Chapter Nineteen
“Psst. Mommy.”
I crack one eye open and find Lily’s green eyeball almost touching mine. Jumping back, I clutch at my chest. I’m so thankful we both had the forethought to find some clothes last night before we passed out.
“Baby. What has Mommy said about waking her up like this?” I love this girl, but that shit is creepy as fuck.
“But I’s need you,” she whines. Reaching under the blanket she finds my hand and starts tugging.
“What happened, love?” I immediately start checking her over visually, hopping out of bed and ushering us both out of the bedroom so that she doesn’t wake Cooper up.
“Loot!” She points out the large slider door from our top floor suite. “It’s so pwetty!”
My daughter woke me up in a panic… to see the sunrise. The. Sun. Rise.
“Oh, it’s so beautiful.” I rub at my eyes. I’m spent from last night and utterly exhausted and sore.
We didn’t stop at three orgasms for me. That man made it his mission to hit double digits. I didn’t even think that was possible, but here we are. Setting the bar higher for the next time we get to be alone.
“What’s going on, girls?” Cooper stands in the doorway in his low hung gym shorts, rubbing at his chest. His shaggy blonde hair making him look perfectly mussed after a long night and an early morning.
“Loot! Coopa, loot!” She grabs his hand and pulls him physically to the window to look outside.
“What a gorgeous sunrise, Lily May. Thank you for showing me.” He squats down to be on her level and pulls her in for a hug. “What do you say we go watch a movie in the big bed so Mommy and I can sleep for a little bit longer though?”
She beams as bright as that sunrise under his praise. “Stooby Doo?”
“Wouldn’t want to watch anything else with my favorite girl!” Scooping her up he runs her back to our bed, tossing her right in the middle.
She giggles and scrambles to get under the covers before he can run and jump in on his side. Meanwhile, I’m dragging my feet back into the room. I can’t use my legs. Or lift my feet in any way. I basically just collapse next to her.
“I can’t move to get under the blanket.” I moan.
“Hewe, Mommy.” My sweet girl pulls the blanket up for me to slide under.
“Thank you, love. You’re so thoughtful.”
She swipes at my eyes in a motion to close my lids. “Shh, go sweep, Mommy.” With a kiss on my forehead, she rolls over into Cooper’s arms, settling in for her movie.
When I wake up, the bed is empty. I grab my phone off the table next to the bed. The clock reads eleven o’clock. Eleven! When was the last time I slept this late?
Panic courses through my body as I jump out of bed and rush out to the living room.
But what I find is Cooper lounging on the couch in the living room between the two bedrooms enjoying his coffee. And Lily, devouring a plate of fruit, pancakes, and bacon.
“Good morning, Queen.” He says over the lip of his mug. “There’s a fresh carafe of coffee in the kitchenette. And a breakfast feast on the cart over there.” He points to the small dining room.
My mouth opens, then closes, then opens again. I’m speechless. “I… when… how long?” I stammer.
He laughs at my inability to speak. “Someone got a little restless about an hour ago. We decided we needed breakfast for sure.”
Lily interrupts him. “Pantates. We need pantates. Stat!” Her little hands fly out in front of her to show the urgency at which we needed pancakes.
“Right. So we went off in search of breakfast and stopped at the main desk to ask, where they were so nice to give us a room service menu. And my little princess here said she never had room service before. And obviously that’s just unacceptable.
” He shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders in a what are you gonna do way.
“So we ended up back here to circle everything we wanted, and everything you might want, and we called it in. Now voila, breakfast.” He gestures like Vanna White to the cart.
“Voiwa!” Lily attempts to copy him, but it makes me laugh as her syrup drips down her face onto the pajamas I’ll have to soak later before the stain sets in.
“I love it. Best morning ever.” Grabbing a mug, I pour my own cup of coffee and join Cooper on the couch, tucking my legs underneath me and snuggling into his side. “What else do we have on the agenda today?”
“Mini-golf!” Lily and Cooper say at the same time.
“Well, okay then.” I laugh at the two of them.
“Then the movies. Then tandy stowe,” Lily continues.
“No, no, candy store then the movies. We gotta get our snacks,” Cooper corrects.
I finish my coffee as the two of them go on, planning our entire day full of all the things four year olds love.
This permanent smile hasn’t been wiped off my face yet, and I hope it never goes away.