I wonder if I can talk Hadley into one more baby. The thought of her pregnant puts a smile on the face at the same time I hear a pitter-patter of feet coming down the hallway. When we were looking for a home to buy, the only thing I was adamant about is that it needed to be a single-story home. I wanted this to be our forever home. She had this dream of a big two-story house, but when I told her I didn’t want to move again, Hadley’s outlook changed.
“Daddy!” Lilian squeals as she runs to get to me, her blanket dragging right along with her.
“Good morning, princess.” I lower my voice, not wanting to wake Delilah, on the off-chance she sleeps in today. I pick her up. Her legs wrap around me, her thumb goes in her mouth, and her head rests on my chest. She may be four years old and probably too old to be sucking her thumb, but Lilian will quit when she’s ready. I make my way over to the couch, coffee forgotten, wanting to enjoy these morning snuggles. Lilian is just reaching for the remote when Delilah makes her way to the living room. She’s holding her bear by the ear. She and Lilian are night and day. I swear Delilah inherited the morning attitude from her mother, whereas Lilian is more like me.
“Daddy.” The word comes out as more of a whine, but I know she’s still waking up.
“There’s my baby girl. Want to join us for cartoons, then maybe we’ll go get Mommy some donuts?” Both girls perk up when I say the magical word.
“I’ll take that as a yes, but how about we finish waking up first? Then we’ll load up and hit the drive thru.” I’m talking to them, but their eyes are glued to the television. Lilian is sucking her thumb, and Delilah is sucking on the ear of her bear. This right here, it’s where I always like to start our Saturday mornings, with my girls by my side.
We settle in, watching their favorite as the sun peeks through the windows and rises high in the sky. Even that doesn’t make them want to move. They must have needed this as much as I did. In fact, time goes by, and that’s where Hadley finds us when she makes her way out of bed. Nothing has changed much—she still steals my clothes and still snuggles as much as the girls when she wakes up. When Delilah sees her walk over to the couch, she scoots on my lap, giving Hadley room on my other side. I’m surrounded by my girls. Nothing could be more perfect in my world.