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To say that Anthony Bridgerton is a lucky man is a complete understatement, and he would be the first to admit it. Yes, his beloved father had died so suddenly at the age of thirty-eight from a bee sting, leaving eighteen-year-old Anthony as the head of the Bridgerton family. However, all things aside, the rest of Anthony’s life had been rather blessed with great fortune, indeed. Such great fortune currently is dashing into the room, chasing after two rather boisterous little boys otherwise known as Edmund and Miles Bridgerton.
“I’m going to get you!” Kate playfully shouts after her seven and five year old sons, raising her hands in preparation to tickle them and press a plethora of kisses on their heads and cheeks.
“Papa, save us!” Miles laughs, sprinting as fast as his little legs can carry him before hiding behind the large chair his father is reading the paper in.
“Save you?” Anthony asks in a teasing tone of voice. “Whatever from? I see nothing from which you might need protection from,” he smirks at Kate before spinning around quickly in his chair and grabbing Miles into his arms.
Miles squirms in his father’s grasp, giggling as Anthony begins to tickle his young son along his ribcage.
“Papa has taken Mama’s side, Edmund! You must save me!” Miles begs his older brother, only to cast a glance over at Edmund to find that their mother has effectively captured Edmund within her arms and is tickling him as well.
“I can’t, Miles!” Edmund laughs as well, and Kate stops tickling her son to press kisses on both of his cheeks and then on his forehead.
In their eight years of marriage, Kate and Anthony had been given the great fortune of welcoming three children: Edmund (age 7), Miles (age 5), and Charlotte whom was born not merely six months ago. Their three children and being married to Kate were the greatest fortunes Anthony Bridgerton had ever been granted in life, that he is sure.
After both of their sons are both breathless and have begged for their parents to stop with the tickles, Anthony and Kate release them and the two boys sit at their father’s feet, listening quite attentively as the viscount tells them stories about their grandfather and his own childhood at Aubrey Hall.
“You and Uncle Benedict got to attend a boxing match with Grandfather when you were around our age?” Edmund gasps, his eyes widening at the thought of his father and uncle attending such a match at the age of eight.
“We did, Edmund. And do you know what the most interesting part of that day was? Hmm?” Anthony responds, a smile on his face as he recalls the memory that would stay with him forever.
“By the time we arrived home, your Aunt Daphne had come into the world and us three Bridgerton sons now had a younger sister to love and protect,” the viscount continues regaling his two young sons.
“Much like how we have Charlotte!” Miles happily chirrups, a large smile filling his entire face.
“Yes, my love,” Kate smiles back, coming back into the room with Charlotte in her arms, the six-month-old waving her arms wildly at her brothers and father. “Papa and I are both so proud of you two for how much help you have both been with Charlotte,” the viscountess continues, sitting on the chaise next to Anthony’s chair, grasping one of his hands in her own.
Miles and Edmund quickly scurry to sit next to their mother and sister, their father’s stories forgotten as they hope to take turns holding and playing with Charlotte. Watching his family interact in such a way, Anthony comes to the conclusion that not only did he have the absolute best family in the world but also the most desirable woman in the entire ton as his wife and mother of his children.
Later that evening after the entire extended Bridgerton family has dinner together, minus Francesca abroad in Scotland, Anthony is putting Charlotte to bed as Kate does the same for their two sons.
“Charlotte, darling, you remind me more of your beautiful mother every single day. We are all so lucky to have her,” Anthony compliments his daughter, placing a kiss to her darling cheek before he tickles her toes softly with one of his hands. “I hope the two of us get to make many memories with one another, my darling, and I cannot wait to see the woman you will become. Though, when you inevitably grow up to be just as beautiful and desirable as your mother, then I think I shall have to better perfect my aim with a pistol, hmm? And your Uncle Colin might also have to start teaching me his secret fencing technique,” the dark-haired man smirks, small creases showing around his eyes that are filled with mirth and amusement. “Though I still fortunately have at least sixteen years before I even have to start worrying about beating your suitors back as I did for Aunt Daphne,” Anthony continues to speak to his young daughter, amusement in his voice as he thinks of the fact that his young daughter would have no idea the meaning of any of the words he was speaking, just simply that she was comforted by her Papa’s presence.
A slight knock at the door to the nursery breaks Anthony out of his own thoughts as he gently lays Charlotte down in her crib now that he has gotten her to drift off into sleep.
“My love, the boys are waiting to tell you goodnight before their last bedtime story,” Kate whispers, draping her arms around Anthony’s shoulders as she practically melts into him. “I told them I would check and see if you were finished putting Charlotte to sleep,” the viscountess hums against his back, a smile on her lips as she looks down at her slumbering daughter.
“I am. After practice with the two boys, Charlotte is proving to be quite the easy baby to take care of, dearest,” Anthony grins widely at his wife as he spins around to face her, hoisting his wife up into his arms and holding her to where their noses touch.
“Oh, dear. Then we’re in for it once she grows bigger, then!”
“Whatever makes you say that?”
“Everyone always says the easiest babies are the most spirited once they grow older,” Kate sighs dramatically, giggling slightly as Anthony buries his face in the fabric of her dress.
“God help us all with that! She’ll probably end up just like her Mama, which I will not complain one bit about, nor shall the young men of the ton,” Anthony winces, thinking more than ever that he will have to improve his fencing and keep up to date with his skill with a pistol. “I love you, Kate,” Anthony happily sighs, setting Kate back down on her feet and then capturing her lips into a passionate kiss right in the middle of their daughter’s nursery.
“I love you, too, Anthony,” Kate breathes once their lips finally part. “You make me so very happy and have given me a life full of such love and adventure, which I cannot thank you enough for,” the viscountess admits, her dark eyes positively glowing in the dim lighting.
“Have I told you lately that you are the most desirable woman in the whole of England? Scratch that, in the entire world,” Anthony murmurs, pressing his lips to the side of Kate’s neck, his breath hot and his voice husky against her ear.
“In the entire world, hmm?” Kate teases, wrapping her husband’s arms around her chest and stomach. “Well, that is news indeed, Lord Bridgerton,” she continues to mercilessly tease him, readjusting herself slightly in Anthony’s embrace, which lights a particular fire in him.
“You minx,” Anthony practically growls, his hold on Kate’s waist tightening as he pulls her closer to his body to where they are practically on top of one another. “I do believe you said we still had the boys to put to sleep first, yet here you are, making my blood boil with desire,” he continues, his voice thick and barely able to leave his mouth.
“Then I guess the boys shall have to be content with simply one more story, which will be a feat in itself,” Kate dramatically sighs, a coy smile playing on her lips. “They are sure to be disappointed, to be sure.”
“Edmund and Miles shall need their rest for when we take them fishing tomorrow with Benedict, Charles, and Alexander,” Anthony reminds, his mind hardly able to think of anything other than Kate in their bedroom at this point in time. “Besides, their Papa shall be more disappointed if he cannot get them into bed quickly enough to spend some much-needed quality alone time with their Mama,” he murmurs into her left ear, and Kate feels herself blush a dark crimson as Anthony gently nibbles on her earlobe.
“Hmmm… Then I guess we shall have to go and pick the shortest story they have in their library,” Kate gasps as Anthony continues the sensation against her earlobe, trying to lower her voice where she does not wake the sleeping Charlotte not ten feet away in her crib.
“I could not agree more, my darling wife.”
Much, much later that evening, the viscount and viscountess are lying tangled together in their massive bed, exhaustion overcoming both of them. Kate barely manages to stifle a yawn from her position atop Anthony, her head resting on his chest as she runs one of her hands up and down his bare torso, her long fingers stopping to absentmindedly twirl Anthony’s dark chest hair.
“I take it you enjoyed yourself,” Anthony smirks, that rakish glimmer of mischief back in his eyes as he gazes down at his gorgeous wife in his arms.
“Immensely. As did you, I would wager,” Kate teases before raising her head and kissing Anthony’s lips with all the passion she can muster.
“You would win that bet,” Anthony chuckles, readjusting his hold on Kate as he turns to his side, pressing his stomach against Kate’s back. “Kate, I… I need to tell you something,”
“Whatever is the matter, my love?”
“Absolutely nothing, dearest. I just needed to tell you how you are the best thing to ever happen to me, and that I am a fool for not thinking it was possible to be this happy before our time at Aubrey Hall together,” Anthony remarks, his dark eyes shining in the moonlight streaming in through their bedroom curtains. “You are exactly what I was looking for in a wife and so much more, Kate. I could never have imagined how in love I could be with someone until I got to know you.”
“Anthony, I…”
“Let me finish, please. Thank you,” the viscount continues, afraid he will lose his momentum with any interruptions. “Katharine Bridgerton, you could have had any man in the world, and yet you and I chose one another. I am so extremely grateful to spend the rest of my life with such an intelligent, beautiful, confident, caring woman such as you. You, Edmund, Miles, and Charlotte were the best accidental happily ever after I could have ever hoped for,” Anthony praises, dropping a kiss to the crown of Kate’s head and then moving down the side of her neck. “I love you, Kate, and I just wanted you to know that you will always be the most desirable woman in the world in my eyes, even when we’re both old and grey,” he smiles down at his wife, love practically oozing out of every fiber of his being.
“Anthony, I am so fortunate that I found you, too,” Kate beams, wrapping her hand around her husband’s bicep and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. “You are my happily ever after, too, and I am so grateful that you are such a marvelous father to our children,” she continues, absolutely sure that she would have adored Edmund Bridgerton I if she could have met him because from the stories Violet tells, he behaved quite similarly as Anthony as a father to his and Violet’s large brood. “I will love you every day of my life, Anthony Bridgerton, and I am so fortunate to get to do so,” Kate smiles up at her husband before their lips meet in a soft, tender kiss.
They snuggle closer together and Anthony pulls the duvet up to cover Kate’s bare form and protect her from the slight April chill that has entered their bedroom.
“Now, let us get some sleep, dear. I do believe two certain excitable boys will come bounding in here early in the morning to tell us it is time to go fishing.”
Kate does not reply, as she has already fallen asleep, feeling safe and protected in her husband’s loving embrace.