AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah?” Names have been somewhat of a point of contention between us for the last three months. Lacy wanted something different and off the wall. I wanted something classic that no one would tease her for down the line. “Hit me with it.”
“Iliana.” Lacy strokes our baby girl’s cheek, and the little thing quiets down immediately, rooting around looking for Lacy’s breast. “I saw it in one of my baby books and loved it, but I was afraid you’d shoot it down. It means ray of light.”
Looking at my little girl, with her shock of dark hair just like her Mom’s, slightly darker complexion like mine, and greyish blue eyes I know most babies have for the first few weeks, I couldn’t agree more. Lacy is my light, and our daughter is a piece of her. A ray of light.
“I love it, Lace. Iliana it is.” I kiss Lacy on the forehead, then do the same to Iliana. My heart is so full, it aches.
Iliana finally finds what she’s been looking for and latches onto her mama’s breast with no problem. It’s just about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced.
A nurse comes over and checks out the baby and talks about the latch and how to make sure it is good and how to correct it if it’s not. A lot of it goes over my head, to be honest, but I make a mental note to go over that section of our baby book again so I can support Lacy.
“Looks like you are going to have a champion eater here. She’s got a strong suckle and got her latch right on the first try. Got a little piglet on your hands.” The nurse looks fondly down atmy wife and baby and completely misses the annoyed expression on Lacy’s face.
“Hey, lady, we’re trying to not give our daughter an eating complex, so how about you lay off the name-calling.” The baby snorts as if she’s agreeing with her mom but was probably just a misplacement of nose against boob.
With her jaw on the floor, the nurse backs up out of the danger zone of Mama Bear Lacy Flores.
Chuckling to myself, I lean over to kiss Lacy full on the lips. Pulling back, I look at her tired eyes, sweaty hair, and makeup-free face. “You are the most beautiful woman on the face of the planet. And everyone on the planet better watch the hell out if they try to hurt our baby.”
“Damn straight.”
I couldn’t love this woman anymore if I tried. Though I’ve been thinking that same thing for the past five and a half years. I expect I’ll have the same thought for the rest of our days. And I’ll always be wrong. I can love her more. And I will.
Epilogue Three
Ten Years Later
Lacy
My three little munchkins all sit in a semicircle with Marci and Micah’s two kids. The five of them all stare up at their dads as they play guitar and keep a beat on a pot one of the little monsters had been banging minutes ago. In this house, music time doesn’t mean your run-of-the-mill nursery rhymes though. Nope, in this house, it is all cleaned-up versions of Black Sabbath and Metallica, with a little Malfeesance thrown in.
Scott is decked out in a sexy, fitted navy suit, his light blue dress shirt opened at the collar. His hair is short and shows a lot more grey than the day I met him. Upstairs, there is a gown hanging in the closet that I’ll slip into after my hair and makeup is finished. Tonight, Marci and Micah will hang out with the kids while Scott and I and the rest of the band are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was Malfeesance’s first year eligible for nomination, and we were all a little shocked they got in on the first shot.
I watch from the kitchen as my hairdresser and makeup artist buzz around me, making sure everything is perfect. The real perfection, my family, is just across the living room.
It’s amazing how those kids can go from running in circles around our house screaming at the top of their lungs, to patiently sitting on the carpet and appearing to be little angels. Lies. All lies. Iliana got my attitude, but thankfully it is reserved for her parents. At school and with her friends, she is a sweetheart with a kind spirit. The twin boys who came along a year and a half after our girl are their dad through and through. They look exactly like him and have the same quiet patience. After the twins, I followed through on the no more kids thing, and I’ve never regretted the decision.
“Okay guys, let’s play the house theme song.” Micah’s beard almost hides his wide smile as all the kids screamCrazy Trainat the top of their lungs.
“Can you believe this is our lives?” Marci leans against the island sipping a glass of wine as we watch from the kitchen as everyone sings the cleanup version of a classic Ozzy song. “Seventeen years ago, you and I were hitting the clubs every weekend. Shopping every day. Cocktails on the regular. Now you have a nomad family of five, and I host a relationship advice radio show with my husband, and our kids are attending a preppy-ass private school and have bodyguards.”
“I really can’t. The girl I was back then would call me a yuppy bitch and roll her eyes.” After Iliana came, we tried to settle down and stay put for a while. But it turned out we loved the road life. So we kept our home base in Brooklyn, rehabbing the entire warehouse to be our house. But we spend most the year in our huge house on wheels. We drive from town to town, Scott discovers bands he hears about on the internet for his three-year-old record label, I look for tucked away artists and designers to promote. I homeschool the kids. Me. How nuts is that? And along the way, we stop at historic sights, beaches, woods, wherever the wind takes us. Just our little family of five all in each other’s hair day in and day out.
I love it.
I grew up with nothing but distance between my relatives and me. Having everyone within reaching distance of each other is exactly how I want to raise my kids.
The phone tucked in the pocket of my robe vibrates, and I roll my eyes. “I swear, this new clothing line for Target is going to kill me. I kinda wish I had said no to it.”
Marci laughs and shakes her head at me because she knows I’m lying my ass off. I jumped at the opportunity to curate a line of kids’ clothing for the chain store. But they do call way too much.
I hold up a finger, silently asking for a minute from the women making me even more beautiful.
“Hello.”
“Lacy?” The scratchy voice on the other end of the phone will forever be implanted in my head from that horrible day when I almost died. Agent Templeton had been the one to question me, and she’s checked up on us a few times over the years.
“Hey, Agent Templeton. I didn’t realize it was time for your yearly check-in already.” I smile and head over to the other side of the kitchen so I can hear her more clearly.
