When I finally gave her a break, she asked, “Where’s Daddy?”
“Not sure. Might be working.”
She stuck out her tongue. “Daddy sucks sometimes.”
I laughed. “He does not suck.”
She moved to the edge of the pool, which gave a breathtaking view of his property, the horses and ponies in the pasture as they fed on the fresh grass.
“Do you like it more here or at the apartment?”
“Here,” she said immediately. “We don’t have horses at the apartment.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, that would be uncomfortable if we did.”
“But when it’s cold, there’s not much as much to do here…so I don’t know.”
“I think I prefer the summer.”
“Because we get to swim?”
“Yes, that’s a big perk.”
Benton finally stepped outside, in just his swim trunks and sunglasses, looking hotter than the underworld. “Got room in there?”
“Dad, take a swan.” Claire kicked one toward the shallow end of the pool.
He stepped into the pool and then tucked the floaty under his arms as he came toward us. “Thanks, sweetheart. So, what were you girls talking about?”
“That we love to swim,” Claire said.
“I noticed,” he said. “You guys have been out here every single day.”
“Yep.” Claire dunked underwater then swam to the other side of the pool, to show off how long she could hold her breath under the water. When she reached the other side, she giggled. “Did you see?”
“I did,” Benton said. “You’re good, sweetheart.”
“I can’t wait until I have a brother or sister to swim with.” She dipped below the water and did it again, swimming back and forth underwater, enjoying the praise she got from us every time she came up for air.
Benton stood next to me against the wall, his hand moving to my stomach under the water. “How’s your back?”
“A lot better in the pool.” I wasn’t even that far along, but it was getting really uncomfortable—really fast.
“I know you can handle it, baby. And just remember, it’ll all be worth it.”
I watched Claire pop up for air on the other side of the pool, wearing her goggles. “I know. But then I’ve got to do it again…and again.”
“Whoa, how many kids are we having?”
“I don’t know. Guess we never really talked about it.”
“You want to talk about it now?”
“Alright. How many do you want?”
He shrugged. “I guess if you ask me to knock you up, I won’t have the strength to say no…so it’s entirely up to you.”
“Glad we had this conversation,” I said with a chuckle.
He gave a slight smile, a handsome one. “Let’s just focus on this one. We’ll worry about the others later.” He leaned in and kissed me, his hand still on my little stomach, a stomach that I could still hide under my clothes for the time being.
“That sounds like a good plan.”
He pulled away and brushed his nose gently against mine. “I love you.”
I melted every time he said that, like a stick of butter in a hot pan. “I know you do.”
He turned toward Claire, who was on the other side of the pool. “You want to race, sweetheart?”
“Yeah!” Claire said. “Mom, you watch. And no cheating!”
My heart melted whenever she called me that, even though she did it every day now. Beatrice didn’t want the title, but I took it with so much joy, the kind of joy that made my eyes water. Everything that happened was still in my nightmares, still ingrained in my blood, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it was meant to happen.
Because if it hadn’t…I wouldn’t have ended up here.
Exactly where we all belonged.