AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She laughed.
Just like I knew she would.
Epilogue
Six Weeks Later
Minty
“It’s this house that’s the problem. She didn’t have one nightmare when we lived at my place,” I whispered. I curled onto my side so I could see him.
Stretched out with one arm thrown behind his head, all golden and ruffled, his beard scruffy, he looked delicious.
“We were only there one week,” he retorted, his lips tipping up into a smile. “And she only slept there three nights.”
“Maybe we should move back?”
He peeked at me through narrowed eyes. “You’re lucky she’s in here with us or I’d show you exactly how I feel about that idea.”
Brayleigh had woken up crying in the night. A normal cry, not a ‘ohmygodsomebodyskillingme’ cry. With school back in session, Lucky was back at work and Brayleigh began attending nursery school where every second child had a cold. And judging from the way she woke up last night, she had just succumbed.
My routine had changed immensely. I still helped Junie out a couple mornings a week but spent more time at the shelter with Ezinne and the ladies, working toward expanding. We’d already given our first donation of gently used musical instruments, cameras, and microscopes to students at Lucky’s school, and I bought George a used acoustic guitar so he would not stand out from the other kids.
On Wednesdays, I kept Brayleigh home with me. It was our girls’ day and we got into all kinds of sparkly things. Who would have ever thought?
Not me.
“It’s early, but I want coffee,” Lucky whispered. “Hope won’t be here for another couple of hours. You want to come out to the kitchen with me?”
I wouldn’t mind a cup of coffee, but my tired body insisted on staying in bed.
You’re going to molest that baby.
“You wore me out last night. I’m older than you, you know,” I teased.
“Baby, I can honestly tell you, I am struggling to keep up.” He swung his long legs out of the bed and pulled a pair of pajama pants on over his boxers. Mornings were getting chilly. “Retired,” he snorted.
I smiled and stretched like a satisfied cat. “I’m going to stay here with Brayleigh, make sure she doesn’t roll off the bed.”
“Lazybones,” he murmured.
Bending low over the bed, he brushed his lips across Brayleigh’s smooth forehead, then pressed his lips firmly to mine. “I’m seriously missing out on our sleepy Saturday morning fuck,” he murmured.
My womb contracted while my lady parts demanded a mental promise to collect on that later. “We’ll have a sleepy Saturday afternoon fuck.”
You’re exposing a toddler to sex.
My brain launched its first visual missile.
I smiled it away.
White noise.
Lucky watched, knowing the battles I faced, and offered me a fist bump as he left our room.
Laughter. So much of it. From morning to night.
Brayleigh stirred in her sleep. It was much too early for her to get up. I rolled her toward me and nestled her in against my breast.
Her little fist sought and found the neckline of my shirt.
She held on.
And so did I.
