AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Because this is what we all need—the balance, each of us in different roles, all of us separate pieces that fit together to make a bigger picture.
Like just as I know Michael will make me eat salad for the next couple of days, too, I also ordered two extra skillet cookies for the guys.
CHAPTER 9
Michael
"You need to chop those tomatoes smaller," my mother says as she eyes my cutting board.
"Yes, ma’am," I say automatically, going back over the tomatoes for a second pass with the knife. I’m making three different salsas using fresh ingredients from our garden for a Fourth of July gathering. We have a slew of family and friends coming over in about an hour, and I have a whole charcuterie spread underway.
Later on, I’ll be firing up the grill and making burgers and barbecue chicken and I’m one hundred percent in my element. There’s a pitcher of lemonade on the island and cupcakes from Luna decorated with red and blue stars. I love everything about entertaining and sharing a day with my favorite people.
My mother gives a murmur of approval and returns to the breakfast nook table, where Dani, Luna, and Lori McNeill are all cooing and fussing over our next-door neighbor Marissa’s new baby.
My wife is holding the baby tenderly, smiling and making faces at him, even though he’s asleep. Dani runs a finger down his cheek and I see her wedding bands resting on her delicate ring finger.
Wife.
God, I love the sound of that.
Dani is past the morning sickness and she looks radiant in a blue sundress, her hair piled up on her head in a messy bun in protest against the heat. The sundress hides her bump, but there’s no hiding her fuller breasts and luminous skin. She looks perfect holding a baby and some days I have to damn near pinch myself over the reality that in a few months she’ll be holding our baby.
Marissa’s husband Mark is helping me with the salsas. We’ve been sharing gardening duties all summer. Mark loves to water the plants and I’m happy to let him. I think it gives him a moment of respite from his growing family, which includes a three-year-old daughter Gracie and a pug, along with their newborn son, Romeo. I love that Romeo and our baby will grow up as playmates and that we’re establishing friendships with the neighbors.
"What do you think?" Mark asks me. "Is this enough cilantro?" He has a massive pile chopped and ready to go.
"You can never have too much cilantro. Unless you’re Crew. He hates it. We should leave it out of the pico de gallo so he can eat it."
"I’ll give the guy whatever he wants, or doesn’t want, since he’s entertaining my daughter and my dog," Mark says, gesturing with his knife to our backyard. "He’s a human jungle gym out there."
The windows are open and I can see and hear Crew and Gracie. Crew is taking turns throwing a ball to the dog and tossing Gracie up into the air.
The second he sets Gracie down, her little toddler voice shrieks, "Do it again!"
"Okay, I’ll do it again." Crew is laughing and smiling and doesn’t even sound out of breath. He throws her so high I’m momentarily worried she’ll get scared but she seems delighted and he catches her easily. Then he bounces her up and down before pretending to eat her ear. She laughs hysterically. The dog barks. It’s a perfect summer scene.
"He’s definitely a kid at heart," I tell Mark. He’s going to be the fun dad. There’s absolutely no doubt about that. Piggybacks, tickling, and sports. Nathan will be the one spoiling our baby, I’ll be the voice of reason, the bath and storytime dad. Dani will offer unconditional love and all the hugs and kisses a child could ever want.
We all bring something different to the table and I love that. We’re all going to love this baby with our whole hearts though and I can’t wait to meet the little guy or girl. I’ve had a moment or two of anxiety that something would go wrong with the pregnancy but now that Dani is in her second trimester and everyone knows our good news, I’m just looking forward to the future, while enjoying the now.
"My back hurts just watching him." Mark dumps the cilantro into two of the mixing bowls. "He’s saving me a fortune in chiropractic bills. I’m forty and I’m parenting on caffeine and a hope and a prayer. It was all fun and games having a hot younger wife until she wanted to have kids. Now I’m just a broken man."
That makes me laugh.
Marissa calls out in a teasing voice, "Excuses, Mark. No one wants to hear them. I carried and gave birth to your children, remember?"
"If I could have given birth for you, honey, I would have," he says calmly. He turns to me and mouths, "No, I wouldn’t," while shaking his head.
Marissa rolls her eyes.
"Crew has always had a lot of energy," Lori says. "I picture him wrestling with kids, which I absolutely cannot picture Nathan doing. Speaking of, where is Nathan?"
"He’s upstairs draining the hot tub," I tell her.
"Now?" Dani asks, looking as bewildered as I felt when he told me his plan twenty minutes ago.
I just shrug. "He’s worried about safety." Nathan has been on full-blown safety patrol this past week, as if we don’t have months still to get ready. I’m not about to interfere. He’s a control freak and he needs to do something to feel a part of this pregnancy, so this is his way of contributing.
