Bittersweet Catastrophe (Second Chances #2.5) by Maureen Mayer Page B
Authors: Maureen Mayer
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stripping my clothes as I made my way down the hall to the bathroom.
I turned the shower on full-blast, cranking it up as hot as I could stand it, and allowed the water to cascade over me and wash away the sweat and tension riddling my body. It didn’t take long for the muscles in my neck, shoulders, and back to relax under the steady stream of the showerhead, and I quickly lathered up and rinsed off any remnants of stress that had been weighing me down all day. I hated feeling this way, and I hated for Liberty to see it so easily etched across my face. I was never one to wear my heart on my sleeve, but dammit, these kids had me melting into an emotional puddle of mush any time I stopped to think about them. It was no secret we were both nervous as all hell about becoming parents in a few short months, but as their father, I felt like I had to be the strong one. I needed to keep my head on straight, but now, I couldn’t help but feel like I was failing miserably.
I buried my face under the heat of the water once more, allowing it to erase any lingering remnants of my vulnerability. I quickly dried off and slipped on a fresh pair of jeans and a plain white V-neck shirt, choosing to forego wearing anything on my feet. Liberty always said there was something about a man in low-hung jeans and bare feet that made her crazy with need, and as the saying goes… happy wife, happy life. I was more than happy to appease her.
Opening the oven to check on our dinner, I heard the creak of the front door, alerting me that she had just gotten home. The all too familiar clink of her keys rattled as she set down her purse in the living room, and her feet quietly padded across the floor, leading right up behind me. Her slender arms linked around my waist, and I could feel her slightly protruding belly pressed low against my back.
“Hey, baby,” she said, her voice so soft it could barely be registered as a whisper.
Placing a kiss between my shoulder blades, she let out a heavy sigh and leaned her cheek on the spot where her lips had just touched. I could tell she was exhausted and carefully turned her in my arms, allowing her to stand on my feet and sink the full weight of her body into me. Her gaze flickered down to my feet, bare against the cool, linoleum floor, and the feel of her lips curling up against my chest as she smiled caused warmth to spread throughout my entire being.
“I missed you today.” She pulled back, looking up at me with those big brown eyes that constantly made me weak in the knees.
“I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.” I swept my thumbs across her cheeks and drew her toward me, claiming her soft, pouty lips. She tasted like a cherry tootsie pop, a mixture of her cherry lip gloss and what I could only assume was a chocolate milkshake she must’ve grabbed from Dairy Queen on the way home. “So how did everything go? Babies doing all right?”
Her lip twitched as the corner of her mouth pulled up in a crooked grin, but the half-second of hesitation didn’t go unnoticed. “Yeah, everything went fine. They’re absolutely perfect. The doctor said they’re each about the size of a plum now.”
She smiled up at me dreamily, her eyes hooded with fatigue, and I lowered my hands down to the swell of her hips. My thumbs slipped beneath the hem of her shirt, and I lazily traced figure-eights across her smooth stomach. Seeing her standing before me, swallowed up in my arms, it was surreal to imagine her even being pregnant with twins. How could this tiny woman hold so much life and so much love inside of her? It was seriously mind-boggling. There I was embracing not one, not two, but three lives within the circumference of my arms. And yet, the sudden realization of what was to come from this beautiful being simply washed away every ounce of anxiety and trepidation that I’d been harboring up until this very moment.
I kissed her forehead and let my lips linger for just a beat before
I turned the shower on full-blast, cranking it up as hot as I could stand it, and allowed the water to cascade over me and wash away the sweat and tension riddling my body. It didn’t take long for the muscles in my neck, shoulders, and back to relax under the steady stream of the showerhead, and I quickly lathered up and rinsed off any remnants of stress that had been weighing me down all day. I hated feeling this way, and I hated for Liberty to see it so easily etched across my face. I was never one to wear my heart on my sleeve, but dammit, these kids had me melting into an emotional puddle of mush any time I stopped to think about them. It was no secret we were both nervous as all hell about becoming parents in a few short months, but as their father, I felt like I had to be the strong one. I needed to keep my head on straight, but now, I couldn’t help but feel like I was failing miserably.
I buried my face under the heat of the water once more, allowing it to erase any lingering remnants of my vulnerability. I quickly dried off and slipped on a fresh pair of jeans and a plain white V-neck shirt, choosing to forego wearing anything on my feet. Liberty always said there was something about a man in low-hung jeans and bare feet that made her crazy with need, and as the saying goes… happy wife, happy life. I was more than happy to appease her.
Opening the oven to check on our dinner, I heard the creak of the front door, alerting me that she had just gotten home. The all too familiar clink of her keys rattled as she set down her purse in the living room, and her feet quietly padded across the floor, leading right up behind me. Her slender arms linked around my waist, and I could feel her slightly protruding belly pressed low against my back.
“Hey, baby,” she said, her voice so soft it could barely be registered as a whisper.
Placing a kiss between my shoulder blades, she let out a heavy sigh and leaned her cheek on the spot where her lips had just touched. I could tell she was exhausted and carefully turned her in my arms, allowing her to stand on my feet and sink the full weight of her body into me. Her gaze flickered down to my feet, bare against the cool, linoleum floor, and the feel of her lips curling up against my chest as she smiled caused warmth to spread throughout my entire being.
“I missed you today.” She pulled back, looking up at me with those big brown eyes that constantly made me weak in the knees.
“I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.” I swept my thumbs across her cheeks and drew her toward me, claiming her soft, pouty lips. She tasted like a cherry tootsie pop, a mixture of her cherry lip gloss and what I could only assume was a chocolate milkshake she must’ve grabbed from Dairy Queen on the way home. “So how did everything go? Babies doing all right?”
Her lip twitched as the corner of her mouth pulled up in a crooked grin, but the half-second of hesitation didn’t go unnoticed. “Yeah, everything went fine. They’re absolutely perfect. The doctor said they’re each about the size of a plum now.”
She smiled up at me dreamily, her eyes hooded with fatigue, and I lowered my hands down to the swell of her hips. My thumbs slipped beneath the hem of her shirt, and I lazily traced figure-eights across her smooth stomach. Seeing her standing before me, swallowed up in my arms, it was surreal to imagine her even being pregnant with twins. How could this tiny woman hold so much life and so much love inside of her? It was seriously mind-boggling. There I was embracing not one, not two, but three lives within the circumference of my arms. And yet, the sudden realization of what was to come from this beautiful being simply washed away every ounce of anxiety and trepidation that I’d been harboring up until this very moment.
I kissed her forehead and let my lips linger for just a beat before
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