Chapter Two
Jude
I lean against the kitchen counter, watching my five-year-old son Hawk and my three-year-old daughter Meadow cause absolute mayhem in the living room while my gorgeous wife Sophie pulls her famous cinnamon rolls out of the oven.
Hawk, completely naked, is using a wooden spoon as a sword, lunging around like a tiny, enthusiastic warrior, and Meadow, wearing one of Hawk’s capes, is perched on the back of the couch like a tiny, feral queen, munching on popcorn as she watches her brother’s performance.
It’s overstimulation at its finest, and still, I can’t seem to keep my eyes from wandering back to my wife’s ass.
I could be getting some clothes on Hawk or getting Meadow off the couch, but let’s be real—Hawk and Meadow both came into this world with zero shame, and it’s not changing anytime soon. This isn’t something new—this is a daily occurrence.
“Who wants a cinnamon roll?” Sophie calls out, and both of our kids come running into the kitchen, shouting in excitement at the top of their lungs.
“Me!” Hawk exclaims with his hands in the air. He’s still naked but with a pair of light-up sneakers on his feet now, and Meadow’s wild curls are bouncing around her face as her cape trails behind her.
“Cimanems!” she yells. “I wants too!”
Sophie is quicker to realize our son is sans clothes and do something about it, but let’s be real, she has the distinct unfair advantage of facing away from her fine-as-hell ass. I’m a mere mortal in my goddess’s presence. “Hawk, where are your clothes?”
He just shrugs. “Don’t know.”
She quirks an eyebrow at me. “You saw this, and you didn’t say anything?”
“He seemed happy, and so I chased my own happiness by admiring his mama.” I grin and take the plate of cinnamon rolls from her hands, fully preparing to pass them out to our adorable heathens. “And you know how it goes with that kid. He’s a wild man. Loves being naked. I only wish it were a genetic thing he got from you.”
Sophie snorts, but she also rolls her eyes and walks into the living room to find Hawk’s missing clothes. And while I get the cinnamon rolls on plates and cut Meadow’s up into bite-sized pieces, Sophie manages to get our little wild man to put on his underwear and T-shirt again before he sits down at the kitchen table and dives face first into his pastry.
“Do you hear that?” Sophie questions, coming to stand beside me at the kitchen counter.
I quirk a brow.
“Silence. Beautiful, glorious silence.”
I laugh and look over at where our kids are destroying their treat. “Though, I have a feeling after they down all that sugar, this glorious silence you speak of will be a distant memory.”
Sophie groans dramatically as she takes a sip from her coffee. “Oh, don’t ruin the moment, Jude. Let me just enjoy the peace and quiet.”
I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her close to my side. “Love you, Soph.” I kiss her forehead, and she grins up at me.
She presses a kiss to my lips. “And you’re going to love me even more after I tell you the good news…”
“Oh yeah?”
“Oh yeah.” She nods dramatically before leaning forward to whisper into my ear. “The kids are staying at your mom’s tonight.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.” Her smile grows. “So, when you get back from Thatch’s, we’ll have the whole house to ourselves.”
“Fuck, do I love the sound of that.” I pull her into my arms and press a smacking kiss to her lips while I discreetly squeeze her perfect ass in my hands. “And I already have some ideas in mind.”
“Oh yeah?” Sophie asks with a challenging quirk of her brow.
But before I can respond, a loud bang grabs my attention, and I look toward the kitchen table to find Hawk standing on top of it with whatever is left of his cinnamon roll held high in the air. “For glory!” he shouts victoriously, fist-pumping the air as he does.
“For glories!” Meadow cheers him on from her booster seat.
And when I realize Hawk looks like he’s about to catapult himself off the damn table, I rush over and snag him off before the crazy little bastard can follow through.
“I was gonna do a jump, Dad!” Hawk exclaims. “What the hecks? You ruined it!”
Out of breath and with a sticky five-year-old clutched in my arms, I look at my wife with wide eyes. “What’s with this kid?”
“Hey, don’t look at me,” she says through a laugh. “That is one hundred percent Jude Winslow genes right there.”
I laugh. I can’t help it.
But I also don’t disagree. Because how could I? Hawk might as well be my mini-me.
“Don’t look so proud about it,” Sophie adds. “All thanks to your wild genes, we’re going to have gray hairs before Hawk graduates high school.”
“I want to jump, Daddy!” Hawk exclaims, still in my arms.
“Jump, Hawk!” Meadow cheers him on from the table. She has icing and a big, toothy grin on her face. “For glories!”
“Do not encourage him, Meadow,” I say through a laugh as I set Hawk back to his feet. “Dude, you’re not jumping off the kitchen table. That’s a hard no.”
“Hows I gonna be a superhero?” he questions as he crosses his arms over his chest. “I gotta practice.”
“Practice somewhere soft,” Sophie comments. “Like your bed. Or the couch.”
“Ugh,” Hawk groans. “Fine.”
It’s not long before he and Meadow are back in the living room safely wreaking havoc on our couch, and I set out on my mission to turn my wife on mind, body, and soul. I head straight for her, where she’s starting to clean up the kitchen, remove her hands from the dishes, and turn her entire body toward our bedroom.
“You go take a bath. I’ll handle this.”
“Oh boy, I sure love it when you’re bossy like this,” she says, looking up at me with a flirtatious smile.
“Just you wait, babe,” I tell her and press a kiss to her lips. “Tonight, I’m going to be very bossy.”
She giggles, and I pinch her ass as she heads out of the kitchen.
Tonight, my beautiful wife is going to earn a lot of badges.