries to put Tamiyah to sleep. Ace is a bit more calm, so he's just laying there staring at us.

"Go to sleep baby," Ant says as he rubs Tamiyah's back. It's like a magic spell, because Tamiyah's eyes begin to flutter closed. Ant kisses her face as she grabs onto his ear for comfort. Finally her arm drops from Ants ear, and Ant backs up revealing our sleeping beauty, who looks just like her daddy. I don't know what it is about him, but he always gets the kids to sleep much faster than I do. I think it's because they listen to him more, for obvious reasons.

Ant stands up, going to Ace now.

"I love daddy," Ace says out of the blue. My heart.

"Daddy love you," Ant says back, going to put Ace to sleep, but he starts to whine.

"Papa," Ace reaches out for me, grasping with his little hand. With that, Ant and I switch. He grabs Takiyah from me then I sit next to Ace, rubbing his back for him to sleep. I know he'll be out in two minutes, he loves to sleep. So much so that it's hard to wake him up in the morning.

One Ace's eyes are closed, I kiss him goodnight, and make sure I tuck the blanket in well. I look over and see that Ant is hooking Takiyah up to her CPAP machine to help with her breathing and respiratory issues so that she can get enough oxygen as she sleeps. She's okay during the day, but she has to wear the machine every single night in order for enough oxygen to be getting in her lungs.

It took me a long time to have Takiyah sleep in a room with her siblings. I had her stuck to my side of the bed for months on end. But to help with my anxiety, the doctor suggested that I get a baby camera, put her in her own bed with her CPAP machine, and ease my mind. It's been six months since then, and she loves being in a room with her brother and sister, and everything has been smooth sailing so far. Her breathing is actually getting better. So, I guess that was the right decision to make, as hard as it was.

As soon as Anthony kisses her forehead, she's fast asleep, snoring away. I think Anthony and I have the same problem, because we don't leave without going back to kiss who we missed—me with Kya and Mya, and him with Ace. Then finally, we leave their room, closing the door behind us.

Now it's time for papa and daddy to go unwind from a long day. The triplets are sleeping, Aj and Leah are in their rooms probably already relaxed, so now we're the only ones left that need to.

We go back downstairs for a little while so that Ant can go eat dinner. After his long day at work from tattooing about six different people, he came straight home and took over for me, encouraging me to go to "my lil' flowers and sh*t" as he calls it. The triplets require being chased around all day, so he never got a chance to settle down.

I set a full plate down in front of Ant who hasn't taken his eyes off of me once. "So weird," I joke, caressing his head. He smiles, then finally takes his eyes off of me to eat, immediately complimenting my cooking.

I can never leave my husband alone, so instead of sitting down with him patiently like I probably should be, I get behind him, and interrupt him by pulling his head back and kissing his forehead. My hands trail down his neck, then they rest on his shoulder muscles.

"Thank you baby," Ant says as I massage his shoulders.

"Of course," I sigh with a smile. He deserves it. He deserves whatever he wants, honestly.

Ant turns his around for a kiss, so I kiss him. "I love you," he says, "You so good to me."

My hands travel from his shoulders, then down his chest. I'm purposefully sending a very clear sign. "Because you're even better to me," I say truthfully. We kiss again, and when he turns around to face his plate, I kiss on his jawline. Ant laughs at me, probably knowing why I'm so touchy feely tonight. Listen, as long as he's getting the right signals.

When Anthony is done he goes off to shower, right after he left stinging, yet enticing pain on my backside. I stay downstairs to tidy up the kitchen and living room a little bit. When I'm done, I hesitantly join him in the shower upon his request.

Ever since carrying three babies, my body hasn't been the same. There's only so much snapping back one can do. My post baby body will never allow me to look like how I did when I was a teen, or even early twenties despite me carrying the twins. Those three munchkins really did a number on me. I was scared to look at myself in the mirror a lot of the time, and I was especially scared to have Ant look at my body. I still am sometimes, but I like to think that I'm secure enough in our love to know that Anthony would never leave me, or think I'm ugly, regardless of what my body looks like. And besides, the reward for my body changing is more that enough.

Ant smirks at me as I step in, looking me up and down, making me blush, "Stop,"

He buries his head in the crook of my neck, kissing me there as he grips on the back of my thighs. He always, always,  always gets me to lose my track of thought. So much so that it takes us five minutes to get back to actually showering. We're done in about forty five minutes, fifteen of those minutes being spent washing Anthony's hair. It's time for fresh braids. He got a shape up yesterday, so it's unfortunately time as much as I love his messy braids. But fortunately for me, Ant could be bald and would still be the epitome of a perfect man.

When we're dressed in our night attire—me in a big t-shirt and underwear, and Ant shirtless with sweat shorts—I sit on our bedroom chair and Anthony sits on the floor between my legs, with the tv on the sports channel. Already having blow dried his hair, and begin to part and braid his hair into his traditional style.

Anthony is occupying himself by barely glancing up at the TV, paying more attention to the foot massage he's giving me.

I part through the back section of his hair, "Babe." I call. He hums.

"Do you think Ace and Mya are ready for daycare? So they could socialize?" I ask him. It's something that's been on my mind for a while. We have two nannies that go over to Tyler's house to watch the triplets until I go pick them up. She also watches Tyler's baby, and Zaniyah's baby. Those ladies are amazing, but I've been reading up on some articles that say how a good daycare is a good option for developing minds.

Ant doesn't seem to care about any of those articles though, "They not daycare-ing shit," he answers. Well, there goes that. He makes the final decisions.

"Okay," I laugh. They'll socialize in kindergarten then, as long as Ant doesn't advocate for home schooling. Which actually isn't too bad of an idea, especially since Kya will be receiving her services from home.

"They gon come home with bruises and what you expect from me," he explains. I didn't even consider that part. Kids play rough, but Ant is very protective, so if they get hurt over there, he'll make a very big deal out of it. And when Anthony's angry, people have the tendency to over react out of fear so next thing we know, the cops will be called and it'll be a whole big thing. So yeah, maybe it's best for them to stay home.

I nod, "You're right."

Ant goes back to massaging me, and I focus on finishing his hair. I get to the last section of loose hair at 9:55, and by 9:57 it's braided. I carefully oil up his scalp, and then brush down the hair that he lined up. Now he has fresh neat braids, and is looking handsome as ever.

"Done," I tell him. Before getting up, he kisses my leg briefly, then thanks me. "Go look," I continue, staring at his chest as he stands in front of me, shirtless and so breathtakingly handsome.

"Ion need to," he swiftly picks me up from the chair. I wrap my legs around him, clinging onto his neck tightly. He always says he