"Did you hear the news?" Aaron asked casually.

Keeley looked up from what she was stirring with a small frown on her face. "What news?"

"Gray got arrested."

She nearly dropped her wooden spoon. That would have been a nice thing to lead with! Why hadn't he said something sooner?!

"So it's really over," she said faintly. "All of it."

Aaron smiled at her with such a gentle expression that she nearly melted into the floor. After all this time she still wasn't quite used to being looked at like that.

"Basically. You don't have to worry about anything but normal day to day worries anymore."

Normal day to day worries…of course, Keeley had still had those throughout all of the drama that brought them to this point. It only added to her overall stress. But now she could focus on those instead of having to deal with potentially being plotted against at every corner.

Especially now that she was able to leave the house without being mobbed. It looked like no one cared about her anymore now that the most eligible bachelor in New York had been arrested for murder.

"That will be really nice," she sighed.

When Aaron originally came back, she thought her chance at a normal life was completely ruined. Especially once she had to deal with hiding from Lacy Knighton. Nothing stood in her way now.

Once the babies were old enough to go to preschool she would be back in the lab and everything she cared about would be right on track. As much as she missed working, she wouldn't trade her time with her children for anything.

Violet and Kaleb filled the void her first life's lack of children had left. And they wouldn't be the only ones, either. Now Keeley could have as many kids as she wanted.

These two were such a handful though that it wouldn't be for a good while. Maybe once they were in kindergarten she and Aaron could discuss having another one.

She had always dreamed about having an entire houseful of kids. It would affect her career progression taking so much time off to take care of babies but so what? She had all the time in the world. Most people didn't make breakthrough discoveries until middle age anyway.

Family was important. Having four kids sounded nice. Keeley wondered how Aaron would feel about it. He probably wouldn't mind since he adored the twins but it was still worth discussing.

"Hey Aaron, have you ever thought about how many kids you want?" she asked out of the blue.

He blinked at her in surprise. "I thought you were going to take the lead on that. I never thought about a specific number."

She should have known. He cared so much about what she wanted that he never really seemed to have much of an opinion on things. It was strange seeing such a formerly opinionated man be so pa.s.sive.

"I'm leaning towards four at the moment. It's a nice even number so the kids would always have someone to play with."

"Four would be fine. We certainly have enough bedrooms. But do you really want to take that much time off of work?" Aaron asked.

Was he psychic or something? How did he always seem to know what she was thinking these days?

Keeley smiled. "I really don't mind. I have plenty of time to be a scientist but only so many years to give birth."

"Well when you put it like that…"

She laughed at his tone of voice. His range of facial expressions and intonations had expanded a lot in this lifetime and it never ceased to amuse her. She didn't even think he was capable of that sort of thing for the longest time.

"I was thinking of working for a couple of years once the twins are a bit older before we try again. How does that sound?"

Aaron leaned over to kiss her cheek, making sure he had a good grip on the babies. "That sounds great. Speaking of the twins being a bit older…they can probably handle staying with your dad for a couple of hours. We should go on a date this weekend."

A date? Had they even been on a proper date since getting married?

Keeley tried to think. They hung out a lot but it was usually at home because of how exhausted she was. They might have gone to the movies once or twice before Lacy figured out where they lived.

Since then she had either been on house arrest or stuck glued to the babies' sides. They definitely hadn't been on a date since before Violet and Kaleb were born.

"Alright, but I want you to surprise me. Take me somewhere fun."

There weren't very many instances in this life at all that could be counted as dates but even so, when they hung out Keeley was always in charge of what to do. It had been the same in their first life. She was rather curious what kind of place Aaron would pick on his own. Probably a museum or something.

Challenge sparked in his eyes. "Somewhere fun, huh? I can do that."

===

When she said 'somewhere fun' the last place Keeley expected was for Aaron to take her to Coney Island. She had been there countless times as a child but had only been once or twice since being reborn. College kids liked carnival games and rides too and she had gone with a big group consisting mostly of people from her dorm.

"…have you ever played a carnival game before?" she asked.

"No but it can't be too difficult."

A wicked grin appeared on her face that he didn't notice because she was turned away. Keeley was going to kick his b.u.t.t in everything, unlike what she had failed to do that one time at the buffet/arcade place. Carnival games were usually rigged but if you knew them well enough you could win occasionally.

She dragged him over to a ring toss game first. Those were nearly impossible to beat but she had done it before. She knew the secret; it was all in the wrist movement.

Keeley bought a large bucket of rings and began flicking her wrist with precision. She managed to win a prize with four rings left. It was a soft purple monkey doll with Velcro on its hands and feet so you could wear it like a necklace.

"Your turn," she said sweetly as she turned to her husband.

He seemed confident he could do it since she had. Yet three buckets of rings later he still hadn't landed a single one.

She could tell he was frustrated but trying hard not to show it. Hiding her laughter got progressively more difficult as he continued to fail. She finally lost it when he mumbled something about the thing being rigged.

When she finally managed to control her laughter, tears were sparkling in the corners of her eyes from mirth. "What was it you said? It can't be too difficult?"

"…you chose this on purpose."

"Yes. Yes I did."

Aaron scowled and strode away, leaving her behind. Naturally, that only made Keeley crack up even more as she tried to catch up to him. He was such a sore loser.