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“Come here Lily,” I pick her up and put her on my shoulders. I draw a line in the sand with my toes, and Daniel and Heather stand behind it. You’d think there was a prize at the end of this, with how determined they looked.
“Alright, the first ones to the log and back wins.” I point to the log about 50 feet away. I didn’t want them going too far.
“On your mark!” Lily shouts.
“Get set!”
“GO! GO! GO!” Lily screams, almost deafening me.
Daniel and Heather take off, kicking a cloud of sand in the air behind them. Lily’s chanting from my shoulders, but it’s hard to tell who’s winning. They both touch the log at the same time, and it looks like it’s going to be a tie. I’m almost certain Daniel is letting Heather win. I haven’t seen him run, but I’ve seen him naked enough times to know he’s in perfect shape to be racing a seven-year-old. Heather makes it over the line at the last second, and Lily declares her the winner.
“TAKE THAT!” Heather yells to Daniel.
“Good race,” he reaches out to shake her hand.
“Mom! Did you see me?! I won!” Heather takes off to tell Ruby. Lily asks to get down and chases after her sister.
“You totally let her win, didn’t you?” I lean into Daniel’s chest.
“I do not know what you’re talking about,” he shrugs.
“You just made that girl’s day.” I smile. It was nice how he just seemed to fit in perfectly with us.
“I love you Holly,” He kisses the top of my head and I smile.
Lily and Heather come running back, splashing our legs with loud giggles. I scoop Lily into my arms and run away, but Heather and Daniel catch up, and we’re all laughing too hard to get very far. Somewhere in the mix, I wonder what things would be like if these were our kids, if this was our life. The thoughts don’t scare me as much as I thought they would.
ChapterTwelve
I’d been to Daphne and Marshall’s house what seems like a million times before, but today it felt different. Daniel and I would be there as a couple. It almost felt like we were being put on display for the very first time.
“Are you nervous?” Daniel asks as he stands behind me in the bathroom. I’d only changed my dress three times today.
“A little,” I admit.
“They’re our friends, even though they’ll be gloating for sure.” He laughs.
“You’re right.” I take a deep breath and settle on this dress. It was a light blue sundress with white daisies on it.
“Come here.” Daniel pulls me into his arms and holds me to his chest. We both relax into the embrace. I can hear his heartbeat slowing.
“I love you,” I whisper into his chest.
“I love you more,” he whispers back. He leans in to kiss me, but I stop him from lingering, so we’re not late. The last thing we need is jokes about why we were late.
Ten minutes later, we’re ringing the doorbell to Daph’s house. Liz answers the door with a mimosa in hand, as if it were her house.
“The happy couple is here!” She shouts to no one in particular as she leads us through the house. Daniel’s hand is on the small of my back, as if to remind me he’s still there.
“Ahh!” Daph runs away from the drink she was pouring to give me a hug.
“Shit, someone owes me twenty bucks.” Marshall smirks.
“Once again, stop betting on my life.” Daniel rolls his eyes.
“The boys are in the basement playing video games, but all the food is ready, so grab a drink.” Daphne smiles.
I grab a glass and make myself a mimosa, with just a splash of orange juice, the rest champagne. Contrary to popular belief, there was a right way to make a mimosa. Daniel poured himself a scotch on the rocks and we both walked to the table. Daniel made a point to pull out my chair for me and ask me if I needed anything. It was sweet how caring he was.
