Cursed

“Want me to take her?” Callie asks Record, and she kisses Ivy’s head before she passes our baby to her sister.

We watch them head down the back porch steps to the beach to join our friends and I pull her into my side more as we follow slowly.

“Your mom called me on the way over here. They’re thinking about putting an offer in for a house here in town.”

I nod. My parents love Record, Callie too, and ever since we got married, they’ve been talking about moving closer to us. Once we had Ivy, they talked about it a more, so I’m not surprised that they’re finally going to do it.

“That will be nice. They can watch Ivy for us and we can go out for a date night,” I say, nuzzling her neck, and she beams at me.

“Uh, we can watch her too!” Lyla interrupts.

I kiss the top of Record’s head before we turn to face her friends.

“Yeah! We should set up some weekly or biweekly babysitting routine so that we can all get a little break,” Sutton says and I can already see her starting on the project in her head.

“Sounds like a plan,” I say as I lead Record over to where Callie and Ivy are sitting at the patio table.

I pull out a chair for her, and she smiles as she takes a seat. Ivy is busy looking around the backyard, her eyes wide and locked on the water. We both think that she’s going to be a swimmer because she’s always absolutely fascinated by it.

We actually just put an offer in for a house a few doors down from Lyla and Hudson. We probably won’t hear back for a few days, but I think that we have a real shot of getting it.

It will be nice to be close to our friends, and I know that both of my girls want to live by the water.

Record started her art classes the first summer that she was here and they were a huge hit. She loved working with the kids and creating new class plans or pieces of art. We ended up going up to Sault Ste. Marie for some of the craft festivals and she sold some of her pieces there as well.

Once the summer was over, I taught her how to paint cars and she loved it. She has a schedule now where she does three art classes a week, usually at night, during the school year, and helps me out at the shop an additional two days a week.

The mechanic shop has taken off since she joined. I’m more organized, and with her doing bodywork, I can focus on the engines. We ended up hiring someone a few months before Ivy was born, and I’m glad that we did. We could use all of the help that we can get now that our little one is here.

“Who’s ready to eat?” Hudson calls, and Lyla grins as she holds up a bowl of potato salad.

“I’ll make you a plate,” I tell Record as she takes Ivy back from Callie.

“Thanks.”

“Anything for my best girls,” I say, giving both of them a kiss before I stand to help my friends.

I was always the loner, the one who was happy to get his hands dirty. I never thought that I would have a wife or a kid. No one ever really interested me.

Not until I met Record.

From that first meeting, I was intrigued, and that only grew with each day that I spent with her.

Now I’m cursed with an amazing wife who is smart and strong and loving. One who gave me a beautiful daughter and who makes me laugh like no one else. One who is my partner in everything, who truly is my better half.

It’s quite the curse, and I thank the universe every day that she cursed me.