I’m not ready to think about having another baby. Willow’s only six months old. I want time with her before having another child, and I want time with J. His rush to fall pregnant again is too much, and we’re going to have a conversation about that tonight when he gets home from work, which means I need to spend today mentally preparing for that. Thank God I’m seeing my girls today. Their support always lifts me up and helps me take charge of the things in my life that I need to take charge of. Like J. Ugh, I love this man like crazy, but he drives me crazy at times.
I shower and dress before joining J and Willow in the kitchen. He’s got her in his arms and is talking to her. He doesn’t hear me come in, so I take a moment to watch them. It’s one of my favourite things to do.
“When you grow up, you stick to your guns, baby. Not quite as much as your mother sticks to hers, but don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do.”
Willow grips his cheeks while babbling happy sounds.
“Now, we need to make her coffee. It’s the way to her heart in the morning. And trust me, we need to find a way there today. She’s grumpy.”
“Am I?” I say.
He turns to me, grinning. “Yeah, you are.”
I move to him, placing my hand on his ass. “I’m just keeping you on your toes, baby.”
“I’m on my fucking toes. Trust me on that.”
I laugh and kiss him. “Good. Keep it that way.”
“You fucking kill me, Madison. You know that?”
He puts Willow in her high chair and makes me coffee and her breakfast. I sit next to her and watch him while he moves around the kitchen. J only gets better looking with every passing year. I should know; some days I feel like I need to fight other women off. But he only has eyes for me. Luckily. I’d have his balls otherwise.
“I love you,” I say when he hands me a mug of coffee.
Sitting on the other side of Willow, he eyes me. “You fucking better, woman.” He starts feeding Willow. “What are you girls up to today?”
I sip some coffee. “Velvet’s got the day off, so she and Harlow are meeting us for lunch. I thought I might clean out the spare room too. It’s a mess in there. Have you got a busy day on?”
He nods. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Madison,” my mother calls from the front door. She has a key and lets herself in when she comes over. Because she knows J likes to have sex all the damn time, she always announces herself when she enters.
“In the kitchen, Mum,” I call back.
She bustles in, placing her handbag down on the kitchen counter. “I need to borrow your hairdryer. Mine just blew up.”
J looks at her like she’s a crazy person. “You drove here just to dry your hair?”
I stand. “Of course she did. I would have too.”
“I’ll never fucking understand some things,” he mutters, and then to Willow, he says, “You won’t do crazy stuff like that, will you, baby girl?”
Willow loves her daddy and smiles so big it makes my heart hurt. God, I could watch these two for hours.
Mum and I head into my bathroom and while she dries her hair, I say, “You’re seeing that guy today, aren’t you? The one you met on Bumble.”
She smiles. “Yes.” She stops the hairdryer. “Do you think I look okay? Is this outfit okay?”
“You look beautiful, Mum, and this dress is gorgeous. If he doesn’t like what he sees, he’s blind.” I love watching my mum date and seeing her genuinely happy.
“I’m so nervous, Madison. It doesn’t seem right to be this nervous at my age.”
“This is good, though.”
She frowns. “How do you figure that?”
“Because it means if you two get on, there will be butterflies. And butterflies and falling in love is everything that I want for you.”
