The Tyrant's Wife

Chapter 373: Ximena and Liam

Four years later

"Georgia, get off that desk."

Ximena massaged her temples for the third time in just a few minutes. Her daughter was only three but she was literally everywhere. Places where she shouldn’t be were her favorite. Sometimes she could swear the girl enjoyed trying to give her parents a heart attack.

As expected, the girl giggled as she jumped onto Liam’s chair and then to the ground, making Ximena’s heart nearly stop. Luckily, she had landed safely, but then she breezed out of Liam’s home office at the speed of lightning, almost bumping into Liam on her way out.

"Careful, sweetheart." He laughed as ran on without stopping. "Bryant, Cole!" she yelled for her brothers who she had just seen downstairs.

Liam shook his head. "She runs fast."

"Tell me about it." Ximena laughed. Liam had gone out for a meeting and she had planned to spend the day catching up with orders but she ended up spending the whole day chasing after their three-year-old firecracker.

The couple knew from the start that they would not be able to have children of their own, so they had not expected it in the slightest. However, life had different plans in store for them.

It was the two of them for about a year until one of their friends, Terry, got into an accident. She was a heavily pregnant widow and had a horrifying pregnancy—probably partially because she was still dealing with the fact that her husband had recently died, leaving her alone with their two sons and a baby on the way.

Terry didn’t make it out of the delivery room.

Liam and Ximena had already taken care of Cole and Bryant many times when their mother needed time to herself, so they temporarily took the boys and their newborn sister in. The plan was for them to stay with the kids until a relative picked them up.

Alas, Terry’s parents were too old to take care of the kids and her sister wanted nothing to do with them. So they decided to adopt the trio.

It was the best way to make sure the the boys still had a constant in their life after the tragedy that had befallen them. It was already bad enough that their parents were both gone. If the system separated them and they got bounced around from home to home, their mental health would take a worse blow.

So, Ximena and Liam contacted the adoption agency and adopted the boys along with their sister—even though the agency thought they may not be able to deal with the sudden change of going from having no children to having three.

Up until now, the couple didn’t think they had ever made a better decision than that. They had moved into a much bigger house and now the boys had a huge backyard to play—where they were probably going right now.

"Those three will drive me nuts one day." Ximena laughed. Not that she was complaining. They were her life.

Liam grinned mischievously. "Wait until you meet Riona."

She burst into laughter. They had not been able to decide what they were going to name their unborn child so Liam had resorted to using any random name, mostly girl names. She suspected it was because he was secretly hoping for another girl.

Years after they had settled into the role of foster parents, they got this little surprise.

Liam wrapped his arms around her. "What do you prefer we name her?"

She raised a brow. "How do you know it’s going to be a girl? You don’t know that."

He nodded. "I don’t. But there’s no way that stubborn little ray of sunshine is not a girl. She’s so hot and cold, she takes after her mother."

She swatted his hand away. "We’ll find out in two months." She rubbed her belly.

While she was seven months pregnant, she wasn’t showing much. She didn’t have much symptoms either, except tiredness in the first month. She’d been knocking on the door of the second trimester by the time she checked with a gynecologist to figure out why she’d missed three consecutive periods.

She could still remember her reaction to the pregnancy test the gynecologist gave her. She laughed out loud and dismissed the possibility.

When she saw the plus sign at the end of the test kit, nothing could have prepared her for the tears that came flooding out of her eyes.

Liam’s reaction wasn’t any different. The man had stayed in a trance for so long that she thought he was going to drop down and pass out in shock.

Then he’d nearly gotten them kicked out of hospital with how loudly he was yelling in excitement.

He pulled her out of her thoughts by another ridiculous question. "Don’t people name them after objects these days? Or where they were conceived. Sweet little Gallery Preston."

She scoffed out a laugh. They had gone to an art gallery seven months ago and while everyone else was focused on trying to outbid each other and buy a famous painting, Liam had dragged her behind a painting by the pillar and fucked her brains out. Her cheeks still flushed when she remembered the security guard who had given them an odd look, not knowing whether or not they had been up to what he thought they were doing back there.

"I’m pretty sure it’s Ferris-wheel Preston, though." She winked.

"Now that you mention the ferris wheel..." he thought with his hand on his chin. "We can’t be so certain. Because if it’s that day, Elevator Preston could be more accurate."

"Or Parking Lot Preston." She grinned.

She was mid-laugh when she felt a trickle and her eyes widened. "I think my water just broke. Swimming Pool Preston is here early."

______

Theodora Preston was the most unexpected surprise in the family since...well, forever.

Much like her existence, her arrival was a surprise. Liam had not been able to keep the grin off his face since he first lay his eyes on her.

A tiny bundle of perfection. She kept darting her eyes around, as though she couldn’t wait to see more of the world she’d been in such a hurry to come to.

She’d been here only a few days but she had become the center of the whole family’s attention. Her brothers had already become super protective of her, and even Georgia now had a new favorite destination—the nursery.

Their friends had dropped by to visit, including Desmond, Zaria and their little darlings.

Liam had just tucked little Dora in to sleep when he turned and caught sight of Holden offering Georgia a piece of chocolate in the living room.

His eyes narrowed. "Desmond, keep your son away from my daughter."

Everyone burst into laughter, especially Zaria. "My son is only four."

"Yeah, so?" Liam squared his shoulders, ready to shit a storm. As if on cue, Bryant and Cole stood by Georgia’s side to shield her from the boy who only wanted to play with the pretty girl, and was confused by everyone’s reaction to it.

Ximena and Zaria exchanged glances and chuckled, offering a silent prayer to boys who would take interest in Georgia and Dora in future.

Fatherhood had not just turned Liam into the most doting man on earth. He had also become a raging, overprotective dad ready to break the limbs of any boy who came close to his daughters.

_____

AN

What would it be like, falling in love with a girl whose brothers and father are super protective?

If you would like to know, tell me about it so I write Holden and Georgia’s side story after the others!