Page 221 of Only With You

I smile as she pulls back as we hear our daughter’s footsteps.

“Mommy, Mommy! Look!” Vi runs over to us at the speed of lightning, brimming with exhilaration. “I put the J and angel wings like Daddy.” She points to her scribbled and illegible neck.

I bite the inside of my cheek, swallowing back a laugh at the way Julianna’s eyebrows shoot up, jaw drops in astonishment, and eyes stare at our daughter in disbelief.

“Merry Christmas, Mommy!” Vi stretches her arms out and spins three times, making sure her mum gets a good look at her. “I look just like Daddy.” She giggles, pointing at her arms, neck, and then lifts her shirt.

Oh shit, I didn’t see that.

“Do you like your present? Do you?” Vi peers up at her, eyes glittering.

Julianna sobers up, eyes darting to me, and her lips split wide into a grin. “Are you kidding me? This is the best thing ever! And the wings. They look just like his.” She’s talking about the angel wings and J I got tattooed. I got it done soon after basketball season ended.

She carefully drops to her knees. I go to stop her, but she doesn’t let me. She proudly inspects every inch of the marker on her delicate skin. “I think these are even better than your daddy’s.”

She gasps happily. “Really?”

“Yes, these are so good.” Julianna showers her with kisses, then ruffles her hair. “This is the best Christmas present, angel.”

Vi carefully hugs her mum and bends to kiss her belly. Our eyes lock as our daughter whispers something to her belly and we smile, feeling content at how far we’ve come.

“Okay, let’s help Mummy up.” As much as I’m enjoying this moment, I’d hate for Julianna to hurt herself. She says I worry too much and is always fussing at me for fussing at her to not do anything extraneous. “And let’s eat breakfast before it all gets cold.”

“I helped!” Vi announces proudly as we help Julianna to her feet.

“Lan.” Julianna sniffles, wiping away the remnants of the tears that linger and hugs me. “I’m going to ugly cry again.”

I kiss the crown of her head, rubbing gentle circles on her back as a fresh wave of tears rolls down her face. “All for you, my Love.”

I gifted her a vinyl with songs I’ve composed over the years for her and a few new ones, and had Lola design the cover with the colours of her voice.

“I don’t have words,” she croaks and looks up at me.

“You don’t have to have them. I just hope you love it.” I brush the tears away.

“I love it so much. We have to listen to it.” She’s moving fast, putting the vinyl on the record player, and when the first song comes on, the tears cascade faster.

“Is this a new song?” She slips back into my arms, resting her head on my chest.

“It is and it’s why I wouldn’t let you in the studio.”

I made her believe it was for a song I was working for a movie.

After I started posting my own songs on YouTube, they started gaining more traction than the covers I did. Eventually, one blew up and the others followed after. A few months after we graduated, I was contacted by an agent and everything else that transpired after that has been insane. My songs started in commercials and now they’re in movies.

It’s wild that this is my life, but I’ve never been more grateful.

I still stayed anonymous. Only my closest friends know what I do because they wouldn’t stop asking where I was getting all my money from. I could’ve made something up, but not only do I trust them, but they’re my family.

“Dance with me,” I say and slowly start swaying until she falls into step with me. When she steps on my foot, a choked giggle escapes her. “Six years and some things don’t change.”

She scoffs. “It was one step. You know I’ve gotten better, just like I have driving stick.”

My brows furrow at her bold statement. “Love?—”

“It was one scratch and I got Roxy fixed,” she reminds me although I don’t need it because I can still hear the scrape against metal.

She panicked while I was teaching her, but it’s fine. She got it fixed just like the scratch Cole left. Because her parents didn’t want any of her stuff back, she sold some of her purses and with the money, used it to pay for all the damages. I told her not to, but she’s stubborn and refused to take no for an answer.

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