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“That would be nice,” I said.
“There's a nice bottle of wine in the cabinet with your name on it, too,” Eric continued. “I'll bring you a glass.”
“God, I don't know how I got this lucky,” I sighed as his fingers worked at a particularly tough knot.
“I don't know how I got this lucky,” Eric retorted. “Three beautiful, healthy kids, and a beautiful, talented wife as well? I must have won the lottery.” He leaned in and kissed my neck, and I shivered, feeling a surge of pleasure go through me. We hadn't had the chance to take much time to ourselves lately, what with
Davey being as prone to crying as he was, but I was hoping that we'd get the chance to spend some quality time together soon. For now, though, it just felt honestly amazing to have his fingers working the kinks out of my shoulders.
All too soon, the girls were running back over to us, faces flushed with exertion.
Anne climbed into my lap, cuddling close, and I let her do that even though it was fiendishly warm. “Mommy, can we get ice cream on the way home?” she asked.
I looked over at Eric, raising an eyebrow at him. “That's up to Daddy,” I told her.
“Why is it up to me?” Eric asked before giving me a look. It was almost humorous how he wanted me to make the decisions regarding the kiddos. It was good cop/bad cop of course, but it was his turn to play bad cop. As if.
“Because you'll be the one driving the car,” I said sweetly.
He laughed. “It has been a while since we had ice cream, hasn't it?” he asked.
“Yes!” Emma said. “Like, ages and ages and ages and ages. I don't even remember the last time.”
“I highly doubt that,” Eric said mildly, but I could see the grin tugging at the corners of his lips. “If we can all agree on a flavor, I don't see why not,” he said. The girls cheered, unfortunately waking up their brother, who started to howl.
I smiled at Eric and reached over to scoop up the boy. “I'm going to take a little walk,” I told him, getting to my feet with the boy still in my arms.
“All right,” Eric said. I could see from his look that he was concerned and wanted to check that I was all right, but whatever he saw in my answering expression must have reassured him, because his frown lines soon smoothed out. “We'll be right here when you get back.”
I wandered down the aisles of graves until I reached the one that I had visited a dozen times before: Jeannie Sable—Loving Wife, Mother, and Grandmother.
Of course, she had died before she got to meet either Anne or Davey, but I had been adamant that they put that last bit on her tombstone regardless. For now, I knelt down beside the grave, reaching out with one hand to lay down the flowers that I had brought with me. Daffodils, Mom's favorite.
“Hey Mom,” I whispered, even though it had been a while since I'd felt her spirit there with me. “This is Davey, your first grandson. He'll be 7 months old next week. Isn't he a beauty?”
I had tears in my eyes, just saying the words, but I was happy to have this illusion of her meeting the boy.
Suddenly, a soft breeze blew, and when I looked up, there was a bird perched on top of her gravestone, its head cocked to the side as it considered us. It hopped up and down for a moment and then flew off, prompting Davey to clap his hands in delight.
I couldn't help but smile as I got to my feet again, making my way back over to the rest of my family.
“Are you all right?” Eric asked, pulling me into his arms as we reached him and the girls again.
I smiled up at him. “I'm better than all right,” I told him truthfully, just happy to be together with him and our children.
They, or more likely Eric, had already packed up the remains of the picnic, and I nodded toward the car. “Let's go get that ice cream,” I suggested.
The girls cheered again, but this time, they did it more quietly so as not to upset their brother. “Last one to the car's a rotten egg!” Emma whispered loudly.
The two of them took off, giggling again, and I smiled. Life was good. Really good.
“I love you,” I said to Eric as we walked back to the car, my heart on fire and my joy bubbling over.
He slung an arm around my shoulder, holding me close.
“I love you more,” he answered.
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