Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
I smile, despite myself, feeling Elizabeth’s hand on my arm. I look at my mother-in-law and see encouragement reflecting back at me. ‘Thank you for having them,’ I say sincerely.
To which she smacks my arm before taking the empty carrier bag from my hand. ‘Shut up,’ she orders, stuffing it in the bin.
I roll my eyes, wandering over to my wife and kids and getting in on the excited conversation. I put myself behind Ava and curl my arms around her waist, resting my chin on her shoulder. Her hands land on mine, and she cranes her neck to get me in her sights.
‘Oh, Dad, please,’ Maddie sighs, losing all interest in the conversation and going back to her iPad. Whereas Jacob looks completely and utterly thrilled by my public display of affection. Of course he is. It’s normal for Dad to be all over Mum. He grins around his peanut-butter-covered finger, his attention set firmly on us.
Ava sighs, leaning back into me a little. ‘It feels right already,’ she says, looking a little sad, like she now appreciates how much she’s missed them.
‘Because it is right.’ I kiss her hair before breaking away. ‘Now, what am I doing for dinner?’
I get three different menu choices thrown at me all at once. And I smile. Because this is us.
Chapter 44
It takes me one second flat to figure out what’s not right when my brain wakes the next morning. Ava’s not in bed with me. Then another second to break into a panic. Where is she? And another second to get myself out of bed and out of the bedroom. I sprint around the landing and down the stairs like a loon, skidding into the kitchen.
I find Maddie at the island eating her breakfast. ‘Oh my God!’ Her horrified screech pierces my ears, her spoon halfway to her mouth. Her eyes are wide for the brief moment I see them before she swings back around on her stool, away from me. ‘Seriously, Dad!’
For a moment, I’m confused. Then I register the reason for her alarm. On a cringe, I look down my front. My naked front. Shit!
‘Where’s your mum?’ I ask, taking my hands to my groin and cupping myself. I die a little on the inside, though I don’t beat a hasty retreat. I’m too worried.
Her arm shoots out towards the utility room, just as Ava appears with a basket of washing in her hands. I get the same reaction from my wife as I do my daughter. The basket full of washing hits the ground, followed by a shriek. ‘Jesse, what the hell?’ Ava snatches a tea towel off the counter and rushes over, making quick work of covering me up.
‘You weren’t in bed,’ I snap, letting loose an unhappy scowl. ‘I was worried.’
Dark chocolate strands of hair frame her face as she gives me a tired look. ‘The kids are back at school today. I needed a head start.’
‘You should have woken me up. I just had twenty heart attacks between here and the bedroom, Ava.’
‘You were tired.’
‘I’m not tired,’ I retort, while she continues to arrange the small square of cloth over my nether regions. ‘Never leave our bed without telling me. You’ll kill me off.’
‘Stop being so dramatic.’ While she’s down there determinedly trying to conceal my dignity, her hand brushes the underside of my cock, waking the frisky fucker up. I inhale sharply, as does Ava, watching as the material moves with the help of my growing erection. Biting her lip furiously, she shakes her head. And here we are, back to that blessed thing called self-control.
‘For fuck’s sake,’ I mumble under my breath. ‘Are there any shorts in that basket?’
Snapping to life, Ava darts across to where she abandoned the washing and rifles through. ‘Here!’ She pulls out a black pair and chucks them across to me. Making sure Maddie remains facing away from me, I replace the pathetic towel with the shorts. ‘I’m decent, baby girl,’ I tell her.
‘You’re sooooo embarrassing.’
I plonk myself on the stool next to her and chuck the tea towel at Ava. It hits her in the chest and falls to the floor, her hands not even coming up to try to catch it. Because she’s too busy indulging in my chest. I pout and look down my fine front, peeking up at her through my lashes. ‘Breakfast?’ I ask, my question bringing her eyes to mine.
They roll as she picks up the basket, before warily flicking to our daughter. ‘Behave,’ she mouths, disappearing back into the utility room.
I laugh under my breath. Behave? Never. ‘How long have you been up?’ I call, searching the island for a pot of coffee. No coffee.
‘Six thirty,’ Ava replies as I make my way to the coffee machine and fire it up, not allowing the fact that it’s not prepared already bother me. ‘But Maddie was down here before me.’