Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
“Thank you, Steve.” Harlow waltzes past him.
“Eyes up, man,” I order.
“He wasn’t even looking.” Harlow drags me to the car.
“He could have been thinking about it.”
“Not everyone is obsessed with me like you are.”
“I’m ossessed with you, Mommy,” declares Georgie, our youngest. At three, she’s a walking, talking, piano-playing genius who can’t bear to be away from her mother more than two seconds. She climbs onto Harlow’s lap and snuggles around the bulge in Harlow’s tummy and lays her head on Harlow’s chest. The car starts moving, and she falls asleep.
My heart clenches at the visual. Mother and daughter with another on the way. How did I get to be so fucking fortunate? The image is replaced by the curious eyes of my eldest, Kosta.
“What’s in the package?” he wants to know. “Another animal or an egg this time?”
“An egg, and when you open it, there’s a dancing bear.”
“I like that. Will she let me play with it?”
I ruffle Kosta’s mop. “When has Aunt Gia ever said no to you?”
He appears to seriously consider this.
“Maybe when Georgie was born? I asked her for a brother and got Georgie instead.”
Harlow coughs into her fist to disguise her laughter. Me? I bite the inside of my cheek. “Aunt Gia’s not in charge of that, so it wasn’t so much her saying no to you as it was her saying it’s up to God.”
“What’s God gonna do about this one?” He nods toward Harlow’s stomach. She’s avoiding our eyes to avoid hurting Kosta’s feelings by laughing.
“We don’t know. We’re going to wait until the baby is born to find out.”
Kosta wrinkles his nose. “I bet it’s going to be a girl. Mommy, if you have another girl, you need to keep going until there’s a boy. I can’t be the only boy in this family.”
“What am I? A loaf of bread?” I thump my chest.
“No, Daddy, you know what I mean. A little boy like me.”
“Come here, darling.” Harlow gestures for the boy to climb over to her side of the car now that it’s stopped in front of Aunt Gia’s. “If you’re the only boy I ever have, I’ll be so happy.”
“You’re just saying that because you know you’re having another girl.” Kosta folds his arms over his chest. “I’m telling Aunt Gia that you’re refusing to have more kids. She won’t like that.”
Harlow winces. His threat is spot on. Aunt Gia thinks we should have a football team worth of kids. Harlow said there’s no more beyond four. Since I’m not the one cooking these kids in my body, it’s all up to her.
“I’ll put in a couple prayers for a boy, champ.”
Harlow rubs her belly. “Feels like a boy to me, too.”
This apparently placates Kosta, who lays his head on the side of Harlow’s belly not occupied by Georgie. “If you’re a boy, we’ll have lots of fun. We’ll go fishing and biking and take apart Aunt Gia’s toys. Just wait and see. Being a boy is the best. Come out a boy, okay?”
I hurry out of the car so I don’t laugh in front of Kosta. The boy tumbles out next, followed by a sleepy Georgie, who I pick up and cuddle to my chest. She sleepily says, “Daddy?”
“Right here, darling.”
She snuggles her head under my chin. I reach out my free hand to help Harlow out of the car. The doors open, and Aunt Gia rushes out. “Where’s my precious boy?”
Kosta leaps into her arms. “Happy birthday, Aunt Gia. We got you another egg!” he screams.
“Hush, Kosta. It’s supposed to be a surprise,” Harlow admonishes.
“Oh, right, Aunt Gia, we got you a surprise.” He beams, not even an ounce of remorse in his face.
Aunt Gia smiles happily. She dotes on him. “I am sure it will be the most wonderful surprise since it’s from you. Let’s go inside. I had Cook make you your favorite dishes.”
“But Aunt Gia, it’s your birthday, shouldn’t it be your favorites?”
“Your favorites are my favorites, so it works out perfectly.” The two walk hand in hand up the brownstone steps.
“It’s magical how grape jelly and peanut butter sandwiches are her favorite food,” Harlow murmurs as we follow behind.
“Who can resist that combination?” I say.
“Me,” Harlow says. “I’ve had too many of them.”
“Nelson made sure there’s adult food, didn’t you, Nelson?” I hand him the gift.
“We have a full assortment of dishes for all palates.” He nods.
“You’re a prince, Nelson.” Harlow pats his arm. He blushes. Thankfully, he’s eye level with Harlow and can’t really see down her chest. At least I don’t think he can. I guess I should check that out.
“I can hear your thoughts, and no, you are not going to test to see whether Nelson can see down my dress,” Harlow hisses under her breath as we move away from the door.