Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Love flows endlessly every time I look at her, the way she smiles in her sleep, even if she was recently screaming the house down. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Let her be loud and confident. Let her be like her mother’s becoming, growing into her full potential.
Freya worked through much of the pregnancy. When she returned from maternity leave, her boss was so glad that he advanced her to a higher-paying position.
But it’s not the money – I could support her forever if that’s what she chose – but the passion in my woman’s face when she returns from work. It brings me back to our wedding, how bright her smile was, the bump just about showing beneath her gorgeous white dress.
The business is going well, with the East Coast earning more contracts than the West within the past six months.
Kenny called me the other day, and I could hear him grinning down the phone.
“You just had to go and outperform us, didn’t you?”
I laughed. “Let me know if I’m overreaching. I’m sure I could ruin the company if I tried.”
He chuckled at my sarcasm. “Keep doing what you’re doing. You’ve got a family to think about now.”
It always makes me feel lighter inside when people reference my family or call Freya my wife. Or ask how my daughter’s doing.
It always makes me feel like the luckiest man alive.
And I am.
Lucy opens her eyes, looking at me, love flowing between us. She’s got her mother’s eyes, but the few black hairs appearing on her head hint that she may have my natural hair color.
Reaching forward, I gently pick her up, remembering how terrified I was the first time. She felt so small, so delicate. I wondered if I’d hurt her by mistake.
But that only lasted for a moment, and now I rock her softly.
I walk through the house, cradling her. She likes it when I make these circuits. It settles her, especially when I take her to watch Freya sleep.
My woman lies on her side, eyes closed, her leg thrown over the covers. I move my gaze to her face instead – Freya has become so gorgeously curvy since the birth, her juicy thighs even more tempting – to her smile.
I don’t want to get carried away staring at my woman’s tempting body with Lucy in my arms.
Freya’s sleepy smile is full of hope, of love.
“Do you see?” I whisper, kissing Lucy on the cheek. “She’s dreaming of you. And all your future brothers and sisters.”
Freya blinks her eyes open, squinting as she stares at me in the light from the hallway.
“How did you know?” she asks sleepily.
“We can always tell, can’t we, Lucy?”
“Can you bring her here?”
“You want to lie together?”
“Do you mind?”
If it’s my turn to tend to Lucy – and it never feels like a chore – sometimes, if Freya wakes up too, she’ll ask me to lie in bed with her.
We’ll stay like that. Freya will fall back to sleep…and hopefully Lucy too.
And then I’ll take our little angel back to her room, so we can hear her sleepy noises through the baby monitor.
I lie on my back, next to Freya, placing Lucy on my chest and making sure she’s okay.
Freya wraps her arm around us, and I lie there, eyes open, not wanting to miss a moment.
EPILOGUE
TEN YEARS LATER
Freya
I stand at the edge of the giant canvas, my cheeks hurting from smiling so much, laughing as Lucy strides from side to side, paint on her feet, leaving a trail of footprints behind her.
Felix follows soon after, my husband shirtless in the summer sun, his body just as taut and muscular as it was when we met. His body is flecked with paint, a result of our four-year-old, Hudson, chasing after him with the paintbrush.
The paint’s special, meaning it won’t hurt the kids, but the younger ones are still wearing goggles and gloves.
Felix chuckles and jogs away as Hudson chases after him, and then Colby joins the fray, our six-year-old with his broad smile and deep brown hair.
Across the canvas, on the other side, Fi Fi is snapping photos on her camera. Her teenage years have brought a profound love of photography to my niece.
Julie and her husband, Max, are at the grill… Max loves working the grill.
Kenny and his wife are here too, and mom’s in the house with Mila, the latest addition to our family.
I can barely contain all the love inside me. Finally, my fantasy comes to life.
Sure, it’s not the first time we’ve had arts and crafts in the garden, but it still makes me well up every time.
Tears fall easily, especially when I watch Felix scoop up Hudson and Colby, holding one in each powerful arm.
“Daddy, you lose!” Colby laughs, painting a big streak of purple down Felix’s cheek.