Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
“Yay!” Laila exclaims. She carefully balances her plate and then plops down on the deck next to my chair.
“Kiddos, c’mon! Food’s ready!” Rick calls to the children in the yard. Rose and Norman ignore him, of course. Rosie is currently hiding behind a trash can, and Norman is running all over, looking for her. Noah, however, heads our way, Rufus trotting at his heels while snuffling around for dropped food.
“Normie,” Christopher shouts, “come get your burger! Just leave Rose hiding. I am sure she won’t mind if you eat her food, too.” Christopher winks at me knowingly, and I laugh. Just as we expect, Rosie immediately dashes out from behind the trash can, yelling, “Don’t eat mine! And I still win hide and seek!”
We laugh and relax in the gathering twilight, watching as fireflies start to wink on and off. As soon as the kids are done wolfing down their food, they dash back into the yard, trying and failing to cup insects in their hands. I watch them contentedly, my hands resting on my growing belly. How did life get so perfect?
After all, our dreams have come true. Bailey opened her own interior design firm after we graduated, and she and Christopher often collaborate together, since he owns his own construction company. I am incredibly proud of Bailey for running her own business and being a great mom at the same time. I, however, love just staying at home with my kids, and I sometimes babysit Norman and Noah, too. I know it’s a little strange because I’m technically their step-grandmother, but it doesn’t feel weird at all. The two families get along so well, and we are literally family: by choice and by blood.
Bailey and Christopher insist on cleaning up, since we’re hosting this time; we usually alternate gatherings at each other’s homes. Rick, meanwhile, sits in Bailey’s vacated chair, and takes my hand. He turns it over and gently kisses my palm.
“What are you thinking about?” my husband asks.
“Just how happy I am, and how lucky we are,” I say, smiling.
He nods, laughing as Laila jumps repeatedly in the air, trying to catch a firefly far above her head.
“Damn, we are pretty lucky, aren’t we?” Rick muses. “Two beautiful kids, and another on the way; we’re a smokin’ hot couple…”
I giggle and swat at him playfully. “One half of us is,” I inform him, arching a brow suggestively. More grey has been streaking Rick’s chestnut hair lately, but I find it incredibly sexy. I find him just as attractive as I did years ago, if not even more so.
“Are you kidding me?” Rick reacts in mock horror, placing a hand to his heart. “You’re a total babe, and you don’t even recognize it? Maybe I need to do a better job reminding you.” He scooches his chair closer to mine, and leans in to kiss me.
“Alright, lovebirds, settle down,” Bailey says as she and Christopher head back our way. “Wait until your company leaves, at least.”
I giggle.
“In fact, Bailey and I have a bet going that you’re going to have baby number four right after this one,” Christopher says, gesturing at my growing belly.
I widen my eyes. “I think I am going to need a little bit of a break,” I admit, rubbing my stomach. “I’d like to sleep again someday.”
“Uh, sleep is overrated,” Rick says, grinning at me. “Come on, babe. You know I want a big family. At least five or six kids.”
“Is that five or six including me?” Bailey asks, and we erupt into laughter. Bailey has handled becoming a much older big sister with grace, and is a kind, loving influence on Rose and Laila. We’re lucky that she and Christopher live so close by, and that our kids get along so well.
“I caught one! Look, look!”
Norman hurries back to the deck where we’re gathered, and carefully opens his clasped hands. Inside the darkness of his palms, a tiny fluorescent light blinks.
“Good job, sweetie! Be careful not to hurt him,” Bailey says, stroking her son’s dark curly hair.
“I just wanted him for a sec,” Normie says. “I’ll let him go now. Bye, friend!”
We all watch together as the firefly zooms away, winking at us one last time before disappearing into the dusk.
Laila has always been a good sleeper--a tuck-in, a kiss goodnight, and she’s out like a light. Rose, as in most things, is a little more demanding.
“And they all lived happily ever after,” I read, closing a book that we’ve read a thousand times before. “The end, my princess. Time for bed.”
Rose, snuggled in her blankets, peers at me questioningly. “That’s it?”
I laugh. “You know that’s it. You practically have this one memorized.”
“I know,” she admits, grinning cheekily at me. “I just like to pretend that there’s more to the story sometimes.”
“That’s all there is tonight, my love,” I say, standing up from my perch on the edge of the bed. I stretch my arms overhead and yawn theatrically. “Your mama is very sleepy tonight.”