Page 88 of Resilient Rhythms
“I pray for our children when they start tee ball or ballet. You and A are going to be more competitive than the kids.”
I laugh but don’t refute his statement because there’s a ribbon of truth. Allegra and I really put the team on our backs for the final two games to secure The Bowling Tones a third-place finish.
“I hope Derek and Allegra stay here in Boston. We can raise our kids together and be aunties and uncles,” I admit wistfully.
“We’ll be aunties and uncles even if they move back to California. Or split their time like they’ve been doing.”
“Yeah, but eventually, they’ll have to pick one. Their kid will start school and…” I shrug.
Mav smiles. “There’s years between now and the kids starting school.”
“I know.”
“You feeling good?” Mav asks. “Are you hungry?”
I bite my bottom lip.
“Tell me,” he says. “I’ll make you a sandwich. Or pancakes. Or…” He trails off as he pulls open the pantry door.
“I’m hungry for something else,” I admit, eyeing his body up and down.
Mav turns and catches my gaze. He grins. “My god, beauty, you are insatiable.”
I laugh.
“If this is how you are pregnant, I’m going to have to keep you perpetually knocked up.”
I roll my eyes, blushing at the truth of his statement. I want him all the damn time. I guess that was true before, but now, there’s an edge I’ve never experienced. A physical desperation that requires Mav’s attention and love to satiate it.
He moves toward me and lifts me in his arms.
“I can walk!” I cry out as he begins to take the stairs.
“Let me carry you. At least, while I still can,” he jokes.
I smack his back.
But we’re both laughing by the time we enter our bedroom. Mav pushes my cardigan off my shoulders and lifts my dress over my head. I’ve forgone a bra and my heavy breasts swing free.
He tugs off his shirt as I unfasten his pants. Once they’re off, Mav drops to his knees in front of me. He caresses my body with his eyes, his hands, and finally his mouth. By the time my knees buckle and I ease back against a mountain of pillows at the head of our bed, I’m desperate for Mav.
“Please,” I beg.
“Gonna give you everything,” he promises.
And he does. We join together, body, mind, and soul, until I’m crying out his name, he’s chanting mine, and the future shimmers before us with endless possibility.
Spent and sated, Mav gathers me in his arms. He strokes my hair as I snuggle into him. Within minutes, my eyelids grow heavy. I take an afternoon nap, savoring the peace, the quiet, and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
Derek and Allegra tie the knot at The Ivy on the second Saturday in October. It’s a secret ceremony, with most guests not even knowing that they were going to exchange vows, until they showed up at the venue.
Of course, A couldn’t keep the secret from everyone so Ivy, Nova, and I had time to pull together a cohesive look as her de facto bridesmaids.
“She’s going to love the navy,” Nova says, clutching my hand as we enter the restaurant in identical gowns.
“They look good on all of us,” Ivy agrees from my other side.
“Yeah, except I look like I have a food baby,” I lament, glancing down at where my belly protrudes.
