1 year later…

Ranger's Point of View

"Carlos, I swear to you if you ever touch me again, I am going to break every bone in your body." She hissed this between her teeth as she was being pushed to the delivery room.

"Babe, I love you too. Everything will be great, and we will have our son and daughter here with us shortly." I was holding her hand as we raced down the hallway to the delivery room. I didn't think the fact that I just reminded her that our twins would be born today was a good thing. She gave me her best Burg death glare.

"That's supposed to make me feel better?" She hissed between screaming about needing to push.

We finally made it to the delivery room, and I got suited up in the normal scrubs that expectant fathers are supposed to wear.

I couldn't believe we were doing this again. It seemed like it was just a few months ago when Lizzie was born and now we are expecting twins together. It thrilled Jackson to be getting a baby brother and Lizzie is only a year, so she doesn't understand what's going on, just knows there will be two other babies in the house. Jackson said at least there will be 2 boys and 2 girls, so it's even.

It took 30 minutes for our twins to be born. Our Son Ricardo Carlos Manoso Jr was born first, then 5 minutes later our daughter Grace Juliana Manoso was born next. Both were gorgeous babies. Babe was exhausted and once she finished the delivery and they cleaned her up, all she wanted to do was sleep.

CJ (Carlos Jr) had my straight black silky hair and Babe's cute nose. Everything else was me made over. However, when he opened his eyes, they were the most beautiful blue I had ever seen. They were even brighter than Babe's eyes. Seeing those eyes on my son took my breath away. He was going to be a ladies' man.

Grace was beautiful as well. She had beautiful black hair, but hers had curls to it and she had Babe's nose and my eyes. She also was going to be a heartbreaker when she grows up. That's okay, they both will not be allowed to date until they are 30 anyway, so they have a long time until that happens.

Babe was exhausted. She couldn't sleep yet, she had to feed the babies. She was attempting to find CJ while I held Grace in my hands. After some encouragement and a lot of tears from Babe, CJ finally latched on and started feeding. Babe really wanted to breastfeed the babies. It took 15 minutes for both babies to eat. After we burped both and we made sure they had footed sleepers on, I laid both down in their beds and I crawled in bed with my woman.

I held her while she slept. We talked about if we wanted any more kids. I thought 2 of each was good. After the twins were born, we decided to wait until after Babe felt better to decide what we were going to do. I was more than willing to get the snip to keep her from having to have surgery. I just didn't want to get the snip then in a couple of years, one of us decide that we want another child. That wouldn't be fair to the other person. It's a decision that both of us will make together.

I have been pondering asking Steph to marry me. We have approached the subject several times, and she hasn't said anymore that she would be against it like she said before. I know she feels left out because her last name is not the same as mine or the kids. She has said nothing about it, but I can tell by her expression. I carry the ring around with me everywhere I go, just in case I decide to propose.

I want to do it today, but I don't want Steph to think it's because we just had the babies. I love her with babies or no babies. We are okay with never getting married, but I want to say that she is my wife. I want nothing to happen to me and she will not be taken care of. That wouldn't be fair to her or the children.

That was the dilemma I was currently pondering. Do I propose today and try to convince her it had nothing to do with her just giving birth to our two kids, or do I wait a few days then propose? I want her to know that I love her and that she is my everything. I just don't know when I'm supposed to do that.

I can lead a team into a jungle and complete a successful mission. I can lead a bunch of ex-military men in a successful business, but I can't decide on when to propose to my girlfriend. What does that say about me? Tank would say I have it bad. I guess I do though, so that's nothing usual. I've known this for months.

I must have fallen asleep while holding Babe because I woke up to babies crying. I looked around, and both babies were crying. Time to feed them, I guess. Steph immediately woke up, and I handed her CJ, and I took Grace. She breastfed CJ, and I bottle-fed Grace. We alternate every time there is a feeding that way both can get breast milk at the same time.

After both babies finished eating, we swapped, and I burped CJ and Steph burped Grace. Both had diapers changed and went back to sleep. We got into a routine and that's how we did it from that point out. Lizzie is off the bottle, so we don't have to worry about her wanting one.

They discharged Steph and the babies at 8:17 pm that night. I had Tank come and drive us to the house so we each could sit in the back next to the babies. Jackson and Lizzie were already there with Ella. Tank dropped them off before he came and got us.

When we got back to the beach house, Steph started pumping milk so there would be bottles throughout the night. She pumped four, which was plenty. I told her to sleep and that I would take the first round of feedings. It was very interesting trying to feed two babies at the same time. Ella ended up getting up and helping me maneuver them on my lap, so I could feed both together. After I fed them, she burped one, and I burped the other.

Steph sleeps as much as she can. I'm okay with only 4 hours of sleep. I will sleep while she is sleeping. Even though she was adamant about wanting to breastfeed, Steph is thinking of not breastfeeding the twins because she did with Lizzie, and it has been rough for her. She is deciding on what to do based on how it makes her feel.

The next morning, I woke up and went for a run on the beach. Ella said that if the babies woke up, she would get Steph. When I left to go running, Steph had been sleeping twelve hours straight.

I came back and Babe was sitting on the sofa in the living room feeding CJ and Ella was sitting next to her feeding Grace. Babe was bottle feeding. Usually, she breasts feds when she can, but I guess she decided not to this time.

Today is going to be the day that I pop the question to Babe. When I am going to do it, I do not know, but I know it will be today. It had to be today; I couldn't wait any longer. She must know that I love her and that I need her in my life forever.

I walked over to the sofa and sat down beside Babe. "Hey Babe, did you sleep well?" I brushed the hair behind her ear.

She smiled and looked at me with her beautiful blue eyes. "I did thank you. Did you enjoy your run?" She had just finished feeding CJ. I took him from her so I could burp him, and she took Grace from Ella so she could burp her.

Once the kids were both burped and changed, we took turns laying them down in the portable bassinets that we had for them in the living room. Ella excused herself to go make breakfast. After I sat back down on the sofa, I had just pulled Babe to my side so I could cuddle with her, when Jackson walked in the room holding Lizzie's hand.

"Dad, Lizzie, and I are hungry." He walked over to CJ and Grace. I put my finger to my lips to let them know to be quiet. He nodded his head, and I told him to go into the kitchen. Ella was in there and she would fix them something to eat.

Stephanie raised, "I can make them some breakfast." She got up, but I stopped her.

"Babe, Ella loves to cook for the babies. Let her do it. Besides, you are tired, and I want you to rest. I love you, Querida."

She raised her head and smiled her beautiful smile. "I love you, Carlos."

Later that night, when the four children were in bed, Babe and I were in our bed, and we were cuddling and talking. I excused myself for just a moment and reached over, opened the drawer of the nightstand, and pulled out the ring that I had for her.

"Babe, I love you and I'm so glad that you came into my life. Querida, tu eres mi amor, mi vida, Para siempre. You are the light of my day, and you make me thrilled. Will you do me the honors of becoming my wife?" I opened the ring box so she could see the gorgeous 3-carat blue sapphire infinity ring. With a huge 2 cart sapphire in the middle and carats on each side that equal another carat.

Stephanie looked at the ring, then she looked into the eyes of the man that she loved. "Yes, Carlos, I will marry you. I love you dearly."

I was overwhelmed with happiness. I placed the ring on her ring finger on her left hand and kissed her to let her know how much her saying yes meant to me.

I pulled back and looked her in her eyes. "Babe, you never have to worry about being a bad wife, because you will be the best wife to me, and you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Thank you for making me the happiest man alive."

Finally, we were going to all be one big married happy family.