Page 96 of Family Like This

“Noted. Now go lay down and rest while I finish cooking.”

I cock an eyebrow. “Just for that I’m going to shred some cheese.”

He pins me with a glare. “Fine. But only if you sit. And go very slowly. I don’t want any fingertips mixed in with the cheese.”

I roll my eyes but smile, smacking his butt as I walk away with the cheese grater. “Whatever you say, baby daddy. Whatever you say.”

I smile as I sit down at the counter, ignoring the pang in my heart. That conversation reminds me of how my parents always were in the kitchen together.

Shaking my head, I push past it.

Focus on where you are now.

Right now that means focusing on not slicing my fingertips off while I shred the cheese.

Miles

“So you haven’t seen the dress yet?” Micah Dawson asks me as we wait outside his family’s farmhouse for Amelia to come out.

Micah is a friend of our friend group. He’s Maia’s stepbrother, but they were raised together so they’re more like full siblings. His dad and stepmother—Maia’s mom—run a farm focused primarily on produce, goat products, and eggs. Micah helps out there while also running his own photography business. Maia’s mom, Veronica, lets his clients use the farmhouse for makeup and getting dressed, and he often does outdoor shoots on the farm. There’s a hill behind the farmhouse and on the other side are rolling fields. We’ll hop in Micah’s pickup truck and drive over there as soon as Amelia comes out.

“Nope. She and Dani picked it out and she’s surprising me with it.”

He smiles at me as I wipe my palms against my pants. I’m acting like I’m about to see her in a wedding dress. I hope I get to one day, but damn. This is notthatbig of a deal. Except it kind of is. Taking these photos makes our relationship feel a little more solid—especially to me. She wants these photos to hang on our wall and to pass on to our daughter. They’re a pillar of the life we’re building together. Maybe that’s stupid, but the ground beneath us has been shifting for our entire relationship. A little more solidity is something I’ve been aching for. Especially since I can still feel her closing a piece of herself off. I don’t understand why and she tenses when I bring it up, so I haven’t. All those lectures I gave Aaron and Rae about not communicating. Look at me now.

Actually, forget the fuck about me.

Look at her.

I watch, enraptured, as Amelia walks across the deck and down the stairs. She’s wearing a light coral pink dress. It’s stretchy and goes down to her feet, but it still shows off her gorgeous figure. It has cap sleeves but a V neckline that plunges low, and the stretchy fabric hugs her bump tightly, making it look even bigger than usual. She is stunning, and she fucking knows it as she sashays over to me and wraps her arms around my neck.

“Hi.” She gives me a quick kiss.

“You are ethereal. Seriously, I could stare at you all day. You are that magnificent. But this dress…” I drag my hands down her sides. “It makes me want to run my hands all over you. You are absolutely perfect.”

Dipping my head down, I capture her lips in another kiss, but it doesn’t last long as Micah calls, “Save something for the shoot.”

When I reluctantly lift my lips off hers, he’s grinning at us. He nods to the truck and I help Amelia climb inside before getting in myself.

The rolling fields beyond us are the perfect backdrop for our photos. The golden and green hues are striking in the morning sun, creating an ambiance of warmth and comfort.

Micah is snapping pictures from the moment we stop, catching candid photos of me helping Amelia out of the truck to us getting into position and me sweeping some windblown hair out of Amelia’s face.

Then we get to the poses. We start standing in various positions. Me behind her with my hands on her stomach, me lifting her up in a bridal carry, us side by side, me behind her again as we make an overlapping heart with our hands on her stomach. Then there’s my favorite one. The one I already know will hang in our bedroom and that I’ll have a copy of on my desk at work. One hand is wrapped around the back of her neck, my fingers threading her golden curls as my other hand rests on the side of her stomach and we share a gentle but fervent kiss. It’s a pose I could stay in for hours if Micah weren’t here to direct us otherwise.

We take a break after that for water and snacks before moving on to sitting poses and then I lean against the truck and take in my radiant girl as Micah snaps pictures of just her looking free and happy as she cradles her bump.Love.That’s all I see in front of me. The love I have for her and my daughter. The love she has for our baby girl. The fierce protectiveness rooted inside her for not just our baby, but our future.

Our relationship has been harder than I was expecting. I thought I learned from all my friends’ mistakes and would be able to have a smooth, simple relationship from the start, but as I’ve learned, it’s not nearly that easy. Relationships take work because it involves two imperfect people coming together and choosing each other while still learning about the other person and often themselves. It takes a lot of strength and grace. Though my anxiety loves to prey on the fact that Amelia still seems distant and uncertain at times, I’m trying to trust that it’s part of her process growing into this new version of herself and our relationship at the same time. That’s a lot for anyone.

Before the session ends, we take a few more pictures as a couple, and I take advantage of every second I get to kiss my girl and hold her perfect growing bump.

Today has been perfect so far, and I can’t wait to see the photos that I know I’ll look back on forever as one of the greatest memories of my life.

Amelia

Beauty is fleeting.

My mother used to say that when I’d fawn over some hot guy or grumble and throw a magazine with a gorgeous girl on the cover because I felt so unpretty.It never lasts.

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