Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
Six months later
E mma, Monkey, and I lounged on a beach.
“Stop it.” Monkey swatted Emma’s hand away from her head. “Daddy does it special. I want special Elsa braids.”
“Daddy’s not here, Monks.” Emma frowned. “Do you want me to just leave it down and let it get all tangled?”
“No.” Monkey wrinkled her nose, slumping her shoulders forward. “Your braids are ugly though.”
“I’ll try my best not to make them ugly.” Emma took a slow breath, trying to keep her patience.
Monkey huffed and crossed her arms, but she surrendered to Emma’s subpar braiding skills. I did my best not to laugh.
Jax and Jelana had taken Sammy to the doctor and asked if we could babysit. Monkey had woken up on the wrong side of the bed and only wanted Jax, which I thought was hilarious.
“There you go.” Emma, who was less amused with our niece’s mood, finished tying off the braid. “You look beautiful.”
Monkey tried to pull the little wispy braid down far enough to see it. "Trust me, it looks perfect" Emma assured her. She wriggled and danced around while Emma put sunscreen on her and finally picked up her tiggy blanket and muttered, “Daddy does it better,” before scampering off to continue building her sand castle.
“Holy moly.” Emma put her oversized Jackie Kennedy-style sunglasses on and stretched out on the blanket where she could keep an eye on the kiddo. “How can she be so cute and a little turd-goblin?”
I stretched out beside her. “Hey, you’re awesome, but I think we can both agree, that does not look like Elsa’s braid.”
“Shut up.” Emma shook her head. “How has tiggy survived this long with her carting him around everywhere?”
“He’s not exactly aging gracefully.” I eyed the faded plushie tiger head hanging in the crook of Monkey’s arm. “But, she’s never been anywhere without that thing. That’s true love, if I ever saw it–warts and all.”
Tiggie stared back at me, its beady black eyes nestled in the crushed-down, fake fur that had once been so vibrant and soft. The blanket hung down from the plushie head, patched in some places and fraying in others, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it must be like to have something in your life that you couldn’t live without.
As my gaze drifted over to the curvy goddess in a bikini at my side, I realized I already knew exactly what that was like.
“You ever think about what it would be like?” I ran my hand up the soft skin on her thigh.
“What?” She didn’t take her eyes off Monkey.
“You know…” A slight hint of nerves hit me as I pictured Emma with a pregnant belly. “Having one of our own. We could call her Gorilla. 'Gory' for short.”
She slid her glasses down her nose. “You better be kidding.”
A phantom wave washed up and crashed all around Monkey and in the chaos, she opted to hang onto Tiggie even if it meant face-planting into the castle. Her reaction was swift… and noisy.
“Auntie Em!” Monkey sprinted back to us, bawling with a bright red face that made her white hair and eyebrows extremely pronounced. “Tiggie’s wet!”
“Oh, honey.” Emma caught the distraught child, putting her arms around her and standing up with a soft sway. “I’m so sorry. Tiggie will be okay, we can wash him. Are you okay?”
“I got…” She sniffled, gasping between sobs. “...sand in my mouf.”
“Oh, no.” Emma wiped the tears off Monkey’s cheeks. “Let’s go get a bottle of water and wash it out, okay?”
Monkey sucked on her lip and nodded. “Otay.”
“And after that we can get ice-cream.” I grinned at Emma, who only looked mildly annoyed at my suggestion. “Nothing gets the nasty taste of sand out of your mouth like ice-cream.”
“Eat a lot of sand, Uncle Nathan?” Emma raised an eyebrow.
“Not on purpose.” I shrugged.
“Uncle Nathan eats broccoli.” Monkey grimaced. “Bleh!”
“Broccoli is good for you.” Emma tickled her tummy.
“Yeah, besides… Did Antie tell you about the time she ate bugs ?” I wrung out Tiggie onto the sand.
“Bugs!” Monkey’s eyes widened. “Ew! Why did you eat bugs, Auntie?”
“There were extenuating circumstances.” She glared at me. “And it was your uncle’s idea.”
“Tell me!” Monkey wiggled from side to side, giggling.
I took a deep breath, memories of how we'd met washing over me; how we made love under the stars, wild souls colliding, untethered and raw in the vast, unyielding night. For three days, we clung to each other and to life itself, not knowing if we’d ever see another sunset. Each moment was filled with desperate hope, an unspoken promise that we would survive against all odds. In those fleeting moments, we found a love so fierce and bright it seemed to defy the universe itself. Our love is our beacon, our strength, and no matter what lay ahead, it would guide us through the darkest of nights. Together, we're unstoppable.
Emma turned to me, a tear escaping the bottom of her oversized sunglasses found its way to the corner of her beautiful quivering lips. She reached over, squeezed my hand, and shot me a knowing smile.
“ That’s a story for when you’re older, baby girl…”