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Nine
Kai
Five years later
The sunset strikes the greenhouse, filling the dome with pink and gold light. Birds of paradise chatter in the canopy, while small, brown birds scuttle across the stone paths. The stream burbles and leaves rustle and murmured voices float to me as I wind my way into the miniature rainforest.
My muscles are sore from working all day, and my t-shirt sticks to my back with sweat. Still, it’s a good kind of grimy, and I’ll slip into a cool shower when we get home. Bliss.
“What’s this?”
“T-towel.”
“Trowel.”
Eden and our daughter are hunkered side by side in the undergrowth, thick as thieves as they chat together, pointing at different plants and objects. Our little girl is still learning basic words, but she can name most of the greenhouse tools. Ish.
As I get closer, I step lightly, my hiking boots almost silent against the dirt. Birds coo a warning overhead, but my girls are oblivious—too wrapped up in each other to notice. Their heads are bowed together, one dark haired, one chestnut.
Eden’s one hell of a mother. She’s patient and strong, playful and caring, just like I always knew she would be. The day she showed me those two pink lines was one of the best days of my life. I whooped and spun her around in our kitchen, our laughs floating out of the open window, and thanked god for my crazy good luck.
The other thing about Eden? She’s really freaking easy to spook.
Tiptoeing as close as I can on the path behind her, I wink when my daughter glances back, and hold one finger to my lips. Even though she’s just a sticky, adorable little toddler, my little girl already knows how to play our games.
She turns back around, giggling.
“What’s this?” Eden smiles down at her, scooching our daughter’s pudgy little body even closer to her side. They’re both dressed in stained old clothes, ready to play in the greenhouse dirt. Eden works here part time too, but when she brings our girl, she’s strictly off duty. “What’s so funny, missy?”
I lean down until my lips almost brush the top of Eden’s head.
“Boo.”
Her shriek sends birds clattering through the canopy, calling to each other, and our daughter explodes in bubbly laughter. I scoop her up, bouncing her against my chest. A sticky hand grabs my earlobe.
“Oh, you are such a jerk.” Eden smacks at my calf before taking my hand, and I tug her gently to her feet. “You’ll pay for that later, Akana.”
Hell yeah. My wife’s revenge sprees are always fun, and they always wind up with us twined together naked.
“Good day?” Eden asks lightly as we wander back along the path. Outside the glass greenhouse, the sun burns crimson as it touches the horizon.
“The best.”
Every day is the best with her. My dream.
My Eden.
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