Page 7 of Summer With You

3

Happy Wife, Happy Life

Ace

This was what I had wanted my entire life. After I lost my little brother, Jack, I had needed a family to love and protect.

Lying there in the darkness with Celine curled up around me, I could hear her deep, even breaths as I stared at the ceiling. We had a long night with her running for the toilet every thirty minutes to spew the chicken curry we had for dinner. I guess this little one didn’t like it much. It worried me so damn much to see her so sick, and it always put me in a bad mood. It made me feel guilty. I’d done this to her, made her ill. I knew it was something she wanted badly, but I hated seeing Celine like this.

She was the light of my life, the one who showed me color when everything was dark.

I could hear the other two starting to make noise on the other side of the house, the floorboards creaking under their steps as they descended the stairs.

Celine turned over, her ass brushing against me. I released a deep groan as I quickly rolled as well, wrapping my arms tightly around her from behind. “I don’t want to get up,” she mumbled a moment later, her finger drawing lazy circles over my tattooed arms.

“You never do, Princess,” I teased, kissing the top of her blonde head and grabbing her hand in mine, giving it a gentle squeeze.

She sighed and turned over again, burying her face against my chest. I flinched. Her nose was as cold as ice. She giggled, the sound warming my soul. “I think I’ll always love you, Ace.”

“Promise?” I asked her. One of my biggest fears was that she would leave me. Things hadn’t always been easy between us, and every day, I did my best to make sure she was completely happy with me.

She wrapped her arm around me and pulled herself on top of me, wrapping her whole body around me, our warmth mixing, and her small bump—our baby—between us.

“I promise,” she whispered, folding her arms over my chest before resting her head on them.

She fell asleep within a few minutes, and the kids remained quiet, giving us this moment. I slid my hands over her back, holding her tightly. We shared so few moments like this, especially since the kids had been born. Our life quickly became all about them and their needs, and ours were forgotten like we didn’t matter anymore, though I did my best to make sure Celine never felt that.

A couple needed intimacy, stolen kisses, the constant reminder of why they fell in love in the first place.

I wanted to soak this in for as long as possible. I knew that the day was passing by, and we still had lots to do, but I didn’t want to be an adult today. I wanted to stay in bed with my wife and hold her, kiss her sweet lips, and show her just how much I loved her.

I closed my eyes just as I heard the soft pitter-patter of feet nearing our door. With a soft creak, it opened, and their whispers traveled over to the bed.

“See? I told you that they were sleeping,” Summer whispered.

“But I’m hungry,” Charlie whined, not bothering to whisper back to his sister. Celine stirred a little, and I released a tired sigh. She needed rest, but she was always ready to be a mom. I adored it about her, but sometimes, I wish she would just rest on the days that I was home.

“Shh,” Summer whispered again.

“Come get in,” Celine grumbled, not moving from her position. Both our children ran and dived for the bed before climbing under the covers and sticking their popsicle feet onto my warm legs, cuddling up close to us.

This was what I had wanted my whole life. A family to love that loved me in return, though having more alone time with their mom would have been damn nice.

An hour later, the kids were bouncing on the balls of their feet at the front door as Celine and I made trips back and forth through the house to the car, packing all of the essentials. We were both in the garage, glancing at the overflowing trunk of her SUV.

“Do you think I should bring some flood lights?” She looked at the toolbox where she had placed two new lanterns earlier in the week for hurricane season.

“We shouldn’t need them there, but you can bring one just in case we have a bad rainstorm and lose power.” She quickly grabbed one of the lanterns and passed it to me with a cheeky smile. There were no hurricanes in the forecast. I’d been keeping check. Just the thought of going through that again with Celine made chills race down my spine.

That time of our lives had been a nightmare.

“I’ll go make sure the kids are ready while you find a place for that.” She laughed before walking back into the house and calling for the kids to use the bathroom before the three-hour trip.

I still had to call Ryan and arrange for him to bring his family up to the house for a few weeks like I had promised last night. I’d meant to do it early this morning, but time had managed to escape me so far.

While I waited in the car for them to finish up, I pulled up his name on my phone and called him.

“What’s up, man? Miss me already?” he joked like the annoying bastard he was.

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