Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Charlotte stared into her father’s eyes then looked back up at me. I swore she was looking into my soul.
“Charlotte, are you able to say dada?” Lucas asked as all eyes went to him.
I closed my eyes and shook my head.
“Um, that won’t be for a few more months, Lucas,” Dr. Lenard said, clearly trying not to smile.
Lucas and I stared down at our little girl. Suddenly, she smiled. If we hadn’t been looking right at her, we would have missed it.
“She smiled!” Lucas and I both cried out.
“That’s just gas, sweetheart,” one of the nurses stated.
Looking back down at my daughter, I giggled and whispered, “Working your magick already, are you?”
Lucas huffed. “Oh sure, she’ll do that before she says dada!”
Hollie
Six Years Later
“You cheated, Charlotte!”
“Girls don’t cheat!” my daughter spat back at her cousin Ryan. He was one year younger than she was, but the two of them were inseparable. They were playing some game they’d made up while Matt and Lucas stood by and watched.
We hadn’t seen any signs that either Charlotte or Ryan had the gift, but Charlotte often spoke of memories that were clearly not from this century.
After Charlotte tired of Ryan and accused him of being a boy, she made her way over to me. She climbed up in the chair next to me and smiled.
“Are you having fun?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Are you excited for the fireworks?”
Another nod. She glanced around and asked, “Where’s my dolly?”
“Right here,” I stated as I reached to my other side and produced the doll that was wrapped up in a blanket.
Charlotte smiled and ran her finger lightly over its cheek. “Mama?”
My heart jumped at the name Charlotte would sometimes call me. Most of the time, I was mommy and Lucas was daddy, but every once in a while she would call us mama and papa.
“Yes?”
“When I was waiting to come to you and Daddy, I used to talk to my first mama.”
I brushed a stray blonde curl from her face. “Did you? What did you talk about?”
She smiled. “Mama liked you. I did too.”
My heart felt as if it might burst in my chest. “I’m so glad. I’d be lost without you, Charlotte. I’m so happy you came to me.”
Glancing up, her little smile faded. “It was so hot, and I was so afraid dolly would be hurt. But you and Daddy came and saved her from the fire.”
I fought to hold back my tears. “Do you remember that?”
She nodded. “I don’t want to remember it.”
Lucas came over and bent down in front of Charlotte. The connection the two of them shared sometimes made me jealous. I’d see them playing together, and they’d look as if they were off in another time. But the feeling of jealousy always disappeared quickly. Charlotte and I were both so lucky to have someone like Lucas in our lives. He was the best father and husband anyone could ask for, and we both loved him dearly.
“Do you want to go swimming?” Lucas asked.
Charlotte lit up. “Yes! Yes, Daddy, yes!” Turning to me, she asked, “Will you and Michael come swimming too?”
“Michael?” I asked in confusion. Charlotte nodded and pointed to my flat stomach. “Yes, Michael. He wants to go swimming too!”
My eyes snapped up. Lucas raised a single brow and shrugged.
“Charlotte, who is Michael?” I asked as she stood up and carefully wrapped her dolly in her blanket and deposited her safely onto her chair.
Glancing up at me, she said, “My baby brother!”
Charlotte took Lucas’s hand and started to pull him toward the pool.
“Come on, Mommy and Daddy! Let’s swim!”
I pressed both hands went to my stomach as I stood up and looked at Lucas.
“Are you?” he softly asked, letting Charlotte pull him toward the pool we had put in two years ago at the house we’d bought just before Charlotte was born.
“I don’t know! I’m a few weeks late, but I haven’t taken a test yet.”
Charlotte dropped Lucas’s hand and started to jump in excitement. “Mommy, Daddy! Come on! Jonathon is ready to go swimming too!”
My mouth fell open, and Lucas took a few steps back. When we looked at one another, we both laughed.
“Twins?” he asked.
“There’s no way!”
At that moment, Kristin came walking into the backyard with Shawn behind her and their two-year-old daughter Kate on his shoulders. She stopped in front of me, kissed me on the cheek, then took a step back. Looking from me to Lucas, she let out a scream. That caused Kate to start screaming and then Charlotte joined in.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!”
I shot a disbelieving look at Lucas before turning back to Kristin.
“Okay, please don’t say anything!” I begged. After all, I hadn’t even taken a pregnancy test.
“Don’t say anything!” Kristin yelled as she gaped at me. “I have to, Hollie!”
Before I could say another word she cried out, “You cut your hair and dyed it! What were you thinking!”