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4 Far Away
Eva
I awakewith a start to the sound of some God-awful scraping noise. If I didn’t know my home was practically booby-trapped with security monitoring, I’d think someone was trying to get in through a window by forcing it open.
With my heart in my throat, I take a few deep breaths, trying to reorient myself to the waking world instead of dreams. Robbie’s weight rests against my belly. The family room looks slightly cleaner than I remember leaving it, which is weird. My son doesn’t even stir when I slowly rise then reposition him comfortably on the couch with a throw pillow under his head and an afghan over his little body. He obviously didn’t wake up while I slept to clean.
Another noise from outside our little bubble of slumber makes me freeze mid-step. A few held breaths yield nothing more. I glance at my watch, which is also set up with security alerts and realize with disappointment I’ve been out far longer than I intended.
Rob’s been home for hours and is probably cleaning the kitchen.
Sure enough, when I lumber into the room, he’s bent over the sink, trying to pry burnt food off the cookie sheet with a metal spatula.
“What the hell was this?” he mutters as he makes another pass.
“Cookies,” I answer.
He jumps, sending the pan and spatula crashing into the sink with a clatter. “And here, I was trying not to wake you.”
I chuckle, knowing there’s no way that noise woke Robbie up if he didn’t even complain about me taking away his favorite pillow. “I wish you would have woken me.” I waddle to my husband then bend forward as much as I can to wait for him to lean down, so I can kiss him hello. The moment his lips touch mine and his scent wraps around me, I breathe a sigh of contentment. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day to you, beautiful,” he whispers against my lips before straightening to his full height. “There are some things for you on the table.”
I glance to where he directs and see a vase overflowing with the most gorgeous yellow roses. Beside that, a black velvet box and a very familiar heart-shaped package of chocolates rests. “I thought we agreed not to exchange gifts this year?”
He raises an eyebrow and smirks at me, revealing the dimple I often have naughty dreams about licking.
“I knew you’d say that.” With a wink and the best sashay I can manage, I venture to my hiding spot in the pantry to pull out a wrapped box.
“What’s this?” he asks when I hold it out to him.
“Open it and find out.” I’m obviously not going to admit that it’s extra insurance in case he was too exhausted when he got home from his trip to tackle the mess I purposefully left for him. I want to show him he’s needed in our home and our family, but if he was too tired to wrestle with this disaster, I would have started on it first thing tomorrow morning. I love Rob, but my nesting instincts know no bounds right now. Even making this mess grated on my nerves, which were only rubbed raw every time Robbie questioned if it was okay.
Rob throws me a skeptical glance before wiping his hands on a dish towel. He takes the gift from me, ripping the paper open like a little kid on Christmas morning. “Jeremy has been riding my ass ever since the playoffs to get in this game with him. I think he might actually let me win for once since we didn’t make it to the Superbowl this year.” He leans down to kiss me. “Thank you, baby.”
“You’re welcome. And by the way, I have total faith in you to kick his ass. Besides, it’s a good outlet for your frustration about those blind refs. Everyone knows the Gold Rushers should have won that last game.”
He chuckles. “I’m choosing to look at it as a blessing in disguise. Not making it to the Big Game frees up more time in the off season for me to be here without any distractions around our girl’s birthday. Speaking of which.” He strides over to the table, retrieves the velvet box, then returns to stand beside me. “You’ve already seen the flowers. We’re taking the chocolate to the bath tub with us later, but I want you to open this now.”
After nearly a decade of living in the lap of luxury, extravagant gifts like I know are waiting inside this box still make me uncomfortable. There are people starving on the streets of Sacramento. I’m grateful to afford security for our family and the best opportunities for our children, but jewelry is an unnecessary expense that could go toward charity.
“Open it,” he prompts softly, knowing exactly what I’m thinking.
Nestled in a bed of cream silk is a gorgeous tennis bracelet, sparkling with diamonds. Judging by their size, it must have cost a small fortune.
He senses my hesitation, pulling me into his arms as best he can with my belly between us. “I know,” he whispers. “But this isn’t just a Valentine’s Day gift. It’s a thank you for agreeing to the C-section in three weeks. I understand you wanted the full experience of laboring like you did with Robbie, but it’s a risk, baby. A risk I don’t want to take with your life when we have more controlled options. These diamonds aren’t nearly as priceless as you are to me. Not just because I love you more than life itself. I might be able to clean this kitchen, give Robbie a bath, read him a bedtime story, and comfort him when he’s afraid in the middle of the night, but I can’t be what you are to him. I can give our baby girl bottles and change her diapers when she’s born. We can afford the best schools, the trendiest clothes, and nannies that have high enough clearances to work for the president of the United States, but at the end of the day, I can only ever be Dada. I can’t be Mommy, too. You are priceless. You are irreplaceable to us. I want you to wear this bracelet as a constant reminder.”
I’m well aware my emotions have been all over the place with this pregnancy. Even though I’m cognizant of my fluctuating moods, there’s little I can do to overpower my hormones. Like now, as my mind spins worst-case scenarios of Rob bringing home a daughter without her mother, grieving for a few years before finding love again, then my children learning to call another woman Mommy. A sob catches in my throat that I refuse to allow to escape, though I can’t fight back the tears welling in my eyes. If something were to ever happen to me, that’s absolutely the life I would wish for them. “But–”
“Nope.” He seals his command with a gentle kiss against my lips. “No buts. I’m not telling you how much it cost either. Before you go poking around in our accounts to find out, you should know I paid cash to thwart your efforts. We also just made a million-dollar donation as a seed fund to get the Sing Out foundation up and running in San Diego public schools. I kept that one on the books, since we need the paper trail for that.”
“The presentation went well then?” I’ve been so busy planning a meaningful Valentine’s Day for Rob, I completely forgot the reason he wasn’t home in the first place. Pregnancy brain can be so frustrating.
“It went very well.” He kisses my nose. “So well, in fact, you should be expecting signed contracts for ongoing sessions over the next three years in your inbox next week. I also want to take this opportunity to remind you that we had an agreement I expect you to uphold. That was my last seminar for this off season. You promised I could stay home with you and the kids as much as possible over the break.”
“I know I promised, and I meant it.” The foundation is growing beyond my wildest expectations. We have so many safe guards in place and a full team running the day-to-day operations. There’s no reason for Rob to put in appearances for a few months. Especially knowing how left out he felt when Robbie was born in the middle of football season. If he wants to be around as much as possible for his daughter’s first months of life, I would never stand in the way of that.
Rob releases me from his arms then pries the soft velvet from my hands, plucking the bracelet from its resting place. “So, you’ll wear this always? And the next time you get a wild hair to do something you probably shouldn’t, you’ll consider caring about your safety as a way to show us how much you love us? Putting us first means putting you first sometimes.”
