I grin, looking down at Emily with my soul flooded with love. Our baby sleeps peacefully, her eyes closed, as though thirty minutes ago she wasn’t screaming the house down.
But we wouldn’t have her any other way.
I can see Lena in her. It’s the shape of her nose, the dimples in her cheeks. It’s her essence, making deep and undying love whelm in me with so much as a glance. I love them both so much.
Lena huffs, drawing my gaze. We’re sitting on the porch, the sun shining, Jackson sprawled out in the shadow of a tree.
Emily’s chest rises and falls softly, but that’s not the problem.
I am.
“I find it hard to sit still.”
I chuckle, taking in the sight of her.
My wife is wearing her painting shirt today, loose everywhere, giving me a hungering look at her outline. She’s even curvier since giving birth, her hips tempting me to claim them even more. It’s the flushed excitement in her cheeks too, the glow of motherhood that stirs the primal beast inside of me.
No matter what, I’ll always want to take her, to make her pregnant.
We’re only getting started.
“You’re a very distracting man,” She laughs, shaking her head. “I’m trying to make you look handsome.”
I chuckle. “Are you saying it’s hard?”
She rolls her eyes. “No, I’m saying since you know who is asleep, we should take the chance while we’ve got it.”
“Are you scared to say her name?” I grin.
“E-M-I-L-Y… happy now? Will you stop moving?”
I laugh and cradle Emily tighter. She opens her mouth and shifts as though snuggling closer to me. I rock her from side to side, then smile over at Lena.
“Okay, I’ll sit still.”
She laughs like crazy when I start making faces at her, raising and lowering my eyebrows, grinning, then frowning.
When she stands, I have to focus hard not to consume her legs with my gaze. It’s the way her thick creamy thighs poke out from the shirt, bare, begging to be caressed and squeezed.
“I love you,” she says, shuffling into the seat next to me.
I move closer, the three of us sharing warmth.
“And I love you,” she whispers, leaning down and laying a soft kiss on Emily’s forehead. “I can’t wait to show you our wedding photos. Daddy looked so handsome in his suit, so strong, and Mommy, well….”
“Mommy looked beautiful, like an angel,” I say firmly, remembering how radiant she looked walking down the aisle, her hair spilling out behind her, her dress blindingly gorgeous.
Lena looks up, smiling gently at me. “Do you mean that?”
I smile, leaning over and kissing her lightly on the lips. “You were, you are amazing, Lena. How much you’ve painted while pregnant, just that alone, proves how amazing you are. I know I can’t sit still, but your other work…”
“What if it’s just for me?” she whispers. “What if I don’t want to show anybody except for you and maybe the kids?”
“Then fine,” I say. “If you’re happy, do whatever you want. As long as you remember who you belong to.”
“Always,” she whispers, moving in for a kiss.
I kiss her passionately, letting her know who she belongs to, then move away as she takes Emily from my arms.
Together, we walk down the porch onto the grass.
Jackson flops onto his legs and comes padding over, tongue hanging out, spinning around on his hind legs when he gets close.
“Easy there, little acrobat,” I say, laughing as I scoop him into my arms.
He whines. Lena looks at me, and I grin. We both know what he wants.
Carefully, I lower him to Emily.
Jackson sniffs her gently, then softly laps at her head.
He does it like he knows she’s a member of the family, like he knows he has to be careful with her.
“Good dog,” I say, scratching him behind the ears.
SIX YEARS LATER
Lena
“Don’t be a baby,” I tease, as I apply the tattoo gun to Luca’s shoulder.
“Yeah, Daddy,” Emily sings, swinging her legs back and forth from the counter. “Don’t be a baby.”
Luca chuckles as he turns to look at me. My husband’s back is ripped with muscle, his bare skin making it clear how powerful he is and that age could never slow him down.
His smile is full of love, his eyes full of banter and joy.
“I see how it is,” he says. “You’re ganging up on me.”
We all laugh, knowing it’s a joke and that we only ever want the best for each other.
That’s what a family is. That’s why Luca is getting this tattoo.
There’s Emily, our oldest, precocious enough to sit in here. She isn’t squeamish a bit, an adventurous girl with – people say – my brown hair and her father’s sharp eyes.
Then there’s Jamie, our four year old, currently with his Aunt Izzy and Olga in the main house.
And finally, there’s our newest, little Angela, sleeping in her crib.