Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
“What is going on in here?”
Skye turned with a squeal and beamed at me, her arms flapping excitedly. “Mummy!” She hurried toward me and I crawled quickly in her direction because she wasn’t entirely stable on her feet yet. I caught her, turning to fall on my back so I could lift her in the air above me.
Her delighted giggles spilled over me as I rested her on my tummy and tickled her gorgeous wee belly. After our laughter died down, she said, “Mummy, see!” and proceeded to show me how she was displaying her toys on her very patient father.
I crawled over to Mackennon and kissed him. “Good morning.”
He grinned. “Morning.”
“What is all this, then?”
“I was trying to keep her entertained so you could sleep in,” he explained.
I kissed him again, longer, until Skye cried, “Mummy, no!”
As I pulled back, Mackennon grumbled, “She’s a wee rock blocker.”
Chuckling, I sat up. “She is that. Has she had breakfast?”
“Wouldn’t eat anything,” he said, placing one of her toys back on his chest after it fell off.
“Daddy, no.” Skye took the teddy bear and placed it a few inches left of where he had.
“That was me told then.”
Laughter trembled on my lips. “I’m going to make us all some breakfast. We’ll eat it in here, I think. Do you want to eat your breakfast in the tent, Skye Pie?”
“Aye.”
I shook my head with a grin. “What about you, Daddy?”
Mackennon rested his hands behind his head, his biceps flexing in a way I felt between my legs. “Whatever you’re having, darlin’.”
“Scrambled eggs on toast?”
“Sounds good.”
A while later, I returned with a snack plate for Skye with the dry cereal she liked, a wee drop of scrambled egg, some cut-up banana and strawberries, and a veggie smoothie Mac had devised that she actually enjoyed. Skye reluctantly allowed Mackennon to sit up, and he did so, hunched over beneath the tent. And even though he couldn’t be the most comfortable, he ate his breakfast and coffee like that, while I ate mine between feeding Skye.
That day, we did go to the petting zoo after all. When a goat frightened her, Skye burst into tears and reached for me, wanting her mummy. It reminded me that children went through phases and just because I wasn’t with her every second of the day didn’t mean she didn’t need me or didn’t feel my love.
I knew my working mum’s guilt would never fully dissipate, but I held on to Mackennon’s words of wisdom and vowed to fully enjoy the time I had with my daughter.
At around seven that night, after a long day out, Skye drifted off to sleep. We’d had a rough first nine months with her, both of us shattered every day from lack of sleep, but around the ten-month mark, she started to sleep regularly, which was more than I could say for her cousin and half-niece, Vivien, who still wasn’t sleeping wonderfully.
I came downstairs from putting Skye to bed after reading Room on the Broom to her, feeling much, much lighter than I had the day before.
Mackennon was sprawled on the couch, watching an action flick on low volume, and he lifted his arm for me. I settled in beside him, cuddled into his side, tangling my legs with his. His fingers drifted through my hair as he commented, “You seem in a better mood today.”
“I am.” I kissed his chest. “I had words with Scott yesterday, and I think he got the message. Then I spent a brilliant day with my husband and daughter, and she drifted off to sleep, no problem. It’s been a good day.”
“Words with Scott?”
I sighed and told Mackennon what I’d been dealing with.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked gruffly.
“Like I said yesterday, I wanted to deal with it without you worrying about me.”
“But I knew something was up and was worried, anyway.”
“I’m sorry. I just … I thought maybe I was being sensitive because I miss Skye, but after you said that to him about his attitude, I realized I really wasn’t. So I let him have it.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
“Anyway, what are we watching?”
In answer, Mackennon abruptly switched off the TV and threw the remote to the other end of the couch.
“What—oof!” I found myself flat on my back as he slid out to brace himself above me. Grinning, I spread my legs so he could fit better between them. “Oh, I see.”
He grinned as he caressed the skin beneath my shirt. “I feel like watching you, darlin’,” Mackennon replied, voice thick with desire, “as you come around me.”
Heat flushed over me as I tingled between my legs in response. “That sounds like an excellent plan.”
His chuckle died against my lips as he kissed me with a passion and hunger I hoped never died between us. I said as much to him as we made love quietly on our living room sofa. Afterward, I thanked him for staying home to watch Skye. I thanked him for supporting me through everything, and I thanked him for loving me.