His Next Trick

An old style, colonial place set on what must be a million acres. Or that’s what it looks like.

I’m in love with the house, with the scenery. The pictures of the little town.

I’m in love with Jett all over again and I tell him so. I hug him tight and plant a big wet kiss on his lips.

“I know you didn’t want to stay on the coast forever,” he admits. “I’m a little tired of it too after so long.”

“Can we keep the Malibu house if we get the country one?” I ask, doing a terrible job at impersonating his voice, but it has the desired effect as he almost doubles up with laughter.

“Of course, we can,” he smiles. “Our family’s gonna have more than just one house.” He promises me, absently touching my belly. Ruining my surprise as well as outdoing it in one fell swoop.

But I don’t mind.

“How far along are you?” he asks, not even needing an announcement.

“This far,” I tell him, sticking out my belly with his hand still on it and we both laugh.

Laughing like I never thought I could.

Not just with someone else, but with a real man like Jett too.

“I love you, P,” he says suddenly, my heart feeling like it’ll burst if I don’t tell him the same right back.

“You don’t know how much I love you, Jett. How much we all love you,” I whisper in his ear, hugging him as tight as I can.

“How far along is this love of yours?” he asks, trying to keep a straight face as he mimics his comments from a moment ago.

“Hmm let me think,” I pretend to ponder his question, letting my hand run up his leg, all the way up to his zipper.

Not even caring who sees, but nobody does.

Because it’s moments like this that the rest of the world disappears.

All its problems and all its noise. It all just disappears, like magic.

When it’s just Jett and me, Benjamin and Stacey. And now one more on the way.

This is when the world is real.

This is what matters.

“I love you to the moon and back.”

I don’t even need to ask him to get us home quickly so I can show him just how much I love him.

Our love is.

Eternal.

EXTENDED EPILOGUE

FIVE YEARS LATER

Jett

“Ladies and Gentleman…”

The phrase takes me back. Makes me feel a little silly if I’m honest.

But when it comes from the mouth of my five year old son, his first public performance of his and his sister’s magic show?

It chokes me up.

Now, I haven’t shown the kids anything from my past. I hung up my costumes years ago, and so when they came out with this whole magic show idea, I was convinced it was their mom’s idea.

But nope.

They’ve come up with this all on their own, and the local school’s junior talent hour is their premier world performance.

One thing I love about this town. No one’s ever heard of Jett Masters. Except as the wealthy out of towner who bought the old estate. And if they have heard of me they don’t show it and let me be.

So when the Masters' kids are putting on their show, it’s just a regular, cute, and filled with laughs and tears of joy performance that makes Penelope and I so proud.

Little Piper, who’s not too far behind her brother and sister, isn't interested in magic though.

She’s already asking why the sky’s blue. Why daddy has a beard and where babies actually come from.

If our first two are in showbiz, I can deal with that. Mom and dad will support them in whatever they want to do, and with the twins, I can already see they’ve got the bug.

Piper is more like her mom.

A natural born scientist. And we’re more than okay with that too.

When she’s old enough to date? Same as Stacey… I’m gonna be sporting a few more gray hairs, and all from worry.

Those two are so much like their mom it’s like seeing three of the woman I love most, every second of the day.

“And for my next trick… My final mind-bending illusion…” Little Benjamin announces, his voice cracking and making us laugh along for the hundredth time.

“I’ll make us both disappear!”

There’s a long pause, and Benji holds his own. The audience stays quiet until he shoots a look at someone off stage and they disappear in a cloud of smoke and the curtain of their first show finally falls to a standing ovation.

In the late afternoon, we try for a cookout.

Something everyone was keen on after the talent show, but even Penelope seems a little tired, so I suggest we leave it until later.

But we all share a love of good food, and my suggestion of waiting until after comes with a resounding ‘No!’ shouted by everyone.

Probably by Penelope loudest of all, but with a smile on her face still.