This Is Us - Chapter 15: Chapter 15

MATTY POV
"Woah, it's so pretty!"
Jaydean squeals as she watches the glittering Christmas tree while sitting on the floor in front of it while using the lounging Houston for a fluffy pillow.
Luca, Thomas, and I crashed together on the couch after three hours of decorating with Jayde, cause according to her, it couldn't wait another second as soon as that tree got inside the house.
But all of it was worth it, just for this one little moment where we could watch her look up in awe with that bright innocent smile on her face.
Thomas took a picture of her with his phone like the dad he is and posted it to Instagram, with the caption: Christmas Decorating ✔
"Mommy, where's my ornament?" She asked and I pointed to the crate as I rested my head against Thomas' shoulder.
"It should be in there somewhere," I told her and she went on the hunt for it while Thomas wrapped his arm around my shoulders and his other arm around Luca's, letting Luca toss a blanket over all of us as we snuggled up together.
"I found it!" She said excitedly as she pulled out a small wooden box which held her first Christmas ornament.
"Careful baby, it's fragile," I warned her and she walked up to the tree.
"What does fragile mean?" She asked as she chose her perfect spot and Luca perked up a bit.
"It means it breaks very easily. If you drop it, the ornament will break into a million pieces," He clarifies for me. She holds her scrawny arms out and stands on her tiptoes to place the ornament on the branch of her choosing and I let out a small sigh of relief when she doesn't break it.
"Can I put up baby Thomas' too? Even though he isn't here?" Jayde asked and I knew the question was coming because hers wasn't the only ornament in the box. I cleared my throat and tried to smile through the pain but I couldn't speak.
"Of course you can," Thomas answers for me, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze, I also feel a hand slip its way into mine under the blanket and I know Thomas doesn't have three hands so it must be Luca. I intertwine our fingers together and he rubs tiny circles in the side of my hand while Thomas massages my shoulder.
Jaydean puts TJ's on the branch right next to hers before sitting back down with Houston to watch the lights run their course. I start to feel a strange motion in my stomach and with my free hand, I gently rub the spot. Someone was starting to move around in here and wanted me to feel it. Of course, I knew it was too early for Thomas and Luca to feel anything but feeling the movement for the very first time seemed to wipe some of the sadness away.
I didn't want to get my hopes up for the three little ones but I felt my heart open up just a little bit with their first movements.
It would be harder to deny their existence now, but I'm sure they already knew that. The evil little thirteen weekers would worm their way into my heart whether I wanted them too or not. I nearly laughed at the thought of all of my three little babies wearing smug smirks in the womb with their hands crossed but held back because I didn't want my two significant others to question my sanity.
"Alright Jaydean, it's almost eight o'clock and you know what that means," Luca says as he looks at the kitchen stove for the time.
"Does it mean Jaydean can stay up and watch the lights forever and ever?" She giggles but we all give her the same stern glare. Jayde pouts and gives off a loud groan as she stomps her feet up the stairs and we all get up and follow after her.
After brushing our teeth she picks out a book to read from her vast collection and we stick to Dr. Suess tonight. Crowding around her small twin sized bed with Thomas behind her reading each page aloud, I sit on the other side as the official book holder, and Luca on the bottom of the bed laughing along as we read. Talking in soft voices that had our little angel asleep in no time.
One by one, each of us kissed her forehead to wish her goodnight before slipping out of the room, turning off the light, and closing the door behind us.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow morning," Luca whispers as he goes to part from Thomas and I, but I reach out and grab his hand.
"Why don't you sleep with us tonight? After your head injury, I don't really like the idea of you sleeping alone," My maternal instincts flare up and he turns shocked by the invite.
"Are you sure? I-I don't want to wake you if I have another nightmare," He stutters, nervously rubbing his shoulder.
"And I don't want you to be alone when you do hon. Look at what happened when no one was around," I said, alluding to his wrist which Thomas still didn't know about. He probably thought I was talking about his forehead. Luca seems to understand now and I gently pat his cheek.
"Besides, I'm always cold and apparently Thomas is cold-blooded cause he provides no body heat whatsoever," I point out and Luca finally breaks into a smile.
"Hey! I try, I can't help it when you're always burning up like a fucking furnace," He whisper yells and the three of us head back to the bedroom.
"We'll have to expand the closet if we keep doing this huh?" I point out as I change into cozy cotton pajama pants.
"Maybe we'll need a bigger room in general. We could always take down the guest room on that side," Thomas points out and I imagine it.
"Hmm, I can see that," I agree for now, but I know we'd have to talk about it further once they discovered we had triplets on the way.
"You guys don't have to go through all this trouble for me. It's fine, I don't mind sleeping on the other side of the farm," Luca quickly interjects but I wasn't having it and neither was Thomas.
"But you're so far away and I miss you when you're not here," Thomas adds and I agree. Luca plops down on the edge of the bed and sniffles a bit, scratching his freckled nose as he did so.
"I'm just saying," Luca shrugs and I lean over the footboard to kiss him.
"Well stop talking," I suggested as I pulled away and he bit his lip.
"Sorry, I can't help it," he said as he peeled off his shirt and tossed it to the floor. Thomas was working on taking off his prosthetics and I smacked Luca in the face with a pair of basketball shorts. None of us sleep naked due to the crazy monkey two rooms down. The shorts were a little small and I tried very very hard not to look because I was horny enough as it is, being pregnant. I don't even think we're ready to add sex to our relationship just yet.
Thomas and I also didn't know the extent of his PTSD, what he went through, and if we could trigger him.
Thomas couldn't help himself though as he pulled Luca to him and kissed him a little longer than I did. He needs all the love we can give him right now and I didn't mind. Luca blushes when Thomas lets him go and I couldn't help but get a little jealous. Wishing he would blush like that when he kissed me too.
I knew Luca needed all the love we could give him but I didn't want to push him too far or overwhelm him so I just kiss Thomas instead, before settling in under the blankets. Taking the middle with Luca on my left and Thomas on my right and we turned the lights off.
"Why didn't we do this sooner?" Thomas mumbled in the dark and Luca sent off a cute little laugh.
"Cause I didn't think it was possible...for anyone to love me," He mutters, I nudge my head against his back, wrapping my arm around his warm body and tangling our legs together while Thomas rested his hand against my stomach. It was oddly comfortable and felt so right.
"I love you, Luca," I whisper into his ear, gently kissing the nape of his neck afterward and he shivers.
"I love you too," Thomas contributes and the three of us snuggle a little closer.