Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
“Age is relative, Mommy,” she responded. “Even though I’m only seven years old, developmentally, my brain can handle more emotionally difficult information than the average child my age.”
“I get that, little lady.” I gently tugged on her hair. “But that doesn’t mean you should be watching stuff like that.”
“So, I can’t watch that YouTube channel?” She turned to meet my eyes, and I shook my head.
“No, you cannot.”
“For how long?”
Jesus. No matter how many times I’d been asked this question, I was never prepared with a real answer. All I could do was wing it. “Until you’re eighteen.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
“What are my favorite girls up to?” Wes’s voice filled my ears, and I looked up to find him standing in the doorway, smiling at us.
“Mommy said I can’t watch YouTube videos about criminal psychology.”
“Criminal psychology? What? Why are you watching stuff like that?” Wes met my eyes with a raise of his brows, and I nodded. Yep, you heard that right.
“It’s interesting,” Lex answered, oblivious to the side conversation Wes and I were having nonverbally.
I snorted and finished up Lexi’s braid, securing it with a pink hair tie of her own request. She hopped off the bed and ran over toward Wes.
“Are the firefighters still here?”
He smirked down at her. “Yep. They are currently enjoying a feast out on the deck.”
“Can I go down there?” she questioned and clutched both hands together. “I want to ask them about their equipment.”
“What do you think, Mommy?” Wes asked me as he placed a gentle hand on Lexi’s shoulder. “Can we get an extension on bedtime?”
“Please?” Lexi begged.
“Okay, fine. But only thirty minutes. After that, I want you back upstairs, teeth brushed, and in bed.”
“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Let’s go, Daddy!”
Wes grinned down at our daughter, and after offering a little wave in my direction, they both left the bedroom and headed down the hall.
It was little moments like those that just stole my heart. Lexi wasn’t Wes’s biological child, yet he treated her like his own. Their bond had developed into something that was pretty damn magnificent to watch.
Off the bed, I walked into the bathroom to pick up Lex’s wet towels, but once I got everything cleaned up, I was surprised to see Aunt Paula standing outside the door.
“Knock, knock. Can I come in?”
“Of course you can,” I answered, sitting down on the bed and patting the empty spot beside me.
Aunt Paula smiled softly as she made her way over to me. “That was quite the night, huh?”
“That it was. And I’m so sorry this is what you came home to after having to leave your cruise early.”
“I’ll never regret spending more time with my kids,” she answered through a laugh and reached out to take my hand into hers. “How are you doing, my sweet Winnie?”
“I’m pretty good,” I replied, but the way she searched my eyes made me feel like I needed to shield something from her.
“There’s no denying that you’re in a happy, healthy marriage with an awesome husband and father to our little Lexi.”
“Definitely no denying that.”
She squeezed my hand. “But…why do I get the sense that something else is going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I can see some underlining stress behind your eyes. Maybe, even a little sadness.”
Her words took me aback. Was I that obvious?
“Well…” I paused and tried to search for a way to lighten up—and redirect—the conversation. “It has been a crazy week with all the power outages and Thatch and Jude blowing up canoes.”
“That’s true.” She grinned. “But I think, deep down, you know that’s not what I’m talking about.”
Instantly, a visual of the negative pregnancy test I took before coming out to the lake house filled my mind.
Man, leave it to Aunt Paula to always know when you had something else on your mind. It was like she had a direct line to other people’s subconscious.
Just talk to her about it…
“I guess I am a little bummed and confused about something.”
Her gentle eyes examined mine, but her lips stayed closed as she patiently waited for me to find the words to explain what I’d been feeling.
It took a long minute, but eventually, I found a semblance of the words to express what I’d been going through.
“Wes and I have been having unprotected sex for the past year, and…I’m not pregnant.”
“Are you two trying to have a baby?”
“Not necessarily.” I shrugged one shoulder. “We’re just going with the mind-set that whatever is supposed to happen will happen.”
“But I take it there’s a little disappointment because nothing has happened?”
I nodded.
“You know, when your uncle Brad and I got married, we tried to have kids,” she started to explain. “But it just wasn’t in the cards for us.”
“I’m kind of feeling like that’s how it is for me,” I answered honestly and stared down at my hands. “I mean, I know that I had Lexi, but I just have this nagging feeling that I can’t have any more kids. And I guess I’m starting to worry that maybe Wes will be missing out on a fulfilling life by never getting a chance to have kids of his own.”