Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
So while the grounds were, almost always, teeming with guards, the inside of the house was our own little sanctuary.
We ate together, sometimes showered together, fucked on every surface of the house. And some nights, he would pull me onto his chest in the library and read to me.
“What are you thinking about, ma?” A asked, catching me staring out the window into the backyard.
“Can I ask you something without freaking you out?”
“Probably,” he said, and I had to appreciate his honesty.
“What are your opinions on kids?”
“In general, or ones with those eyes of yours and my love of reading?”
“Well, I guess the latter.”
“You guess, or you want to know if I got thoughts about putting babies in you?” he asked, coming up behind me.
“I know it’s really early.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said, arms going around my stomach, pulling me against his chest. “Want a couple of kids. Even if they are going to be stubborn asses like their mother. Was having dreams about our kids that night in the hospital before you woke me up,” he admitted.
“Really?” I asked, surprised by just how much I suddenly wanted kids with him. Not just kids, in general. His kids. Our kids.
“Yep. Was reading to one in the library, and you came in with a round belly. Figure we could make that dream a reality one day. Once you’re done doing that boss bitch empire-building thing.”
“I can do both,” I objected.
“Yeah, but you gotta get the stress of opening up your business out of the way first. We can just have fun practicing making ‘em until then.”
Then we did.
Practice.
Right there in the kitchen.
A - 1 year
“You sure you want to do it this way?” I asked as we both looked up at the courthouse.
“Do I really seem like the big white dress and veil type of woman?” she asked, raising her brows at me.
“Meant that your family is tight. Might want to be here.”
“This part, this is just for us. If they want to throw us a party after, that’s fine. But we don’t need an audience for this. It’s more… intimate this way,” she said.
“We do have an audience, though,” I reminded her, lifting our held hands to wave at her parents and Vi who were our witnesses.
She never liked being the center of attention. She liked to leave that to her larger than life cousins and friends, happily allowing herself to blend into the background, still enjoying the goings-on, but not having everyone looking at her.
I’d never given any thought to my wedding before, so I really didn’t give a shit about what kind it was. So long as she was happy, I was happy.
She didn’t have a white dress on, either. Or a dress at all. She wasn’t going to change because we were together. And, what’s more, I didn’t want her to. Sure, I’d fucked with her when she’d been working with me, but that was just because it was fun to get a rise out of her.
She’d chosen an early October day for the sole reason that she wanted to wear pants. And she did. Trading her usual utilitarian cargo pants for a pair of black slacks that she’d paired with a white shirt. No heels. Minimal makeup. But her hair was down, flicking up in the breeze as we walked into the courthouse.
Then we stood in front of a woman with a round face and kind eyes as she had us rattle off our vows.
Then came the part that I’d been looking forward to.
Sliding my ring on her finger.
Sure, she had the other ring.
The engagement one.
A black diamond, understated, because this was Hope.
But that felt more like a promise ring than the real deal.
It wasn’t until I saw the band slide on her finger that it felt real.
She was mine.
Forever.
And hopes she might have had about keeping the whole affair on the down-low, though, were dashed when we made our way back out of the courthouse to a crowd of a fucking hundred people.
Her family, friends, and a few of my people too.
Someone had even gone to grab Val, and put a damn tie on him.
Sure, she wanted the ceremony to be small, to be just for us.
But those were tears in her eyes as she looked down at all the smiling faces of her family.
Hope - 10 years
“Didn’t say you had to like it, little man,” A’s voice carried down the hall toward me as I made my way in the direction of the library. “Just said you had to do it,” he finished.
Walking into the doorway, I found him sitting on the couch with our oldest kneeling on the floor, running his finger along a line in a book he was probably reading for school.
Since the day he was born, A had been reading to him. At first, right out of whatever book he was reading for pleasure. I would wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, disoriented, unsure why the baby hadn’t woken me up with that usual wail that shook his whole little body, only to hear A’s calm, soothing voice, and would walk out to find him with our son on his chest, and his book in his hands.