Page 41 of Sudden Summer

Hayes: I better be the fucking best man at your wedding! I know my talk with Birdie was the reason this happened!!

Her shoulders shook as she laughed, typing away on her phone. I tried to peek over her shoulder, but she just winked at me and turned the screen so I couldn’t see.

Birdie: I’m really happy about this, Lach, I promise. And you know I’m all in for girls’ time, but it’ll go to Beau’s head if he knows we're talking about him.

“Hey!” I nuzzled my nose into the crook of her neck. “Be nice.”

“Oh, I am being nice, Cowboy. Unlike you, who made it seem like I was about to walk away from this family.”

Ma: I’m gonna faint! Can we move up family dinner to tomorrow night?

Hayes: I’m on shift. I know it doesn’t matter, since I’m not bringing a girlfriend with me.

Birdie: I’m also on shift for the next few nights. But I’m not scheduled for the normal family night time. So count me in for that.

Alright, family. I’m going to tuck my girlfriend into bed for her beauty sleep. Quit texting us, would you?

Colt: We all know it’s not Birdie who needs rest to be beautiful…

I pulled the phone out of her hand, rolling over for a second to deposit both of them on my nightstand. “My brother’s right, you know. You’re so fucking beautiful already. No sleep needed for you…”

She laughed. “I do, in fact, need to sleep. I want to maximize my time with Juniper tomorrow before my shift.”

“You’re going to be tired if you’re up all day with her and then work all night. I don’t like the idea of you driving home to us being exhausted.”

“You better finish up ranch duties before I have to head in, then. Make sure I can take a little nap. And besides, I’m not driving here right after shift, remember?”

I shook my head.

“I have to stop at my house. You promised I could introduce you to my battery operated boyfriends.”

I groaned. “Jesus. I just got my dick to calm down.”

“Poor thing. I could maybe help you out.” Her hand slipped over the blanket towards me.

“Nope. No. We’re going to snuggle in bed and put on one of those awful girly movies you love, and we’ll laugh together as we fall asleep. And then, when I’ve actually been able to cook you a nice dinner, run you a bubble bath, set up candles and put flowers all over this room, then we’ll explore that.”

“Why go through all that for me?”

I tried not to react, but I knew every muscle in my body had been drawn tight at her question. “Because you deserve romance, Birdie. You deserve effort. And attention. And to have your first time, and every time after that, be something special. I won’t ever take you for granted.”

“Maybe I want you to.” Her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. “Maybe I want to have sex on the porch. Maybe I want you to come home and pull me into the shower with you. Maybe I want you to throw me over your shoulder after we get Juniper to bed and fuck me senseless in this bed.”

I smiled, kissing her shoulder. “I can definitely do all of that.”

“But…”

“But…we’ve spent decades dancing around this. I just…there are things I’ve always thought about doing. I want to show you how much it means to me.”

Her eyes softened. “I can’t wait. Thank you for wanting it to be so special for me.”

“Always.” I pulled her in closer to my chest. “Now, what movie are we falling asleep to?”

Birdie

Iforgot to check the lunar calendar, but it had to be a full moon. I’d already delivered a little girl and a little boy, with three moms still on the floor, laboring. These were the shifts I loved. Where time sort of suspended between the starting point and end point, while all the in-between stuff was filled to the brim with supporting women, some as they brought new life into the world.

But more often than not during the last few shifts, in the quiet moments I used to use for catching up on charting and taking a moment to breathe, I found myself missing Beau and Juniper so much. He’d thankfully sent me at least twenty pictures before he put her down for the first stretch of the night, but I was sad I couldn’t be there to do her bedtime routine with him.