Page 7 of The Light to My Darkness (The Light to My Darkness 1)

"It was a yes. I could tell. And you're right, he does kick me a lot. A whole lot more than Scarlett did. Just further proof that it's a little boy."

"Hmm. Time will tell."

I sighed. "Time. Time is going by too fast if you ask me. Did you hear what Scarlett said? That she wasn't my baby girl anymore. It was like a knife to my heart."

"I thought it was adorable."

"You think everything she does is adorable. Just wait until she's a teenager and she says she hates us on a daily basis."

"Did you do that with your parents?"

"No. But that's a thing that normal teenagers do I think."

"Well, there you go. She won't do that because she's just like you."

I laughed. "She is nothing like me. She's outgoing and carefree and completely like you."

James sat down on the edge of my desk and folded his arms across his chest. His eyes fixated on my face as if he was studying me.

I awkwardly tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "What are you staring at?"

He didn't say anything. He just continued to stare at me intently.

"James, seriously, you're freaking me out." I laughed nervously.

He reached out and ran his hand down the side of my face. "Why after all these years do you still feel that you need to prove yourself to me?" He lowered his eyebrows slightly. "Are you not happy?" His hand fell from my face.

"What?" I stood up and slipped my hands into his. "No, it's not that. I'm so happy. You, our family, I'm so so happy, James."

"Then what is it?"

"It's just...I put everything into this book. Maybe I didn't realize how much I needed approval until this moment. But all these rejections weigh on me. This character," I said and gestured to my laptop. "She's me. It feels like they're all saying that they hate me. As a human being. That I'm not good enough. That I'm worthless."

"You are not worthless. Penny, you are the most amazing woman I have ever met. You are the most loving mother and wife. You're intelligent and stunning. And you have the most beautiful soul." He put his hand on the center of my chest. "Your heart beats with love and kindness and hope. And I don't know anyone else as worthy of everything they want in this world than you. So if what you want is for this book to be read, please, baby, let me help you get it into the right hands."

"You haven't even read it. You don't know if it's any good."

"If you wrote it with half the heart that you do everything else with, then I'm certain it's better than anything I've ever read."

I hastily wiped the tears away from my face.

"And if you shed one more tear over this book, let it be because you're celebrating hitting a bestseller list. Not fretting over a rejection letter from a company who wouldn't know what a good book was if it hit them in the face."

I laughed.

"There." He put his hands on both sides of my face. "That smile. How can you think that you're worthless when I live and breathe each day just to see that smile."

I stood up on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around the back of his neck. He smelled like a mixture of children's berry scented shampoo and his cologne. It was the most glorious scent in the world. "Okay."

"Okay what?" His hands slid down my back, igniting this flame inside of me that I hoped would never extinguish.

"You can read it."

A smile broke over his face.

"But don't get all professorly on me and nitpick every little thing."

He laughed. "We talked about this. Professorly is not a word. So if you've used that in your novel I'm going to have to point it out."

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