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I’m out of breath, but when Daniel sweeps me into his arms, I find enough for a little gasp. He carries me over to the blanket spread out at the far end of the greenhouse on the ground just past the rows and rows of cacti. There’s a big stack of tera coat pots to the right. The whole thing is surrounded by flickering candles. He sets me down gently, winds up the gramophone, and turns on music that is probably nearly a century old.
“Should I get out the sandwiches?” Daniel asks, kneeling on the blanket, knowing full well that I’m not interested in a sandwich unless it’s him sandwiched between two more of him. Okay, that doesn’t make sense. I guess I should say that unless he’s the sandwich, I don’t want a sandwich.
“No.” I shake my head too wildly, which makes him laugh again, but I love the sound. I love it so much I hope I get a lifetime of it. “No, I’d very much like if you kissed me again.”
“Should I do it while gently easing you back onto that blanket, which probably isn’t thick enough to make up for all the crushed gravel beneath, and then, like a true gentleman, I’ll flip you around so that I take the brunt of all those rocks in my back and my butt and since I’m also a gentleman, I have thick gentleman skin, especially on my bottom, and it’s been proved that it can withstand a few punctures, and you can have all the fun you want on top for as long as you might want?”
“Yes.” I’m practically delirious with desire now. Giddy with joy and just- happy. I’m so, so freaking happy right now. “That sounds like a perfect plan. But you know… If we doubled up the blanket, your bottom wouldn’t be so prickly. I know you don’t have a thick scaly hide. You’re no dragon. You’re no butthole. You really are my knight in cactus prickled armor.”
Daniel waggles his dark eyebrows at me which causes my insides to clench, the rest of me to go wild, and a burst of giggles in response. “Then, my fairest of fair cursed ladies, let me show you what a real night in cactus prickled armor can do.”
EPILOGUE
Daniel
In a perfect world, our house would be full of the laughter of children. Not just ours, but the laughter of friends and family too. Of their children. Of my grandma’s laughter and Leandra’s granny’s cackling. It would be full of happy people creating happy memories. In a perfect world, we would all be healthy, loved, and cursed.
I guess, for the most part, our world is pretty much perfect then.
I’m kidding. No guesses about it. We are very, very blessed.
So, what’s new, other than a house full of children coming into the world? Well. Let me tell you. My brother isn’t so much of a butthead anymore. I blame (and by blame I mean give all the credit) solely to his fiancé. She’s a great woman, and it turns out that when Wes is happy and in love, he’s less apt to be annoying. Don’t get me wrong. He can still be the typical little brother and act wedgie worthy, but my gotch pulling impulses have gone way down where he’s concerned.
Leandra’s granny, or GG C (short for great granny Cromwell), as her grandchildren call her, finally put an end to the cake licking. After the incident in my pool, she told her grandkids that if they didn’t want her to curse them all over again with a brand new, much more melliferous curse, then they had best pull up their socks, straighten out their attitudes, and stop licking cakes. No one wanted to tempt fate. If Helen had cursed them once, she could do it again. That doesn’t mean that the odd cake doesn’t still get licked in the strangest of spots sometimes. Or cupcakes. Or pies. Really, nothing is safe. However, now it’s done as more of a joke.
“Daniel? Daniel, love, what are you doing locked away in here? My family is going to be here any minute and the kids are creating chaos downstairs.”
Leandra cracks the door and the sight of her smiling face is more than enough to make my chest swell with love. “I was just finishing today’s journal entry.”
She pulls a face at me, a contorted, comical expression, half suffused with love, half amusement, and not even one bit of annoyance sprinkled in. “But the day’s only half done. When our families get together, everyone knows there’s going to be plenty to write about. But I do admire your commitment. It’s fun to dig out all the old journals and look back.”
“I’ve peppered them liberally with embarrassing quotes about how much I love you, so that when our kids and grandkids look back, they can be thoroughly disgusted.”
