Epilogue
Five Years Later
The smell of food has me ready to get out of bed first thing in the morning.
Giada is probably making cinnamon pancakes, topped with whipped cream because I smell spices.
My life with Giada has always been nothing but bliss.
Sure, we’ve had our challenges like any other marriage, but it’s nothing that has left us wounded.
Everything we’ve gone through has brought us closer together and proved we were still choosing each other over and over again.
I rub my eyes before opening them to see a set of big eyes staring down at me and a smile that lights up my heart.
“Hi, Da-deee.”
“Amaya, what are you doing up here, little girl?”
My daughter is four, going on ten. I told her a million times not to climb the stairs, even though Giada thinks she’s advanced enough to do it. She is, but my overprotective nature still says no.
“Her said I posed to come get you.”
“You crawled up the stairs?”
“Mmm-hmmm. It was a piece of cake!”
“You know Daddy doesn’t want you on the stairs, baby.”
“Why?”
“Because you could fall and hurt yourself, and then daddy will be sad. Do you want Daddy to be sad?”
“No. I sorry, Da-dee.”
“It’s okay, beautiful,” I say, squeezing a giggle out of her. And then I tickle her breathless – her little laugh brightening my day. She’s so beautiful like her mother – even has her mannerisms. My son will probably have mine. In a few months, I guess I’ll find out.
I sit up, stretch and take my daughter in my arms. She curls her body into mine.
At this young age, I’m her safe place, and she’s a daddy’s girl.
In fact, she’s the sweetest little thing with her pigtails and cute little outfits.
She stole her mother’s entire face. Just when I didn’t think I couldn’t love anyone as much as I love Giada, Amaya came along, surprising us with her presence.
As soon as I laid eyes on her, my soul opened and took her in, the same way it holds an infinite amount for her mother.
Taking the stairs one at a time, Amaya sings her ABCs while hugging my neck.
She’s been practicing – gearing up for school in the fall.
When I step into the kitchen, I see my other favorite people – Giada and her protruding belly, housing my son.
I lower Amaya to her seat at the table and then walk over to Giada.
I press my lips to her temple before dipping my mouth to her lips, taking a long, deep, satisfyingly sweet kiss while Amaya giggles.
Giada says, “We’ve got to be more discreet in front of her.”
“No, we don’t. She needs to see how a man is supposed to treat the woman he loves, so when some knucklehead tries to get her attention, she’ll know what to look for.”
“Knowing you, you’re not going to let her look for anything.”
“For as long as possible.”
I lower to my knees and rest my head against her stomach and say, “Good morning, Amos,” I say, talking to my boy. I’ve made it a habit of talking to him the same way I did when Giada was pregnant with Amaya. “Has he been moving?”
“Yeah. Approaching seven months, I’m sure he’s going to be even more active like Amaya was.”
Standing up again, I ask, “And what are you doing in here cooking?”
“I wanted to cook for my babies. That’s all.”
I take a biscuit off the oven sheet and take a bite. “Man…I love that you know how to cook,” I mumble with a mouth full.
“Can I have one, Mommy?”
“Yes, sweetheart. I’m fixing you a plate right now.”
Giada picks up a plastic plate along with a plastic spoon and fork for Amaya, prepares her plate, chopping up the already scrambled eggs and putting some grits on her plate.
When she was pregnant with Amaya, she stopped eating meat and hasn’t eaten any to this day.
She also doesn’t give Amaya any meat. I’m the only carnivore in the house.
After plates are made and we’re all sitting at the table, I pray over this meal and after she says ‘amen’ Amaya then says, “Let’s eat,” as she picks up the biscuit and stretches her little mouth open as wide as she can.
Giada chuckles. “She is her father’s daughter.”
“Yeah, she is.” I eat some bacon and ask, “So, what’s on tap for today?”
“You know my mother is coming to pick up Amaya today.”
“Yay! Grandma!” Amaya cheers.
My mother-in-law spoils her rotten. Whenever she leaves with her, she always comes back with those huge stuffed animals you find at county fairs.
I have no idea where she finds them. It was tough for me to let Giada’s mother back into my universe after what she did, but I’m not one to hold grudges.
Besides, I got my woman now, and I would never keep my children away from their grandmother.
Giada says, “So, it looks like mommy and daddy will get to spend some quality time.”
“And you better believe I’m going to make the most of every minute,” I say, then wink at her.
I take a moment to truly appreciate where I am in life.
I feel like people don’t do that enough – appreciate their lives, their family, what they have, and the peace that surrounds them.
I’m grateful for this – that I live a life where I can give back and help others through the Hungry No More Foundation.
Where I can work, have assistants, and set my own schedule so I can have time for what’s most important to me – my little family who I love more than life.