Sam, Court, and Seth all went to my Lamaze classes with me. We were the rowdiest ones there, and I’m sure the other participants were struggling to figure out who we were to each other. We giggled uncontrollably during the obviously dated childbirth video when we got a look at the lady’s massive bush. Our hysterics quickly subsided when we saw the actual birth scene. Court and I rolled our eyes at each other when both twins turned green and looked like they might pass out.

The four of us settled into a comfortable routine. Seth came over most evenings to watch a movie, play cards, have dinner, or just hang out and laugh. He and Court had developed an easy camaraderie. They teased each other like siblings would, with softness underneath all the bristling.

Buster, Court’s droopy basset hound, was in doggy heaven. He rotated slowly from person to person, taking whatever attention he could get before loping on to give someone else puppy-dog eyes until they scratched him.

Tabitha, Court’s grouchy orange cat, was not as pleased. She was perfectly happy to snuggle up and purr with Court or Seth, but she hated me, as well as Sam. She had no problem telling the twins apart, even from a distance, and she gave Sam the stink-eye whenever he so much as walked into the room. Truth be told, I was glad that she didn’t like him. It gave us yet another thing to bond over, and we laughed together as we wondered if the cranky feline was plotting to murder us in our sleep.

Sam and I had an unspoken agreement to go our separate ways on Sundays. His mother wasn’t ready to deal with me at their family brunches, and Joe couldn’t handle seeing Sam at the restaurant for girls’ night.

Other than those two standing appointments, we spent almost all of our free time together. Sam stayed over most nights, just going home for fresh clothes and to visit with Miss Dixie, his huge black dog. She had a doggy door, so was perfectly content on her own for a while, but he never wanted to go a whole day without seeing his sweet pet.

He and I spent countless hours in my bed snuggling, kissing, making love, and occasionally sleeping. We tried our best to squelch the pants, moans, and cries of passion that our lovemaking inevitably caused, so as not to disturb Court. Occasionally, we stayed at Sam’s house so that we could walk around naked and have sex as loudly and as wildly as we wished. The only one there to see us was Miss Dixie, and she didn’t seem to mind.