Late one night Idri was in the nursery, a baby in each arm, rocking gently in the padded rocking chair Noa had picked out for the room. They had woken in the middle of the night and he had volunteered to check on them. If they needed to be fed, he would come back to get her. They should really start pumping her breast milk and keeping it in the fridge so she wouldn’t have to wake up every time they were hungry.

Music was playing softly, a playlist he had found that was supposed to be soothing. So far it had almost soothed him to sleep, so he would say it worked. The twins were both asleep, Haji drooling into his swaddling. Gabi had the cutest little snore. An older song he recognized started playing, With Arms Wide Open by Creed. As he listened to the lyrics, he realized it perfectly summarized how he felt about the twins.

He wasn’t going to be like his father. He was going to be more like his mother. He loved these babies. His babies. Noa’s babies. And he was going to make sure they knew how much they were loved. He couldn’t think of a single thing that would ever make him turn from them. They would make him angry at times, he was sure, especially if either or both of them grew up and developed Noa’s attitude.

Or, God forbid, his own attitude. He could deal with brats, but he wasn’t sure how he would manage if one of them had his mouth. But he would find a way. It would probably take Noa’s help but… they were partners. Despite their dynamics in the bedroom (and occasionally out of it) they were equals in life.

Just like the song said, everything had changed with their arrival. There was so much more now to do or to consider on a daily basis and he wouldn’t have it any other way. There were going to be a pair of handfuls and there were going to be spats and arguments. But there were also going to be good days, great days. Days that he would remember forever. Days that he would remember purely to embarrass them in front of their friends or significant others.

And there were going to be days when he and Noa were going to argue about the kids.

And he still wouldn’t trade any of them for a single moment without them. Which was why there was currently a ruby and obsidian engagement ring burning a hole in his coat pocket. Soon he would find the perfect moment to propose and make Noa his fiancee and eventually his wife. He didn’t want there to be a single day of the rest of his life without her in it. She was his perfect other half, and she made him a better man. She made him want to be a better man. A better father than his only role model.

Together, they would make sure that their kids had the best life they could possibly give them.