Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
I love my man so much I wish he was a seahorse so I could get him pregnant.
— Merriam’s secret thoughts
MERRIAM
I woke up in his arms again.
This time, though, it was with a toddler smushed in between us.
I grinned when I saw my daughter’s face pressed against the other side of Jeremiah’s chest just like mine was.
“ You awake?” he rasped, voice deliciously dark.
“ Yep ,” I said.
“ Good ,” he groaned as he let me go. “ Because my arms are about to fall off.”
I giggled when he extricated himself from between us, then shifted so that he was lying behind me, and Anleigh now had her own half the bed.
“ I’m a cuddler,” I explained. “ But you should feel extra special, because Anleigh usually hates cuddling.”
“ You’d never be able to tell.” He laughed. “ I’m not sure when she decided to join us, though.”
“ She’s a wild child and moves around a lot. If it was for very long, you would’ve woken up to her kicking you in the throat like I do,” I admitted.
He snorted, then kissed the back of my neck. “ I was dreaming really hard, and have no clue when she arrived, or if she kicked me.”
I smiled, my eyes drifting closed again as I agreed with him.
“ It’s so weird,” I agreed. “ I keep having my own dreams. Though , I’ve had them since I was a kid, really. They feel like mine. Like , for real, I feel like I’ve experienced them. Things that I’ve never, ever done before in my life. Like canning food, you know? I’ve never had the opportunity to do that, let alone learn. How is it that I can tell you exactly how to can a jar of pickles if I’ve never done it before in my life?”
He was silent for a long second before he said, “ That explains your reaction to the canning cookbook my sister got you,” he acknowledged. “ I had a similar dream last night. I was working on an old Harley Roadster . I can tell you the exact part number that I ordered in the dream. Then when some parts company brought it to me, I literally put it on. Why would my brain know how to fix a bike, to the point where I can tell you right now exactly how to do it, yet I’ve never even come close to doing something like that in real life?”
I shook my head, unable to come up with a solid answer. “ Do you think it’s just us that’s having dreams like this? Or do you think that everyone does it?”
He looked thoughtful for a long moment and then said, “ I asked my sister once. She said that she’s never had dreams like that in her life.”
I looked down at my hands. “ I dreamed about you before I met you.”
His hand came up to cup my chin, tilting my head up and back so he could study my eyes. “ The morning that we met, I had this feeling that my life was about to change. That I was about to have something happen that would literally change the course of my life. I’ve been dreaming for years about a woman that would walk into my life and make my soul complete. And then I saw you.”
Overwhelmed was too big of a word for the emotions I was feeling.
“ I …”
Jeremiah’s phone vibrated on the table beside the bed across from us, and I reluctantly pulled myself free of his arms, carefully reached over Anleigh , and caught it up.
Handing it to him, I crawled back into his arms.
“ It’s for you anyway,” he said as she showed me the screen.
I read the words on the screen, and my eyes widened.
After everyone had left yesterday, I’d asked Jeremiah how they’d all shown up with gifts for Anleigh and me, and he’d smiled and explained.
Spare presents or not, they meant the freakin’ world to me.
So , when Ginger and Noel texted in a group chat, including Neesha , to ask if I wanted to go out to lunch with them and grab some coffee afterward, I nodded my head. “ I’d love to, but…”
“ If you’re comfortable with it, she can go with me over to Grams’s place. I want to do a check on everything after the storm. Plus , she’s really comfortable with Grams , with what I saw yesterday.”
“ She is,” I said. “ If you’re sure…”
“ I’m very sure.” He hugged me tight. “ But I actually want to start heading that way now, because I have to be back at practice later tonight, and there’s no telling what I’m going to be walking into.”
“ I’ll be sure to be back before you have to leave,” I promised.
He winked and got up. “ You get that sweet girl up and dressed while I take a quick shower?”
“ I will,” I said, wishing I could watch him shower like I’d done yesterday.
He winked at me and hurried into the bathroom. “ I’ll leave it unlocked in case you need the toilet part. I’ll be sure to close the shower door area.”
I watched him go, loving the sweatpants and shirtless look he had going on, before turning back to my daughter.
I saw her watching me. “ Hey , sweet baby.”
“ Hi ,” she whispered.
But not as quiet as she usually would.
It was a practical scream for her.
“ Mama is going to go have lunch with Ginger , Neesha , and Noel . Do you mind staying with Jeremiah ?” I asked her.
I’d started talking to her seriously when it was apparent that her presence caused my dad to react poorly. He’d never hit her—never had a chance to come close to—but her presence did make him angry.
My dad must’ve instinctively known that I’d lose my shit on him if he’d come anywhere near my kid, so he’d always been standoffish with her.
“ Yes .” She nodded vigorously.
“ Good ,” I said. “ I was thinking we’d go get dressed and you could go see Grams with Jeremiah .”
She was up and out of the bed in seconds, heading to the room she’d been using.
It had an attached bath, and all of her clothes and things that Jeremiah and Chris had helped retrieve from my car.
She ran right to the Christmas sweats—which I’d washed and folded last night—and started to yank them on.
“ Don’t you want to wash your face, brush your teeth, and go to the bathroom first?” I teased.
She finished putting her pants on backward and ran into the bathroom ready to go.
I waited until she was ready before helping her reposition her pants.
She ran for the line of shoes along the wall and stared at them in contemplation.
Eventually she chose the boots—which I would’ve put on her regardless since it was still wet and gross out—and sat down on her bottom.
“ Wait , baby,” I said. “ Let’s put some socks on.”
She held out her hand for the socks that I’d found for her, and I rolled my eyes.
She was in the ‘ I’ll do it myself’ stage, and I never bothered to argue with her.
She was fully dressed, shoes even on the right feet, when she made a mad dash past me toward where I could now hear Jeremiah moving around.
“ There you are, my little Christmas elf,” he called out.
When I made it around the corner the two of them were standing in front of the counter where the leftovers from yesterday were strewn.
“ Should we go with cinnamon rolls, or turkey and eggs?”
I left them to it, getting myself ready—which took less time than it took to get Anleigh ready.
I came back out to the kitchen full of ladies.
“ Hey .” I smiled bashfully at them. “ Y’all are quick.”
“ We want to go catch a few sales,” Noel said. “ Neesha , you ready, darlin’?”
Neesha finished popping a chunk of turkey into her mouth.
“ Go give your mama a hug, girly.” Jeremiah brushed his hand along her hair.
Anleigh took off like she was shot from a slingshot toward me, threw her arms around my legs, then ran back to her meal.
Jeremiah winked.
I left, shaking my head the whole time.
“ What ?” Ginger asked as we made our way down to Noel’s car.
“ That .” I jerked my chin toward the apartment. “ She’s never that open…or loud.”
“ She’ll get there, honey,” Ginger said. “ Especially with our big brother there to coax it out of her. He definitely inspires screaming.”
I laughed.
Then I spent the day with them, coming home just in time for Jeremiah to trade off Anleigh to me before he headed to practice.
And later that night, when he came in the door, Anleigh was asleep in her own bed, And I was splayed out in his.
His eyes gleamed as he closed and locked the apartment door and said, “ Can I tell you how freakin’ exciting it is to know you’re here waiting for me?”
I sat up. “ No . But now that I know, I’ll definitely celebrate with you any way you want to.”
He dropped his bag next to the door and stalked to me.
I squeaked when his cold skin met mine.
“ Sounds like a fantastic plan.”