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I close my eyes and soak in the sheer joy of the moment. “I love you,” I whisper in her ear, stroking her hair while I hold her tight.
“I love you,” she murmurs, and I feel her joyful tears against my cheek. “I love you so much. You and Ophilia. I can’t believe we’re going to be a family.”
A family. A family full of love.
That is as good a place for a marriage to start as any I can think of.
EPILOGUE
SARAH
Two years later…
“Mom? Can Christopher have a snack?”
I look up from the laundry I’m folding to give my daughter a narrow-eyed look. “Christopher wants a snack?”
Her curls bounce when she nods. “Yup. He told me so.”
“Honey, your brother is fifteen months old. Are you telling me he asked for a snack?”
“Well… I kind of want a snack, too.”
“Oh. That explains it.” I can barely hold back a grin as I carry the laundry basket to the dresser. “Yes, you can have a snack, but your brother doesn’t need one. Next time, just ask for yourself, okay?”
“Okay.” She runs off like lightning, the way she always does. We’ve been a family for two years now, and I would swear the kid has aged two decades in that time. She is just too much.
She also has me completely wrapped around her finger, the same as her dad. There’s not much either of us can deny her.
“Honey.” Matteo happens to walk past the baby’s bedroom in time to catch me putting his little onesies and tiny socks away. “That’s what Grace is for, remember? You don’t have to do any of this.”
“But you know I like to.” Not only that, but I have a certain way I like to do things, and I like to feel like I’m the one taking care of my kids. I don’t have to work or anything—my job is taking care of my family. It was fine to let Grace take care of things before I came to live here, but times have changed.
“I know you like to.” He winds his arms around my waist and presses his lips to my forehead. No matter how many times he does it, the gesture never ceases to melt me. He knows just how to love me the way I need to be loved.
“How is your day going?” I ask as we leave the baby’s room hand-in-hand. Christopher is across the hall in his Pack and Play, where his sister was entertaining him until she decided to run downstairs for a snack.
“You know how it is. Phone calls, contracts, and the like when I would much rather be up here with you guys.” As always, Christopher goes wild at his father’s approach, bouncing up and down on his butt and lifting his chubby arms for Matteo to sweep him up, holding him high so he can blow raspberries against the baby’s chubby belly. The sound of his laughter mixed with Matteo’s is the sweetest music. I’ll never tire of it.
Thinking of being tired makes me look at the time. “I don’t know why I told Ophilia she could have a snack. It’s time for naps.” And even though she’s a big girl at seven, she spent the morning swimming and always does better with a nap after she’s been so active for hours.
Matteo helps me settle them down, changing Christopher’s diaper while I convince our daughter she’s not too old to take a nap. Normally, I might bend a little and compromise with quiet time in her room. But there’s some business I need to discuss with my husband, and I would like to be alone while I do.
Finally, everything’s quiet, with both kids tucked away peacefully in their rooms. Their father and I meet in the middle, finding each other in the hallway. “You know, I was thinking,” I whisper as I tiptoe his way.
“Thinking about what?” he asks.
“About redecorating the empty bedroom next to Christopher’s.” I take him by the hand and lead him that way, to a room full of sunshine, but not much else. There are a few boxes here, like the one holding a toddler bed for when Christopher is too big for his crib. But we have some time to go before that happens.
“What do you want to do with it?” Matteo asks.
“I was thinking maybe it should be a bedroom.” I turn to him, biting my lip. “Maybe another nursery?”
He must have had a long day already because it takes a second for understanding to dawn on his face. “Are you serious? You’re pregnant again?”
“It’s not too soon, is it?”
“Too soon?” He throws his arms around me and lifts me off my feet, spinning me in a circle while I giggle helplessly. “Are you kidding me? I’m almost disappointed it took us this long.”
He finally sets me on my feet and takes my face in his hands. “You keep finding ways to make me the happiest man in the world.”
“I love you,” I whisper as happy tears fill my eyes.
“And I adore you.” His hands find my hips, and he pulls me close so I can feel the excitement in his raging erection. “Would it be wrong to ask the mother-to-be if I could fuck her senseless while we have a little time to ourselves?”
“Are you kidding?” I kick the door closed behind me before pulling him to the floor. “Why do you think I waited until nap time to tell you?”
* * *
