Page 8 of Summer With You

“Never,” I instantly retorted. He snorted. “Look, Celine wants you guys to come up to the house and join us. See if you can arrange the time off with your dad, and I’ll get the house situated when we get there later this afternoon. Celine mentioned something about it to Amber this morning when the two were gossiping on the phone over breakfast.” There was a beat of silence on the other end of the phone.

“Are you sure, Ace? This is your time with your family,” Ryan said, though I could tell my best friend needed a break. Between working all of the time to provide for his family and managing three kids and a pregnant wife, I knew the man was exhausted and needed some time away.

“Just get your ass to your parent’s lake house,” I ordered. I could picture him rolling his eyes at me. “Bring your horde of children, and we can have some good, clean fun, like old times.”

“Hey, I only have one more than you,” Ryan said, laughter in his voice. “Look, I’ll talk about it with Ames, but she’s nearing her due date, and I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to be so far from home.” Ryan had never hesitated for a vacation at the lake house before, and his lame excuses puzzled me.

“Celine wants Amber to have a break from taking care of the kids twenty-four-seven. Bring your family, and the two of us can run the kids ragged out on the lake like the first summer your parents bought that place. Remember how much fun we had?” Ryan was silent on the other end, but the sound of a door slamming shut caught my attention as Charlie ran over to the car, a small backpack bouncing around on his shoulders.

He quickly darted into his seat and strapped his seatbelts on before trying to set up his DVD player in Celine’s headrest.

“Dad, it’s not working!” he shouted, frustrated when the power button wouldn’t work because the car was still off.

“Wait for your sister,” I ordered. “Now, quiet. I’m on the phone with Uncle Ryan.”

“You sound busy with the kids,” Ryan said, suspiciously taking a cop-out. “I’ll let you go, and give you guys a call later with what I decide. Just don’t bank on it. My dad can’t run this company on his own anymore. Drive safe, man. The roads are crazy out there.” I sighed. Ryan had become increasingly attached to the company as of late, and though I kind of understood it, at the same time, I didn’t. He was going to run himself into the ground.

With Amber’s due date nearing, he spent more hours at work than he did at home, and it appeared it was starting to take a toll on his wife who spent the whole day with their three children. And yet, he kept driving himself into the ground, working impossible hours to make up for lost time with his father. It was hard for me to understand since I didn’t really have a father figure in my life. Sure, Celine and Ryan’s dad treated me like a son, but it wasn’t really the same.

To me, my family here was more important, and for someone who claimed to love Amber so much, I didn’t understand why he wasn’t more doting and focused on her.

“Ace, help me with this last bag, please,” Celine called from the doorway, her hand resting on her growing bump, a small smile titling her rosy lips. My heart swelled with pride at the sight. She was carrying my baby, another product of our everlasting love.

I would do anything to keep that smile on her face, to keep her blue eyes shining with happiness.

“You do know the car is full, right?” I joked, grabbing the bag from her outstretched hand as Summer ran past us and dove into the car with a thump, jostling her brother who screamed his annoyance. “You and I have a date tonight, Princess.” I leaned forward to kiss her cheek, relishing in the blush that stained her cheeks. Damn, I was a lucky man.

“And what are we going to do with those monsters?” she asked me.

“They are going to be so tired from the trip and setting up that they’ll be in bed early. I need some alone time with my wife before she becomes occupied with the next Danvers baby.” Resting my hand on top of hers, I gazed lovingly into her big eyes to see them swimming with emotion.

“You’re a good man, Ace, a good father, and a good husband.” Her words meant everything to me. “Everything I went through with Aiden was worth it to get to where we are now.” She leaned her head against my chest, and together, we absorbed this moment. “Loving you is as easy as breathing, and every day, I fall a little more in love with you,” she mumbled against my chest.

“You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Princess. You’ve given me a family, a purpose. I love everything about you,” I told her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. I meant every word to her from the bottom of my soul.

“Don’t make me cry, Asshole.” I barked out a laugh. Years later, and she still used that nickname. “You know I’m already so emotional.” I cupped her face and pulled it away from my chest to look into her teary eyes.

“I love you, Celine Danvers, and I will love you for all of eternity because our love is forever.” Leaning forward, I claimed her plump, pink lips. A small moan escaped her throat as I showed her just how much I loved kissing her.

I dropped the bag she had handed me and slid my hand around to her firm ass, squeezing one of her cheeks, eliciting another deep moan as she parted her moist lips to let my tongue slide into her mouth.

Her breathy moans were undoing my composure, and I released a deep growl when her hands slid into my hair and curled against my scalp. This woman had learned how to please me through the past years, and when she pulled my hair, I almost lost all control.

“Ew! Dad, stop eating Mom’s face!” Summer’s high-pitched voice pulled me back to reality, causing Celine to pull away. My wife gasped for a breath with a shit-eating grin while her cheeks remained crimson.

Thank God for kids because I was about to do something to my wife that little kids really didn’t need to be seeing.

“Yeah, babe. Don’t eat my face,” Celine breathlessly teased, and I laughed. “We can’t have that now, can we?” She giggled and winked at me before brushing past me to hop into the car with our two giggling kids.

I quickly adjusted my pants before bending down to pick up the bag of food I had dropped and headed for the car, dumping the bag on Summer’s lap. I closed her door and then jumped in my seat, quickly turning on the car before someone complained about the heat.

Two hours later, the kids had grown bored with their movies, and instead were pestering us with questions every few minutes.

“Are we there yet?” Charlie asked for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

“No, not yet, honey,” Celine answered for the fifth time, irritation starting to build in her tone. She had been trying to control her car sickness and was struggling more with every passing minute. I gently squeezed her thigh, glancing over at her. Her face was only continuing to grow paler.

“Why don’t you have a nap, buddy? We’ll be there when you wake up.” I watched Charlie ponder this in the rear view mirror, looking at his sister for guidance before eventually sighing and closing his eyes and cuddling into his spider man blanket.

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