Page 87 of The Virgin Playboy

“Well, then we get to stay home in Auckland and nothing changes. Your dad might be a little sad, though. That's why we made his favorite cake blank just in case we have to change the congratulations to better luck next time.” It had to be the one sweet recipe he missed back in the States. Every month when I was preggers with Mel, he'd get a whole berry Chantilly cake from Whole Foods. He'd save me one piece of it and go to town on the rest. It wasn't an easy cake to recreate, but the fruit out here was so much fresher.

In essence, my attempt had tasted better than the one back home. The side patio door opened, Graham spilling inside, meeting us in the kitchen, his laptop in tow. His eyes widened at the blow of my party favor, as Māia then had the honors of releasing the confetti. Her timing was a little late, but I was gonna let that slide.

“What's going on? What is all this?” With another blow of my noise maker, the kids played their instruments to the tunes of Congratulations by Post Malone with their own spin to it, as I took backstage as their background dancer. Melody was our Beyoncé on the lead vocals as Graham watched in stitches at our chaotic performance.

Actually, he was probably only laughing at me because my babies sounded good. He gave us a round of applause at the end, taking me into his arms afterward.

“Jaq, I got the job. You're looking at the next lead composer of the Summoner series. They want me there in a couple of weeks, so it looks like we're headed back to the States,” he said, taking me deeper into his embrace. “You guys hear that? We're moving back to where Mommy's from.” The kids eagerly showed their excitement with screams and jumping. Aww man, I wish I had their energy. “We'll get to see Grandma and Grandpa.” They moved their energy into the next room, giving me and Graham a moment to ourselves.

“You sure you want to move back to the States?”

“Jaq?” he questioned. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” he beamed, his eyes wide.

“I know, I know. I’m aware how badly you wanted this. I just want you to be sure it's what you want.”

“What I always wanted was you. Home is wherever you are. You know that.” He leaned in to give me a kiss.

“Tonight, when we get the kids to sleep, we're gonna walk up to the beach and celebrate. You can love on my new boobs, and maybe, just maybe we can have that beach sex we've been always trying to have. Oh, before I forget, let me write on this cake. I didn't know how it would go, so I left it blank.”

“Geez, babe. Thanks for believing in me.”

“I wanted to wait because I wanted you to see it first,” I said, pulling the cake out the fridge, the edible print on the cake's top, a selfie we took the night at the opera my first trip to New Zealand.

“Awww, now I don't even want to eat it.”

“It's your favorite…”

“Okay, fine. But cut me off a piece with you on it, so it's like I'm eating you.”

The End