Page 83 of A Simple Life

John lunged, and I rolled out of the way. I tackled him from behind, and the game was on.

Loud peals of laughter followed as the three of us scuffled, wrestled, and practiced karate chops and punches as the evening waned away.

These were memories I hoped Abby would never forget.

20

JOHN

The rain started later that night and continued all day Friday. It was the exact kind of rain we needed. Steady, letting itself soak into the thirsty dirt and giving all us farmers and ranchers a break. Surprisingly, there was little thunder, and Pumpkin slept through the night and was content to stay inside, coloring and playing with her dolls.

“I think you wore her out last night,” Quinn murmured. “All the wrestling.”

I grinned at her over my cup of coffee, rubbing my chest. “Some more practice and she’ll be good. Her last punch landed okay. Not a lot of power, but that seems better for her than the karate chop.”

She smiled with me, and I winked. “What about her momma? I wear her out too with all the mattress-wrestling that happened?”

Quinn’s cheeks colored, and I chuckled. I loved the fact that after sucking my cock and begging me to fuck her hard, she could blush if I mentioned sex.

It was endearing to me.

And I meant what I had said last night. I wanted her to stay. I wanted my girls in my house. It made it a home again. I wanted to sleep with Quinn every night and wake up to her every day. I wanted to be in trouble for teaching Abby about shit and laughing about it together later like we did last night.

I wanted forever.

Now I just had to convince her she wanted it too.

“You ready to leave tomorrow morning early? We have ten a.m. admission to the aquarium.”

“Yes.” She sat back, running a hand through her hair. “It feels odd not to be at work. I feel lazy.”

I chuckled. “Perks of being the boss. Trust me, the place will not be busy. When it rains like this, everyone stays home and uses the downtime. I guarantee you Tammy will close up early.”

“I told her to do that if it was quiet.”

“Besides, consider it the start of your birthday weekend.”

She rolled her eyes. “I go from no birthday to a whole weekend? Not sure I can cope with that.” She got up from the table, heading to the sink. “One day is fine.”

I caught her around the waist, pulling her to my lap and kissing her soundly. “Weekend, darlin’. It’ll take me all weekend to celebrate you.”

She met my eyes, hers soft and warm, the green vibrant this morning. “I love you,” she whispered.

I kissed her again. “Love you right back.”

We were in the truck bright and early, all of us anxious to start our adventure. I had woken Quinn up early, making love to her, then giving her the first gift of many to come. The simple gold chain with an infinity symbol on it glinted on her neck when she turned to me with a wide smile as she buckled her seat belt. She wore a pretty sundress in blues and greens with a headband keeping her long hair off her face and highlighting her eyes. I loved it when she wore her hair down. She still had on sneakers, but they were blue and lacy, and she looked lovely. Abby wore a pink dress and matching sneakers, and her hair was done in a French braid with pink ribbons to match her outfit woven into it.

I wore a button-down and dark jeans. I’d realized my sneakers were a mess, so I pulled on a pair of cowboy boots Laura had given me. They were comfortable, and I knew how much walking we’d be doing, so I was okay with it. I knew Abby and Quinn would get a kick out of my choice of footwear. I’d save my less-than-comfortable dress shoes for dinner later. I brought my only suit, and I knew Quinn had a dress for the evening. I was looking forward to having her all to myself later. Abby was excited at the prospect of the movie night with other kids and the crafts listed. All in all, it was a day we were all looking forward to.

Abby asked a multitude of questions on the way into Toronto. I knew her world there had been very sequestered and not happy. I told her as many stories as I could about the places we were going, wanting to keep up her excitement.

We arrived at the aquarium on time, and with the crowds around us, I lifted her onto my hip, holding her tight until we got inside. I kept my other hand wrapped around Quinn’s.

As we approached the doors, I looked down at Abby’s excited face. “Ready, Pumpkin?”

“Ready!”

“Let’s go, then.”