Page 54 of Making Time for Us


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We both knew each other’s answer to that question, but when she immediately saidI’ll go firstI knew she was up to no good. When she blurted outUNICORNS!I burst into laughter and we spent five minutes in a fit of uncontrollable hysterics.

You know when you start laughing because of something so dumb, but then you just keep laughing to let out all the pent-up frustration and then you feel so much lighter after? Yeah, that’s exactly what we did.

Then we kissed goodnight and I hit the pillowhard.So hard that I woke up feeling dazed from the journey back from LaLaLand. Took hours to shake off and here I am at the end of my shift, thankfully at the end of my long week, and I’m ready to get home.

Driving home, all the articles I read and my conversation with Joe are playing in my head on repeat. I’m a little scared because I don’t want to hurt her, but I’m mostly worried that I’ll disappoint her.

It is a little exciting though. I feel like we’re teens again, trying to figure out what to do for the first time.

As I open the garage, the sound of laughter immediately rings out. Five joyous voices propel my feet faster into the house. I did not expect what I got when I opened the door.

“I’m a bubble monster!!”Ellie shouts to the kids, covered in suds from head to toe, as she slowly wades through a slippery tiled kitchen to catch them.

They all giggle hysterically trying to escape her.

My eyes widen as I take in the sight before me.That’s going to be a bitch to clean up.

“What is going on here?” I holler over the ruckus with a wide smile.

All five of them freeze in place with doe eyes.

Ellie whispers through tight lips, “Uh oh, guys. It’s the cops. What should we do?”

Johnathan yells, “Everyone, get Dad!”

Giggles ring out again as each kid picks more bubbles off the floor and slides my way. Eight little hands spread the suds all over my pants and shirt as laughter racks through my body.

A few minutes later, when the bubbles have mostly popped and the kids have settled a little, I look at Ellie and ask, “Really, what happened in here?”

She smiles and says, “Well, the boys were loading the dishwasher tonight — they’ve been practicing this week — and I guess they forgot it has a separate detergent, so they accidentally put liquid soap.” She stands behind Johnathan and kisses his head. “We went for a quick walk after they were done because it’s so beautiful out and when we came home, Bubbletopia! You came in a few minutes later.”

“The bubbles were so much fun, Daddy!” Liliana shouts.

“There were soooo many,” Olivia adds.

Camden is still rolling on the floor when he says, “Can we do this every day, Dad?”

“Ha. I’m glad you had fun, kiddos, but this is a special situation that we’ll try not to repeat. Let’s all grab towels and get the floor dry.”

A couple of hours and a dozen towels later, we’ve successfully cleaned up and got the kids off to bed — after visiting the farm and the racetrack, of course. Our house is now quiet.

“You ready?” I ask after I walk into our bedroom and lock the door behind me.

She looks up from reading on her phone and offers me a small smile.

I plant a kiss on her head then I lean down to look her in the eyes. “Let’s do this.”

She nods and places her phone on her nightstand. “You sure you want to?”

“I’m positive. Do you?”

“I do…” With uncertain eyes, she asks, “What do we do first?”

“Well, I was thinking we could shower first and then take it from there. Go slow.” I reach for her hand, and she takes it and stands next to me.

“Sure.” She says and then bites her bottom lip.

She’s in a dry T-shirt with a bra and underwear only. There’s no special lace tonight, but damn if the sight of her smooth skin doesn’t light the flame inside me.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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