Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 126682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
I smile at her, shading my face with a hand from the sun. “I love your gin, but I’ll have to opt for something without alcohol.”
“Ah.” Her midnight blue eyes sparkle. “Have you told him?”
“Not yet.” I glance to where Saverio lifts Claire from the car. “I thought it would make a nice birthday present.”
Livy beams. “Nothing will make him happier.”
I cup my stomach, smiling as I take in my growing family. Emma will be five in July. There’s just over a year’s difference between her and Claire. Saverio and I wanted a break before trying again, but the timing is right. I was getting broody. Saverio even more so.
“Is that for me?” Dante asks, snatching the drink from Livy’s hand.
She waves a finger at him. “Play nice.”
He takes a sip. “I always play nice.” Grinning, he says, “Food’s ready.”
Claire comes bouncing up, shaking out her strawberry-blond curls as she takes off her helmet. She nicked one of Saverio’s T-shirts that she knotted on the side. Her jeans are torn on the knees from climbing trees and falling off her bike. Her red Converse sneakers are scruffy with holes on the sides, but she refuses to part with her favorite shoes. As much as Emma is a girlie kind of girl, Claire is my fearless tomboy.
Saverio catches my gaze as he saunters over, heat sparking in the see-through blue of his eyes. As always, my stomach flips. One look from him is all it takes.
Logan carries over a stack of burger patties on a plate that he leaves on the table with the bread rolls and the salads. “Better dig in before it gets cold.”
“Can we give Daddy his birthday gift first?” Claire asks, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her boyfriend jeans.
“Daddy! Daddy!” Emma runs over as fast as her short legs can carry her, stopping in front of Saverio with her back turned to him. The tooth fairy was here again. She asks with a cute lisp due to her missing milk teeth, “Can you please tie my dress?”
Saverio’s smile is soft. Unguarded. “Sure, princess.”
He ties the big ribbon at the back of her yellow Princess Belle dress with efficiency and gentleness. Those big, manly hands are always tender when he lifts the girls into his arms. My husband became an expert at styling two little girls’ hair into braids and ponytails. Emma will sit in front of her small dressing table mirror with her box of hair clips clutched on her lap and hand them to Saverio one by one when he’s helping her with her hair before she goes to kindergarten. She’s very fussy about the placement of every clip. She’ll make him redo it until she’s satisfied. Both girls claim no one can brush tangles out of hair without pulling on the knots like their daddy.
“There,” Saverio says, turning her around with his hands on her shoulders. “All done.”
Emma stares up at him with a big, gap-toothed smile. “Thank you, Daddy.”
He bends down and kisses the crown of her head. “You’re welcome, princess.”
“Mommy.” Claire blows out an impatient sigh. “Can we give Daddy his gift now? Please?”
Nicole, who’s abandoned the tea party, stops next to me. “I agree. Gifts always come before food.”
Logan swings an arm around her shoulders. “You’re just incurably curious.”
She kisses his cheek. “Guilty.”
“Go ahead,” I say to Claire with a smile. “You know where it is.”
Her face lights up, making her freckles stand out. Not letting me invite her twice, she rips her hands from her pockets and sprints to the house.
Emma grins at Saverio, wrapping her small hand around his large one. “It’s really nice. Claire said you’re going to love it.” She puts emphasis on love, dragging the word out.
From the look Saverio gives her, he’s a conquered man. “The picture you drew for me is all I want, princess.”
That makes her smile wider. “You can have tea and cake in my dollhouse for dessert.”
He brushes a hand over her dark blond hair. “I’d love that, sweetheart.”
Claire exits the kitchen and jumps down the porch steps before running to us with a small box in her hands.
“Here, Daddy.” She thrusts the box at him. “Happy birthday.”
Saverio frowns through his smile. “What is this?”
Claire bounces on the balls of her feet while Emma claps her hands. I swore them to secrecy, and I know how hard it was for them not to let anything slip. But they did it for Saverio, to make his birthday special, and that makes my heart burst with pride.
“Open it,” Emma says, jumping up and down.
Saverio takes off the lid with the red ribbon and removes the key. He glances at me before holding it up in the air to inspect it.
Unable to contain herself, Claire says, “You have to open the garage first.”