Chapter 24 Babies
**One and a half years later**
John stood outside a police station in Pearl city, awaiting his girlfriend.
A year earlier, he had broken up with Rick’s cousin after giving each other several chances. They were simply not compatible because they wanted very different things in life. Hence, they had broken up mutually.
One day, he had ended up making a scene at a bar in a drunken stupor, and they ended up calling the police.
The one who responded was a female police officer. The first thing about the female officer that John had noticed was the scar on her left eyebrow that made her look equally sexy and dangerous. John had an instant crush on her. Especially with how smoothly she handled everything.
John had always admired people who were good at their jobs, which had also been one point of discontent with his ex-girlfriend. Rick’s cousin was never into one thing for long enough to do it properly.
John had called Rick to help bail him out. Then, John found that the female police officer was Brenda, a good friend of Rick’s who had been on several assignments together.
The acquaintance then became friends, and then something more.
A year later, John had become a familiar face in the police station.
John and Brenda had hit it off unnaturally well. While their dates were few and far between, they both liked each other well enough to put in the extra effort.
On the other hand, their logistics business – F&F Logistics – Friends and Family Logistics, had just started, and everyone was rather busy.
John did not have a tiny child to raise, unlike others. He was busy with work. Others barely went to the office.
Arielle had given birth to twins – a boy and a girl. However, no one knew who the kids belonged to and what to do with them.
They had left the decision to Arielle as she had the most right to decide.
Arielle said Joe and Rick could keep both if she had a natural delivery. She and Thomas could have another child anyway.
If there were complications during pregnancy or childbirth, she would keep the girl for Thomas, and they could keep the boy.
They were all floored at her decision, but it had indeed made sense.
She could not deny her husband the joy of raising a child just to help her friends. It’s not like she was refusing a child to Joe and Rick.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
Fortune seemed to have favored Joe and Rick as her pregnancy and childbirth went without severe complications. The gynecologist confirmed that she could give birth again, though she ought to hurry given her age.
They decided not to check who the father was because it did not matter.
All four houses shared boundaries. There was a shared children’s playground behind their homes.
Thomas and Arielle’s house was the biggest of the four. Mostly, everyone would just stay at their place. That was ironic because Arabella was the default host.
Arielle and Arabella’s joke of having kids together had turned out to be prophetic since Arabella got pregnant a few weeks before Arielle.
Mathew would often panic since everything was new to him, so during the third trimester, everyone simply moved to Arielle and Thomas’s place for convenience.
Two pregnant women pampered by four men and two children! It was a lot more fun than any of them had anticipated.
Thomas had to suffer throughout the pregnancy since Joe forbade them from having sex with his kids on her belly.
It was one hilarious conversation. Thomas’s grudge against Joe had lasted throughout the pregnancy.
Finally, the best friends, very unexpectedly, ended up giving birth on the same day, which caused an instant panic in the house.
Joe was the one who had first-hand experience of two pregnancies. He handled everything well and directed everyone to stay calm and keep with the planned process for the emergency.
Arabella gave birth to a boy. Arielle had a pigeon pair, which livened up the house.
They all decided to stay in the same house to better care for all children and their mothers.
Arielle and Arabella had the most comfortable postpartum that any woman could imagine. The four dads took care of the kids and handled all the night duties.
The two mothers got to sleep through the night every night, only waking up to feed the babies.
They all got to bond with the kids in a relaxed mood as they skipped work.
F&F Logistics had just started. There was not much that needed their attention. They had, anyways, taken things slow owing to the upcoming birth of the children.
Arabella left for Mathew’s parent’s house a month after the delivery. His entire family was eager to meet the little one. They planned to stay there until the feeding ceremony when their baby boy turned six months old.
Mathew’s family could not be happier with the thoughtful couple. They lamented not bringing Belle along, but she could not miss school for that long. Mathew planned to fly her in and out every other weekend to make it up to everyone.
John felt like the odd one out, being the only one unmarried and without kids.
Thankfully, Brenda assured him that it was all good. His wife and kids will be doted upon by that many people.
John thought of how far they all had come in terms of everything as he waited outside the police station.