Page 84 of The Virgin Playboy

Graham had been pretty strict about me getting rest after giving birth, so the first five days, according to him, I wasn't allowed to leave the bed for more than a few minutes, and normally it was only to stretch my legs. He was lucky I didn't want to keep getting up and doing things myself, because how you gonna tell me what to do? I'm grown.

“Here's Mommy, isn't she so pretty? And you're so hungry, aren't you?” Graham cooed, baby-talking to our daughter until he joined me on the bed.

“I'm getting really sick and tired of you getting free meals and leaving no tip,” I teased.

“I'm sorry, baby. I try to only bother you when she has her hungry cry,” he said, handing her to me.

“Look at you, deciphering between all the cries that she has,” as I brought down the drop-down cup, preparing for the discomfort of the initial pressure from the latch.

“I've done this before, Jaq. I know my stuff,” he flirted, wearing a strong grin, crawling over to the head of the bed to get comfortable.

“Gosh, what the hell are you smiling for?” I noticed, as Graham confusingly shrugged.

“Jaq, you're lucky you're postpartum and insanely irritable because I would totally be mean mugging and starting an argument right now.”

“You're the one coming in here cheesing and being annoying,” I countered.

“Babe, this is like, my favorite time of the day. It’s like the parts of the day we spend time like a family, seeing how you’re not in the condition to go out right now.”

“You have a point. Guess this is the closest any of us are going out to eat in a while,” I acknowledged. “But you could have at least brought me some chips,” I mumbled.

“I could get you some chips. You want a soda, too?” he smiled.

“Sparkling water would be better,” as Graham kissed Melody on the top of her little bald head, then kissed me on the forehead, and left the room to get my snacks.

When he returned, he opened both for me, holding the sparkling water above my mouth to reach the straw. “Love you, baby.” Graham grinned, as I narrowed my eyes instead of rolling them, and he silenced my suspicion with a kiss.

“You're lucky I could barely make it to the car, otherwise your girl might take a drive for some cigarettes, only to never be seen or heard from again.” Graham just burst out laughing, being a good sport.

“I know your postpartum, but I’m happy that you retained your sense of humor. It's one of the things I love most about you…or maybe it's just because I love you.”

“Well…you did put a baby in me, so I'm stuck with you,” I joked. “But I couldn't think of a better person to be stuck with.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Graham

It's a wonder what could happen in just two years. For starters, Jaq sold another book. Only this one was a YA time heist, about five outcast kids who made a deal with a reaper coming together to outsmart death. She worked really hard on it. We celebrated for a whole week straight when she sold it.

She had a laptop full of work in progresses her publisher rejected that she decided to self-publish, which with her name pulled in a good source of income. The months when they were high, they were high, and on contrast, when they were low, almost abysmal. But what she made from her self-publishing, she was stashing away in a trust for Melody.

We finally got around to tying the knot. Good old-fashioned beach style, with just close friends and family a few islands away in Fiji. It was a bit on the costly side, but only because we had fronted the bill for the side of her family who could actually make it, and it was all really special and memorable.

Jaqueline had been so nervous participating in her first haka, but her performance had brought me to ugly tears. She had done so well. And it was great that we got to celebrate with Melody there. She wouldn't remember it, but not many kids got to be there when their folks got married. At least she could say that she could when she got older.

Oh, and how can I forget? I got the most amazing job offer, a three-year research position at a University all the way in Finland. The job paid really well, and I really wanted to take it, but eventually had to turn it down.

Jaq had become pregnant with our second, and Melody was hardly even a year. I had manifested the blessing, but the timing had been off. Plus, it would have broken the pact that we made to stay in New Zealand until the kids started school. I was going to have to start limiting my job search to Australia and Asia, but damn, would it have been cool to move the fam to Finland?

Jaq's second try at pregnancy, dare I say, was almost easier. We knew more of what to expect this time, and with all the extra help from my family, things were beginning to feel like our version of normal again.

We had a boy this time, who we named Elliot naturally, with a week ago having celebrated his first birthday. We never looked at parenthood as easy. It had its great moments, but also its frustrating ones. The main way we supported each other, was when one of us was really stressed out, we’d reward ourselves with a much-needed break. Plus, my mum's favorite stage was where the kids were right now, so for the first time in a while, we planned a date night.

Instead of getting dressed up and having a night on the town, we opted for quiet time at our beach house, a place we could go without tripping over toys or cleaning up juice spills.

Regrettably, with a baby and a toddler in the house, the daily time we made for sex had dialed down to zero, which was fine since we had our hands full, but it was like an unspoken rule what we’d do once we got some alone time. We barely stepped a foot inside before I was ripping her out of her stockings.

“Graham,” she whined. “I really liked that pair.” She wrapped her arms around me when I lifted her up.