Page 7 of A Me and You Thing
I love the way their eyes light up around their father. He always makes them giggle until their faces turn red. It’s the cutest thing. “How about you? Busy day?” I ask.
“I have a presentation at the aquarium in...” He glances at his watch, “. . . one hour. And a repeat performance at the top of the hour all morning.” Sawyer serves as one of the directors of the world-renowned Oregon Coast Aquarium. “And I have two charters this afternoon.” Sawyer also runs his own whale watching business out of Yaquina Bay, year-round. The only time he closes down is during foul weather and stormy seas.
There’s nothing like watching him in action as he captains his boat and shares his oceanic knowledge with tourists. The salty wind tugs at his hair as he flashes his pearly whites with his Sawyer-unique huge smile. I felt captivated the first time I laid eyes on him. He seemed other-worldly, as if he’d hopped off the planet Asgard to join us mortals on earth.
Then there’s the times I’ve watched him in his scuba diving gear, doing an underwater presentation at the aquarium. Dang, if he doesn’t look good in a skin-tight wet suit.
“Sounds good. I can’t wait until the girls are old enough to go to your presentations.”
“I’d love that.” He wipes his mouth with his napkin. “Need anything at the store? I can pick it up on the way home.”
“Hmmm... a loaf of bread, peanut butter, bananas, Goldfish, Cheerios, and apple juice.”
“Kid food. Got it.” Sawyer finishes off his breakfast. “Any hope for adult food for dinner?”
“I promise it won’t be peanut butter and jelly.”
“Awesome, now I’m excited.” He shakes his head. “Man, we’re so boring. How did this happen?”
“I don’t know. It crept up on us. It’s a little scary.”
“Right? Why are we happy again?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I think we’re supposed to be miserable.”
“Right? Are you miserable?”
I love joking around with Sawyer. But this is a subject I’ve thought about long and hard. The decision of what to do with my life didn’t come easily. A career or children? To work or not to work? To stay at home or not to stay at home?
“I’m happy to tell you, I’m not miserable. Not at all. In fact, I’m ridiculously happy...”
“Look out, I sense a Quinn Speech comin’ my way.”
“Seriously, I love my life. I can’t explain why, but I do. It’s beautifully simplistic, yet fulfilling. Mundane, yet rewarding. Slow, yet challenging. Easy, yet hard. I go to bed every night exhausted, yet I have a smile on my face as my head hits the pillow. Raising our daughters gives me everything I need. Most especially love, crazy amounts of love. In the end, I think that’s why I love it. The return is huge. It’s not something you can buy. To get it, you first have to give it. But it comes back tenfold, so much so, I don’t think I have enough room inside me for so much love.”
“Just wait until they’re teenagers.”
I chuckle lightly. “Yeah, I’m not looking forward to that stage. I just hope they don’t hate me.”
“Nah, not possible. I love our life too. Dirty diapers and all. I don’t get it. It’s mind boggling.” Sawyer does his best impression of Doc fromBack to the Future, making our girls giggle as if he’s hilarious. He leans forward and kisses me. “Love ya.”
“Love you,” I mumble in between kisses.
He carries his plate to the sink and polishes off his orange juice. “I’d better get going. See you tonight.”
“Bye, Daddy.” I wave at Sawyer, and the girls mimic me. I blow kisses at him, and the girls copy that action as well.
He holds his heart as if he’s stricken with happiness. I know I am. Sawyer is besotted with our daughters, no doubt about that.
Me too.
“I can’t take so much sweetness first thing in the morning,” he mock-hollers, making the girls giggle again. He makes funny faces at them along with a few funny sounds.
There’s nothing like a grown man making a fool of himself. I happen to love that fool.
He straightens and adjusts his jacket. “Dang, I used to be cool. What happened to me?”
He puts on his sunglasses. He looks pretty darn cool to me. As a matter of fact, he looks a little too good. “You have a fan club of three. No worries. You’re still cool.”
