drawing hearts

epilogue II

december 25th, 2026          
ivory: 30
harry: 32
meadow: 5
wiley: 2

ivory

"deep breaths, ivory. breathe in... and out." the midwife whispers.

harry chuckles, which just confuses me, since i'm about to give birth and am not in the mood for laughing. "what?"

"just thought of a song, sorry baby."

"don't laugh."

not even two hours later, i'm sat with my third baby in my arms. "hi auggie."

august is a name i fell in love with over summer. harry and i found out about the pregnancy at the end of april. we were both shocked but of course happy and excited, it just wasn't planned.

our summer was spent by the beach and playing in the water, so all my relaxing beach days were spent thinking about baby names.

i had no doubt in my mind. this pregnancy felt different and i just knew i would get a baby boy.

harry was so sure it was a girl. we were two for two, so i get it.

"his name's august?" anne walks up next to me.

"i guess so." harry jokes.

i send him a glare. "babe, stop with all your bad jokes." i turn to anne. "yes, we both agreed on august."

the door to our room opens. "daddy!" wiley screams, loud enough for the whole hospital to hear her.

"woah, sweet girl. i'm right here."

gemma rushes in with meadow right after wiley. "your little girl is fast."

wiley is the biggest daddy's girl. she's so quiet and shy and for a while i was beating myself up for it. my pregnancy with wiley was definitely the hardest one and i feel like that was also hard on wiley.

she's got her daddy though. she will not leave harry's side, she sleeps in our bed at least four nights of the week, just so she can cuddle harry.

meadow walks over to stand next to her grandma. "mumma can i sit." she hits the mattress i'm laying on.

"of course baby." gemma helps her up and meadow lays on my side. "wanna say hi to your baby brother?"

"auggie?"

i nod.

"hi auggie baby brother." meadow mumbles and squeezes herself close to august and i.

"merry christmas, auggie." i whisper and press my lips to his tiny, fragile forehead.

1 year later

"merry christmas, daddy! we want gifts!" wiley jumps up on harry and i's bed.

when i groan, harry pulls my body over his and places his hands right under my ass. i'm too tired to tell him off, so i just lay in his arms and try to sleep again.

every christmas since wiley was born has been hectic. meadow was old enough to get it and she would not go to bed the night before.

last year i gave birth, which was no fun for my girls, but they were patient and we made sure they'd still have a merry christmas.

this year, we're having everyone over at our house. gemma, michal and anne are here and probably have the luxury of still sleeping.

wiley sits on top of my back and starts pulling my my hair. "mummy get up!"