After peeling an onion, he sliced it, wriggling his butt to the music from Mav’s activity center.
“You like how I cut onions?” he purred.
“Oh yeah. Slice and dice them, babe.”
Devyn chopped ginger and smashed garlic but Mav was concentrating on his toys and didn’t react to the noise.
“How spicy do you want your food?” My mate was holding a bunch of fiery red chili.
“Hot. The hotter the better.”
He glanced up. “We’re still talking about the food, right?”
“Maybe.” I licked around my mouth.
He cut up some chili along with green onions and coriander.
“Wait,” I told him as he turned on the gas and poured oil in the pan.
I set up my phone on the counter and started filming. Knowing how spicy the air would be once he added the garlic, chili and thesauces, I took Mav into our room. I’d almost knocked myself out once when cooking with lots of chili.
While the closed door kept out the smell, it couldn’t block the sizzling as food hit the hot oil. I studied my mate on the laptop and knowing I was watching, he wriggled his ass and cooked up a storm.
Saliva filled my mouth and I counted the minutes, waiting for the meal but also wishing we could get naked together.
“You can come out now.”
I put Mav in the high chair and heated up some of his food I prepared earlier as Dad emerged from the nursery.
“Smells good. Hope there’s enough for me.” He sat beside Mav.
“Always.” Devyn pushed two bowls of noodles toward us.
“Once I’m done, I’ll take Mav to the park.
Huh? “Weren’t you just at the park?”
“Oh yes.” He didn’t look at me as he slurped noodles in his mouth. “But we need to get out of the apartment and let you two have some alone time.” He studied his bowl. “The noodles aren’t the only thing that’s spicy around here.”
Chapter 40
Happy Ever After Time
Devyn
“Where’s Daddy?” Francesca looked up at me, a flower in her hand.
“He just went to get Mav. We have to leave soon.”
“I know. That’s why I got Daddy a flower. It’s just like the one in your painting.”
I smiled brightly at her. It was not only like the one in the painting, but the bush my mate had plucked it from was the inspiration for said painting. We bought it from the plant nursery the day Francesca was born and planted it shortly after she came home from the NICU. That flower had always been my mother’s favorite and part of me felt like she’d been there, watching over our sweet baby girl while she got ready to come home with us.
We’d bought a house before our daughter was born because even though the apartment Father had gifted us was enormous, we wanted our children to have a garden. Our family had celebrated in the garden when Heston completed his law degree.
When we bought the house, my father-in-law moved into a smaller apartment nearby, relishing being able to live by himself but be close enough to visit us almost very day.
“Daddy’s going to love it, sweet girl. Why don’t we get our shoes on so that when he comes home from the neighbor’s, we can get going? We don’t want to be late for our special day.”
