“I’m not getting into a discussion about this, Harlow. We’ve got a one year old and a newborn. You need to gather enough strength for them both.”
“Madison offered to come and help.”
“Yeah, and she can when I go back.”
“My God, you are so freaking stubborn.”
I look at her, my brows arched. “And you’re not?”
Her smile reaches deep into my veins. I could survive off those smiles alone. “I do love you, Scott Cole, but seriously, your bossiness is reaching new levels.”
I lean across and brush a kiss over her lips. “And it’s only gonna get worse if you don’t listen to me. I want you better, so stop arguing with me.”
She watches me silently for a few moments before saying, “What do you think he’ll be when he grows up?”
Harlow loves to talk about our kids’ futures. Not in the kind of way a controlling mother would, but rather in a curious way. She likes to imagine the possibilities for them.
“He’ll join the club.”
She nods. “Yes, that’s what I think too.” She smiles again. “And he’ll have your crinkles.”
She fucking loves my eye crinkles.
“I fuckin’ hope so for his sake. They keep the women around.”
“The women?” She teases. “I thought I was your only one.”
“Baby, I couldn’t fuckin’ handle more than one woman. Trust me when I say I’m at my limit.”
“I’ll be sure to keep you on your toes so you stay at that limit.”
“I think these kids will help with that.”
Worry fills her features. “Do you think we were dumb to have two so close together?”
I frown. “No. Are you concerned?”
“I’d be lying if I told you I think we’ll be fine. I think it’s going to be hard. Like, really hard some days.”
“I’m not gonna let us fail, Harlow.”
She reaches out and takes my hand. “I know you won’t, Scott, but sometimes there’s only so much we can do. Sometimes it’ll all still fall to shit even when we do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t. Sometimes it’ll take a whole heap of faith on top of everything else just to get by. I need you to be prepared for that.”
She’s right, and this is why I fucking love her. I’ve always forced my way through life to make shit happen. Harlow’s taughtme that isn’t always enough to get what we want. She’s taught me that it’s okay for it to not be enough, so long as we stick together. Love keeps a couple together when giving our all isn’t enough. It might be fucking hard, and it might be nights of silence in the dark, but we just have to fucking stick it out with love.
I squeeze her hand. “I’m prepared.”
Her eyes meet mine. “I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone but you.”
“I wouldn’t fuckin’ let you do it with anyone but me.”
We fall into an easy silence while Keaton finishes feeding and once he’s done, I take him from her and burp him before rocking him to sleep and placing him in his cradle.
Stripping out of my jeans and shirt, I slide into bed next to Harlow and pull her into my arms. She rests her head on my chest and hooks a leg over mine. It’s not going to take either of us long to fall asleep tonight.
She surprises me, though, when she says, “Do you remember how we were back having sex four weeks after Aurora was born?”
I tighten my hold on her. “Yeah.”
