*About a year later*

"Sister-in-law," I heard a voice behind me.

I turned around and looked up into a familiar pair of amber eyes and smiled, "Preston, I'm so glad you could make it."

"Dom would hate me again if I missed the party," his eyes sparkled before looking down at my stomach.

"My, my, look how big you are now," he teased with a smirk and I playfully shoved his shoulder.

"You know it's rude to tell a pregnant woman she looks big, Preston Connor," I chastised with a smirk of my own.

"So sorry, Genevieve. Do forgive me," the smirk never faltering as he tried to sound proper.

"You're impossible," I chuckled then tried but failed to bend down and grab a bottle of water from one of the many coolers lined along the back of the house.

"Let me help you with that," he chuckled before crouching to open the lid and grabbing a bottle.

I placed a hand to my hip for support, "Thanks. It's getting harder to do simple things like crouch down now."

I placed a hand over my swollen belly and smiled, though it made life a little more difficult, it was worth it.

"Have you guys picked names yet," he questioned.

"Uh, yeah, the boys' name is Theodore Alistair and the girl is Olivia Grace," and even though I was only five and half months I looked like I was about seven or eight. It was exhausting carrying two babies and it would only get harder from here.

"Genevieve," I heard Dominic call out, worry heavy in his voice. I saw his familiar head of black hair through the sea of people.

"Over here, Love," I called back, waiting as he made it through the crowd and when his eyes met mine I watched his face light up.

"There you are. I was worried about you, Princess." He looked at the water bottle in my hand and then glared down at me, "You tried to get that by yourself, didn't you?"

I felt my face redden, "Yes, Sir."

He raised my shirt over my stomach before placing his hands on either side and spoke gently to me, "You should've asked and I would've helped. You know that."

I heard Preston clear his throat and Dominic noticed him then, "She had help."

Dominic nodded, "Thank you, brother. I appreciate it, but it's my job," his eyes on me again.

"I can't ask you for every single thing, Dominic. I have to at least try to do things myself," I huffed as I crossed my arms under my swollen chest.

"No," he simply stated, "You are to ask if there is something you need help with. We've talked about this before, Princess. I will not allow you to strain yourself over a damn bottle of water."

My heart clenched and desire pooled in my lower stomach as I listened to his concern for me and our unborn children, part of it also being his command, I won't lie.

I bit my lip as I looked into his eyes and he noticed the sudden shift.

"Now," he asked, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

I nodded before giving him a sultry smile, "Now."

"Oh, Jesus. I don't even want to know," I heard Preston whisper before he left us as fast as he could.

Dominic slowly stalked around me, as if taking in his prey before pulling my back to his chest gently and leaning down to whisper in my ear, "Would you like to take this upstairs, wife?"

I felt my core throb with desire, "We aren't married yet," I whined in a low voice, though I loved when he called me that.

"But we will be. You will walk down the aisle heavily pregnant with my children and you will be so radiant and glowing. My sweet Princess," he whispered and he knew my hormones couldn't take all this sweet talk.

"Let's go," I growled and grabbed his hand before leading him into the house and up the stairs.

***

"Hey, where'd you guys go," my mom asked after a few minutes of us being back outside with the rest of the party.

I felt my face redden and I took a sip from my water, effectively letting Dominic answer the question, "Uh, we needed to check on the, uh--"

My mom smirked, clearly knowing what happened and that made me blush a deeper shade of red, "Check on what, Dominic?"

"Um," he cleared his throat, "The food."

I chuckled, "Mom, stop giving Dominic a hard time. You know he gets nervous around you."

She chuckled before turning her eyes to me, "I know, it's just so fun to tease him."

I tuned out their light banter as I looked around at our two families mingling: His dad talking to mine, clearly, one being older than the other. My aunt, who's about ten years younger than my mother, flirting with Elijah, my uncle trying but failing to have a conversation with Katherine.

I chuckled to myself and instinctively placed a hand at the top of my stomach while looking out over the crowd as I reflected back on the year leading up to today.

The day after I was brought back to Dominics old house, he and his siblings talked me through everything that I had missed. They informed me who the man that had taken me was, why he had taken me, and gave me brief details of everything in between. I did find out a few weeks later that Preston had taken out the rest of my captors. I thanked God that at least a few more traffickers were gone.

I was grateful to sleep next to Dominic every night after being back, to know that after work I'd be going home with him, never having to be by myself unless I wanted. He never once made me feel like I was a burden for absentmindedly grabbing his hand when we were in public, or clinging to him on a particularly dark night, or needing him to tell me that everything was fine and that he wasn't going to give up on me or us.

Jasmine had left the company quietly and the last thing I heard she was living in Gainesville with her new boyfriend. Good riddance, honestly, as life was a hell of a lot easier without her.

I hadn't taken the management position Dominic wanted to promote me to as I still wanted to be close to him at that point, but a few weeks later we found out we were pregnant and I decided that the best thing for myself was to stay at home at least until our children started school before trying to focus on my career again.

Dominic had asked me to marry him a few days after we found out we were having a baby at the private restaurant he brought me to on our first 'date'. A few weeks after that we found out we were actually having twins. He teased me with a, "Told you us Blackstone men were potent."

He has been so supportive and loving through the whole pregnancy so far: the morning sickness, the mood swings, the hormones, the cravings, how swollen everything was, all though he wasn't complaining about my breasts enlarging and with how sensitive I was this trimester I wasn't complaining either.

We recently just finished building our new house, today being a house warming slash engagement slash baby shower party all wrapped in one. We did make a playroom here as well, but I helped design this one and even though I was pregnant we still used it every now and again. All though, he makes sure to be very gentle and never pushes me past what he thinks I can't take.

I felt arms wrap around me and hands on either side of my belly, "What are you thinking about," he questioned before kissing my neck.

"Just our life so far," I whispered. I knew we had moved a little fast, only having known each other for about a year now, but I knew he was all I ever needed, next to our children.

I felt so loved, cared for, comforted, and protected in Dominics arms and having his--very large, against my wishes might I add--ring on my finger gave me a sense of confidence and pride. This was my man, his arms wrapped around me, gently cradling my swollen belly that currently housed our children.

He looked at me as if I hung the moon and stars and I looked at him as if he were my own personal Sun, and he was. I always thought of him as giving me life and I didn't realize what it meant until I felt the first few kicks from our babies. He had literally given me life to carry within my body. I could never repay him for all the love he gave me, but I would try every day.

"Only good things I hope," he whispered as he rubbed my belly gently.

I smiled as I brought my hand up and gently rubbed the back of his neck, "Only good things, my love."

I had started the 'relationship' with Dominic simply for a 'you get yours, I get mine' sort of thing and to have it morph into what it was today...

It was funny, the way life worked with a Blackstone.