Page 42 of The Light to My Darkness (The Light to My Darkness 1)

"Is your dad okay?" I asked as I pushed myself into a seated position. I yawned again. It had been awhile since I had woken up this early.

"He'll be fine. Keep sleeping, baby, I've got this."

I watched him walk out of the room with Sophie. I was still tired. Plus, Ellen was already here to help. I lay back down and closed my eyes.

***

When I finally wandered downstairs, I followed all the noise into the family room. I smiled at the scene in front of me. Axel was standing on the couch repeatedly hitting James in the back of the head with a pillow, while James played the board game Pretty Pretty Princess with Scarlett and Sophie on the floor. James was decked out in a pink necklace, ring, and bracelet. Why he got stuck with the color pink was beyond me. It looked like Axel had played long enough just to snag the crown.

I used to love that game when I was little. But I certainly couldn't remember my dad playing with me. "Are you the winning princess?" I asked Axel as I walked into the room.

Axel scowled. "No. I'm the prince. They're the princesses."

Scarlett was clipping on a pair of earrings. I was almost positive that it wasn't even her turn.

"Axel won't play," she said. "He thinks it's a game just for girls. But Daddy's playing, so Axel is wrong."

"I am not," Axel said, and whacked James on the back of the head again.

"Okay, enough of that," James said. He turned and lifted Axel off the couch. "You get to choose what we play next, but right now we need to finish Pretty Pretty Princess. And it's your turn."

He stuck his tongue out at Scarlett and then sat down next to her.

"Here you go, Axel," Scarlett said and put a necklace over his head. "Now you're a beautiful princess."

"I'm not a princess! I'm a boy!"

"But my Daddy is playing and he's a boy."

"That's different. He's a dad, not a boy."

James and I both laughed. James looked up at me and smiled. He looked completely ridiculous decked out in his garish jewelry. But I wasn't sure I had ever seen him more handsome, jewels and all. Being a dad definitely didn't take the man out of James. It certainly took a level of confidence to willingly dress like a princess, and to me that exuded a level of sexiness that was hard to put into words.

When no one was looking, Sophie grabbed a ring, the last piece of jewelry she was missing. "I win!" she shouted.

"But it wasn't your turn," Scarlett said.

"I'm the prettiest princess!" Sophie stood up and started to twirl around in circles.

Scarlett folded her arms across her chest. It looked like she was about to cry.

But then Axel leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Her frown was replaced by the biggest smile. She turned to Axel and kissed him on the cheek.

"Ew!" Axel shouted. He rubbed his cheek where her lips had been, then got up and jumped back onto the couch, retrieving the pillow he had dropped earlier. He tossed it at Scarlett and then picked up another and slammed it against the back of James' head.

"Okay, that's it. Princesses, attack the prince!" James said.

Axel jumped off the back of the couch as everyone else grabbed pillows and chased after him.

I ran my hand across my stomach and turned back toward the kitchen. We can join them as soon as you're out, baby boy. In the meantime, I was starving. I opened up the fridge and looked at the scarce remains. The kids must have ransacked it for breakfast. That was probably why Ellen was nowhere in sight. She handled our grocery shopping and there wasn't much she could make with the current contents of the fridge. I grabbed the bottle of orange juice and closed the fridge. I opened up the cupboard to grab a glass but my eyes landed on a banana instead. And a small note with James' handwriting on it:

Saved this for you. Don't let Soph see you eating it. She was very upset that she couldn't have one. I had to pretend that this one was rotten.

I smiled and picked up the banana and a glass. The perfect breakfast. Well, maybe not on a normal basis. But recently all I was craving was fruit. I quickly ate so I could join in on the fun. I was just like Scarlett in that way. The thought of missing out on a second of family time made me sad. Plus, I didn't want Sophie seeing me eat the banana. Saying no to Scarlett was hard. Saying no to Sophie was almost impossible. She could cry at the drop of a hat. I was pretty sure she was going to be an actress when she grew up. She'd probably win an Oscar.

When I walked out of the kitchen, I couldn't help but laugh. James was lying in the middle of the foyer surrounding by all the kids who were repeatedly smacking their pillows against his back.

"We killed the beast!" Axel yelled.

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