"Hold still, princess."

Carefully, and with extreme concentration, Xavier held Ayla's tiny foot in his lap, keeping his hold on her gentle. With delicate strokes and care, he began painting her tiny toes a purple color, per the princess's request.

The room was filled with complete silence as each of the boys focused on the tasks at hand. Xavier and Xander were each tasked with painting her toenails, while Elijah, Jared, and Jayden focused on her fingers.

Even the twins, who were never fond of the silence, focused intently, wanting to make their little sister happy.

With the boys all surrounding her, Ayla sat at the center of it all, sitting very still on her pink miniature stool. She glanced at her fingers, watching as her uncle and twin brothers coated her fingernails with her favorite pink and rose sparkly colored nail polish, before peering down at her dad and oldest brother as they continued to gently paint her toenails. Her long brown hair, which she had gotten from her mother, cascaded over her shoulders, having gotten loose from the scrunchie again.

"Let me get that for ya, princess," Elijah chuckled, pausing on his task to fix up her hair. He gently pushed her hair away from her face, before grabbing the fallen scrunchie and smoothly tying her hair into a low ponytail. He then readjusted the side slips on her hair that held her bangs up, keeping her baby hair away from her face. "All better."

Ayla gave her uncle a cheeky grin, immediately making Elijah's heart melt as he went back to painting her left hand a sparkly rose color.

Silence filled the room once again, but it was soon gone as soon as it came.

"Hey, it's my turn," Jayden nudged Jared, glaring at his twin.

"No, you just had your turn," retorted Jared, nudging his twin back.

They continued to go back and forth until Xavier spoke up, causing the twins to freeze.

"Boys," warned Xavier, making both boys look up at their dad. "We're sharing remember— you two wouldn't want to mess it up after your hard work, would you?"

"Bubba, no fight," pouted Ayla, looking at her brothers with her big doe-like eyes.

Sighing with defeat, Jared handed his brother the bottle of polish, and immediately a happy grin spread on Jayden's face. Xavier, noticing the sulky expression on Jared's face, gestured for his son to come closer to him.

"That was very nice of you to let your brother have a turn, bud," praised Xavier, moving Ayla's foot so that Jared could sit on his lap. "How about you help me with the purple?"

"Okay, papa!"

Immediately a wide grin took its place, clearing away any signs of sulkiness from Jared's expression. Xavier handed the bottle of purple polish to Jared, before gently holding Ayla's foot so that Jared could paint her toes.

From the corner of his eye, Elijah couldn't help but admire his older brother and how he handled the kids. Sure, Xavier was still the same brooding and ruthless man when it came to work and outsiders, but when it came to Aurora and the kids, he was putty.

It was evident that Xavier would do anything for his family, a trait that Elijah couldn't help but admire and want. One day he would have this, and he would be sure to cherish every single moment.

He just had to find his girl first.

After 30 more minutes of nonstop painting, which took way longer than what it would've taken Aurora if she had been the one to paint Ayla's nails, the boys stood up, stretching their backs and legs after crouching for a long time.

"All done, princess," Smiled Xavier, helping Ayla stand up as she tried to carefully not mess up her brother, dad, and uncle's hard work. "Let's get you seated on the couch so it can dry, okay?"

"Okay, daddy," Ayla grinned happily, as she looked at her fingers, for the nth time. Sparkly nail polish was definitely her favorite.

Xander helped his little sister up to the couch, before propping her tiny legs up onto one of his mother's favorite pillows. The twins each held an arm and placed them each on a pillow so that they were also elevated, making sure not to accidentally touch the still drying polish.

Xander ran to the kitchen like he was on a mission. Xavier could hear the refrigerator door open and close, followed by the dragging of a chair on the marbled tiles. A few minutes later, Xander carefully walked back into the living room with Ayla's favorite pink Frozen cup filled with orange juice that he had no doubt spilled onto the counter.

Carefully climbing onto the couch, he took his seat next to Ayla, bringing the cup and straw to Ayla's mouth who immediately began to drink the juice with a happy grin on her face.

"Thank you, bubba," whispered Ayla, leaning her head on Xander's shoulder as she sighed happily. Xander smiled, holding her hand so that the polish wouldn't smear on his clothes, before placing a kiss on her forehead, making her giggle.

From the kitchen, more rustling could be heard and soon, the twins emerged with snacks in their hands, wanting to give Ayla some of her favorites.

Jayden held a packet of strawberry Pocky in his hands, knowing Ayla's favorite color was pink, and Jared held a small bag of gummy bears in his. Seeing the snacks in her brothers' hands, Ayla immediately lifted her head, a giddy grin on her face.

The twins took their seats, surrounding Ayla, and began to feed Ayla some of the snacks. It was amusing to watch since the twins seemed to be enjoying and munching on the snacks more than Ayla, who was more entranced by the cartoons playing on the large flat-screen TV.

Watching the scene unfold in front of them, Xavier and Elijah couldn't help but chuckle. The boys were all working together to make Ayla as comfortable as possible.

She really was the princess of the family.

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

With a tired sigh, Aurora kicked off her heels, sighing in content as she felt the cool marble against her sore feet.

It was supposed to be her day off, but a client had called her in for a meeting in which she had no choice but to attend. And throughout the day, she couldn't help but have missed her boys and Ayla, not to mention her loving husband.

As Aurora ventured through the hallway and got closer to the living room, she couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious.

The house was quiet— almost too quiet.

But as soon as she turned the corner, she couldn't help but melt at the sight in front of her. The television remained muted, but still illuminated the figures on the couch.

Xavier laid with his eyes closed on the couch with the twins and Xander dog-piled on top of him in a peaceful slumber. Xander was laying on Xavier's stomach with his feet up onto the back of the couch. Each of the twins was laying in the crook of Xavier's arms, and more specifically, Jared, being the wild sleeper, was laying with his feet on Xander's stomach.

But what caught her attention, was Elijah napping on the other couch, with Ayla sleeping on his chest, soundly. She looked so small compared to Elijah's large build and Aurora couldn't help but be in awe at how cute the scene in front of her was. Seeing how good Elijah was with his nieces and nephews, Aurora just knew he was surely going to be an amazing father in the future.

Quietly and keeping the noise to a minimum, she turned the TV off before making her way to where Elijah and Ayla were laying. Grabbing the fallen throw blanket, she gently covered the two, making sure that they wouldn't get cold. Up close, she immediately noticed the spotty colors on Ayla's nails, knowing that the boys had a little too much fun pampering their princess earlier in the afternoon.

Aurora was quite impressed. Despite having areas where the boys had missed the color, they had done a pretty good job keeping the mess to a minimum. She was even sure Ayla loved it.

Leaning down, she placed a kiss on Ayla's forehead before brushing some hair away from her peaceful face. Aurora couldn't help but chuckle at Elijah's open mouth as he let out a small snore that seemed to not bother Ayla at all.

Moving to the other couch, she, too, draped the boys with another soft throw blanket, before placing a kiss on each of her boys' forehead, including Xavier. They looked so peaceful, and knowing Xavier was probably tired from looking after the kids, Aurora quickly but quietly made her way to the master bedroom to change into one of Xavier's shirts.

Tying her hair into a messy bun, Aurora entered the kitchen, knowing full on that there was only a little time before the pack of hungry wolves would wake up. Thankfully, dinner wouldn't be too difficult, as she decided that they would have hotpot for dinner, which was pretty easy to set up. Her mother had recently stopped by with some broth, and using that, all she had to do was get everything else ready.

Aurora quickly began to prepare the ingredients, being extra careful with the knife. As she began washing some cabbage in the sink, she felt a familiar pair of warm and muscular arms snake around her waist.

Xavier, with his hair falling messily down his forehead, an indication of a good nap, nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck, placing a sweet kiss before looking over her shoulder in curiosity.

"Missed you, baby," he murmured, taking in her natural scent, one that he was all too familiar with.

Putting down the cabbage and shutting off the water from the sink, Aurora turned around, before wrapping her arms around Xavier's neck.

"I missed you, too," she brushed away some of his messy dark locks so that she could look him in the eyes.

Leaning down, he immediately captured her lips with his, having missed his wife all day. He could never get tired of kissing Aurora— the way her body fit perfectly with his and the way her lips molded perfectly against his lips was everything. Just seeing her made his fatigue immediately go away.

"How were the kids?" She asked against his lips, giggling when he didn't seem to want to let her go as he continued to place sweet kisses on her lips.

"Little monsters," Xavier sighed tiredly, placing one last kiss on her lips before nuzzling his face into her neck again.

"But you had Elijah over to help," she pointed out.

"Like I said, monsters," he repeated, causing Aurora to laugh. The way she was running her fingers through his hair was making him feel sleepy again. All he wanted to do at that moment was carry Aurora back to bed.

"Well, you guys did a good job— the kids are all knocked out," she praised. "We should probably wake them up soon, or else they'll be up all night."

Xavier immediately shook his head in protest, still nuzzled in between the crook of her neck and shoulders.

"They aren't going to be able to sleep tonight if we don't get them up soon," she reasoned.

"Or," Xavier brought his head up with a playful glint in his eyes and a suggestive tone. "We can just go have some fun before they wake up."

Aurora rolled her eyes, lightly slapping his chest. "Well think of it this way, babe. If they sleep early, we—"

"Babe? You're finally home," Elijah cut her off as he entered the kitchen with a happy grin on his face, carrying a still half-asleep Ayla in his arms.

Xavier immediately grumbled with annoyance at the sight of his younger brother, wanting to know what Aurora was going to say. But the sight of their daughter melted his heart once again.

"Hi, pretty girl," A wide smile immediately appeared on Aurora's face as soon as she laid eyes on their daughter. Xavier detached himself from Aurora as she quickly opened her arms for Ayla.

"Mama," Ayla squirmed in Elijah's embrace, wanting to seek the comfort of her mother's warmth and love. As soon as she settled in Aurora's arms, Ayla rested her head on her mother's shoulder, taking hold of some of the strands of hair that had gotten loose from Aurora's messy bun with interest.

"You had fun with daddy and Uncle Elijah, today?" Asked Aurora, gently rubbing Ayla's back.

Ayla nodded, bringing her hand up to Aurora's face to show off her new manicure. Her swinging legs indicated that she also wanted Aurora to see her feet. "Mama, look."

Aurora gasped, looking at the manicure before placing a small kiss on the palm of Ayla's hand. "So pretty, baby. Did Daddy and Uncle Elijah help you paint your nails?"

Again, Ayla nodded enthusiastically. "Bubba. Pwetty."

"Your bubbas helped, too?" Aurora dramatically looked at Ayla's cute little feet, causing Ayla to let out a small giggle. "They did such a good job, baby. Very pretty."

Looking at Elijah, Aurora walked over and gave him a small side hug. "Thanks for helping with the kids today, Elijah."

"Of course, babe," Elijah sent Aurora a wink, earning a stink eye from Xavier.

Xavier scoffed with disbelief. "Like he was any help."

"Like he was any help," mimicked Elijah, causing Xavier's glare to deepen as he scowled with annoyance. Elijah then smirked, knowing his next words would get his brother in trouble.

"At least I didn't teach Ayla any new words."

"What new words?" Asked Aurora, looking at Xavier curiously.

Xavier gave his wife a sheepish look, taking an unsuspecting Ayla from Aurora's arms, ultimately using their daughter as a shield. "Nothing, baby—"

"Athwipe," Ayla said, giggling as her dad sent her a pleading look— a look in which Ayla had no clue as to what it meant.

Almost like she was trying to figure out what exactly her daughter had just said, Aurora quickly realized that what Ayla said was exactly what she thought her daughter had said. Aurora furrowed her eyebrows before giving Xavier a stern look. "Xavier— we agreed to not curse around the children."

"I know, but it just slipped out— Elijah was riling me up," Xavier accused, sending Elijah another glare.

Aurora turned to look at Elijah with a raised eyebrow, causing Elijah to immediately raise his arms in surrender. "Woah, I had no part of this."

"Damn it," Xavier silently let out a curse under his breath before turning to look at Ayla with a look of betrayal. "Princess, you were supposed to be on my side."

Ayla let a small giggle as she stared at her dad's pouty face.

Seeing the father-daughter duo looking so adorable having just woken up from a nap, she decided she would speak to Xavier later about the usage of colorful language in front of the kids. Aurora shook her head before placing the washed cabbage in a bowl.

With Ayla still in his arms, Xavier took his place next to Aurora again. He placed a small kiss on the back of her neck, wrapping his free arm around her waist, giving her a small squeeze, not caring about who was in the kitchen with them. "What were you suggesting we do tonight before we were oh so rudely interrupted by that asshole?"

Aurora sent Xavier another warning look, to which Xavier only responded with a cheeky grin.

"Okay, first of all, rude," Elijah said, looking offended. "And second of all, gross. Jesus— your 2-year-old daughter is right here, save that for the damn bedroom."

Elijah took Ayla from Xavier and covered her ears before quickly walking out of the kitchen, muttering out words of disgust. "Come on, princess, we don't need to hear any of that. We need to keep you pure."

Aurora waited until they were out of earshot before nudging Xavier in the stomach.

"You could've waited until we were alone," She sent Xavier a playful glare. "And we still need to talk about your choice of words around the kids."

"Yes, and we can discuss that later— preferably in bed," Xavier winked at her from his position across the kitchen island from her. "Now, what were we talking about? Oh, yes before we were rudely interrupted."

Aurora sighed dramatically. "I was saying, that if we wake the kids up now, they'd be able to sleep early tonight. And then, we'll..." she paused looking up at Xavier with flushed cheeks, unable to bring herself to say what she meant. "We'll be able to have some...some time together."

"Yeah?" Xavier smirked, enjoying how flushed Aurora looked as she tried to figure out how to say it out loud. "Time to do what?"

Aurora groaned with embarrassment. "Xavier Knight, are you really going to make me say it out loud?"

Yes.

The mischievous look on his face answered her question.

"If we put the kids to bed early, then we'll have some alone time," Her cheeks flushed red as she sent her cheeky husband a playful glare, knowing that he enjoyed teasing her.

"Well, why didn't you say so sooner?" He asked, chuckling. He quickly left the kitchen and made his way towards the living room, where the boys were still completely knocked out.

"Boys, time to wake up!"

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

It's been a while, but here's another bonus chapter for my amazing readers! Thank you guys for all the love and I really appreciate the support <3 We've reached 4.8M reads now, and to me, that still blows my mind. Thank you guys again so much and I hope you enjoyed this bonus chapter! Make sure to check out my instagram for a new bonus aesthetic <3