Five Years Later
“DADDY’S GOING to love this cake. Won’t he, mommy?” My precious son glances up at me with blue-green eyes that are just as brilliant as his father’s. They’re a little too big for his pudgy face, but I think that makes him even more adorable.
“He sure will, baby.” I kiss his tawny cheek. “Now step back while I put the pan in the oven.” I wrap my arms around his waist and swing him over the stool. Wrapping his precious hands in his miniature oven mitt, I set him in front of his toy oven-a gift from Pax and Calvin.
Just as I set the timer for the real oven, the front door opens.
My son explodes with happiness. “Daddy!” He screams loud enough to shatter my ear drums.
I laugh when he streaks toward the living room. From my stance in the kitchen, I hear a happy collision. Jerrison’s deep chuckle sends an answering smile over my lips.
Even though I can’t see him yet, I can imagine those gorgeous wrinkles crinkling around his blue eyes and pink lips. He’s probably wearing a suit because he caught the first flight out so he could hurry home.
My mouth starts to water.
My man looks delicious in a suit.
Footsteps patter toward me and, a moment later, Jerrison comes into view. He’s holding our son in his arms, but his eyes are locked on me.
“Welcome home,” I say, grinning at him.
He sprints toward me with the same level of exuberance that our son ran out to greet him. A moment later, I’m wrapped up in his arms and smelling the fragrance of crisp mint.
“Daddy, you’re squeezing my sister!” Our son tries to push him back.
Jerrison chuckles and kneels to rub my stomach. “Sorry about that, baby girl.”
“I think she’ll forgive you.” I accept his quick kiss but, because he’s been gone for a whole weekend, it’s not enough. I drag him by the tie and bring him back to me.
“Ew!” Our son covers his eyes.
Jerrison’s laughter breaks the kiss. “You missed me?”
“I did.” My grin gets a little broader. “Although I do wonder how you got any work done when you were texting me every minute.”
He called me at night too and we both fell asleep after talking for hours.
When I woke up yesterday, my phone was completely out of battery.
“I miss you too much, that’s why.” He grabs a glass of water. “This is my last trip for a while. I’ve already told Patrick.” Determination tightens his lips. “I hate being away from my family. From now on, if anyone needs to meet an athlete out of state, it’ll be him.” He ruffles our son’s hair. “Doesn’t that sound good, buddy?”
Our son throws his arms high. “Daddy, we baked you a cake.” “Did you?” Jerrison puts on a face of total shock.
I watch him interact with our son and my heart overflows with love.
Jerrison listens patiently, bobbing his head and answering every question.
When he sees me staring, he arches an eyebrow what?
“Nothing.” I shake my head. “I just love you.”
A smile creeps along his face again. The same smile that he flashed right before I got this bun in the oven.
“Come on, Harriet.” Jerrison takes my hand. “You’ve been on your feet for too long. You need to sit down.”
“Don’t start the overprotective thing now, please? You exhausted me the first time.”
“And it’s just going to get worse the second time.” He kisses my cheek. “Because I’ll be working from home.”
I laugh. “My worst nightmare.”
Our son jumps up and down, twirling in a circle and yelling, “Chocolate cake! Chocolate cake!”
“It needs to bake first, kid.” Jerrison swings him on the sofa. “You want some cookies instead?”
“No cookies until dinner,” I scold him.
My handsome boy and my handsome husband flash puppy dog eyes at
me.
“Please, babe.” Jerrison pouts.
How can I resist those gorgeous eyes? “Okay. Fine. One cookie.” “Yes!” Jerrison pumps his fists.
Our son follows suit.
Tears burst to my eyes as I watch them dart to the kitchen. Five years
have passed since I went to Doc, desperately looking for a way to fix my marriage. Every year since then has only gotten better than the last.
Jerrison has built my trust so completely that I don’t even flinch when he says he’s going on a business trip. I don’t bat an eye when he has to meet with pretty female athletes. And I sleep like a baby when he’s out late.
He’s made it a practice of being so accountable with me that I know exactly who he’s with, where he’ll be and how long he’ll be gone even without me asking.
If a meeting goes longer, my phone will ring with an update.
And if he has to make a choice between hanging out, drinking with his buddies and spending time with me, he chooses me. Every. Time.
Rumors of his past behavior still float around sometimes, but those old reports feel like they’re talking about another man.
The man racing into the living room with our son on his shoulders feels like an entirely new husband. A totally different Jerrison.
Sometimes, I get confused watching him. He has the same face as the old Jerrison, but his behavior is the complete opposite.
My love for him has grown right along with our family and I can’t believe how full my heart is waking up to him every day.
I have to pinch myself sometimes and ask if I’m dreaming. And Jerrison is always there to hug me, kiss me and whisper that this fairytale is real.
While our son is eating his cookies, Jerrison pulls my foot into his lap and massages my heel. “Keep looking at me like that and we’ll have to start planning for baby number three.”
I laugh and put a hand on my stomach. “That’s not how biology works, babe.”
His gorgeous smile lights up my world. “Bummer.”
I burst out laughing.
He grins and waits patiently for me to calm down before he says, “I called your dad while I was away. He’s agreed to come down for the baby shower. Nataya, Jaz and Chloe are coming too.”
“They are?” My eyes widen. A few weeks ago, Jerrison offered to take over planning the baby shower when he saw me struggling to juggle my work at the franchise and our son.
Pax and I tried to help him, but he didn’t need any input. He’s been handling the details with finesse.
“I told you I should have gone into event planning.” He winks. “I’m a natural.”
“Is dad really coming? He said he couldn’t’ make it,” I croak.
“He couldn’t, but I suggested a solution. He’s going to stop by between tournaments. It’s going to be tight with his schedule, so I offered to pay for the flight and a chauffeur to get him to the airport.”
“You’re so good to me, Jerrison.” Tears flow from my eyes. It’s the pregnancy hormones. I bawl at the drop of a hat these days.
“Daddy, why is mommy crying?”
“Those are happy tears, son.” Jerrison hugs me.
“Happy tears?” He tilts his head, scrunching his button nose.
“It means mommy has so many happy feelings in her heart that she can’t contain it.” I tap my chest. “It bursts and comes out as tears.”
“I cry when I have a boo-boo,” he informs me smartly. “Do you?” I hold my arms out to him.
He scrambles into my lap and touches my face with his tiny hands. “Do you have a boo-boo on your heart, mommy? Is that why your heart exploded?”
Jerrison snorts.
I cast an amused look at him and then cradle my son. “A long time ago, mommy had a boo-boo on her heart. But guess what?”
“What?”
“I left the tower I was stuck in and fixed it.” I glance at Jerrison. “And the dragon, who was really a jerk,” I cast him the side-eye, “came after me.”
“Jerk is a bad word,” my son says seriously. Jerrison scrunches his nose.
I hide my laughter behind my hand.
Jerrison takes over the story. “Eventually, the dragon didn’t want to hurt the princess anymore.”
“That’s true.” I nod.
“He changed into a good prince with the help of a wise old wizard named Doc,” Jerrison adds. “And Doc’s wrench.”
I grin. “And now they live happily-ever-after.” “The end!” Our little boy shrieks with laughter.
Jerrison’s eyes soften when he looks at me. I squeeze his hand, so grateful for this family and so grateful for a husband who loves, prioritizes and respects me.
I cradle them both close and smile. “The… end.”