Chapter Fifty-seven Jennifer
Chapter Fifty-seven
Jennifer
The sun shines onto my skin, the wind being the only thing that makes the sun somehow bearable. It’s hot, but the sounds of the waves crushing and the soft giggles coming from my daughter make it all worth it.
Daniel is lying right beside me. His hand is softly stroking my skin while he watches Mary work on her sandcastle.
I can’t even begin to describe the feeling in my chest every time she asks him for his opinion, and he just tells her words like “it looks absolutely wonderful”, or “you’re doing a really great job there!”.
It fills my chest with happiness—so much of it, I feel like I could cry.
We haven’t told her yet. About the wedding. We have a date set up already, and although in my opinion Daniel is completely overexaggerating with his plans… Honestly, I’m not stopping him.
Because seriously, a horse-drawn carriage with two white horses?
I could lie and say it’s too much. Or I could enjoy this life and tell Daniel that I’m absolutely gonna go down on him that night if he’s really going to get that to happen.
He’s totally spoiling me. He’s spoiling Mary as well. However, no amount of “I can’t accept this” and “Are you sure?” could ever change his mind.
I’ve stopped trying after just a few months of getting to know him. And I love it. I’m enjoying it.
Thanks to all the drama finally settled, I don’t have much work to do. And Daniel can take today off; Hayden is handling all the important things.
Thank God.
“Mommy?”
I immediately look up to Mary, taking my sunglasses off. “Yes? Is something wrong, honey?”
She pouts. “Do you think sandcastles can last forever? I’m working so hard! I don’t want it to be gone tomorrow.”
I hum, acting like I’m thinking hard about her question. “Maybe, if you put just enough hard work into it and make it extra pretty, it can last!”
Daniel laughs next to me. Within a second, I send him a warning glance, but he’s already talking.
“Tell the waves not to mess with your castle. The waves don’t appreciate castles as much as we do.”
She immediately looks at the water, squinting her eyes and giving it the best death-stare she could.
My god, how much I love this little girl.
When Mary goes back to working on her sandcastle, grabbing her bucket to get some water, Daniel slowly sits up, watching her.
I glance over at Daniel, both of us watching her with quiet smiles.
“Should we tell her?” I whisper, like sharing a secret we’ve been keeping just for the three of us. He leans in a little, brushing a kiss to my shoulder.
“Right now?” He watches Mary one more time and nods. “Yeah… good idea.”
“Hey, sweetheart?” Daniel calls out to her softly as she comes walking back to us, looking at him with a slightly panicked face.
“Did the waves ruin my sandcastle?” But as she looks back to her castle, it’s still perfectly fine. She’s so silly. My baby…
“No, no,” he laughs as he opens his arms, inviting her to come to him. “It’s perfectly fine. Come here, your mommy and I want to tell you something.”
She immediately runs into his arms, the bucket filled with water completely forgotten already. That was… Quick.
“What is it?” Mary asks, her eyes wide open filled with happiness. It’s like she can already tell what he’s about to say.
I snuggle onto Daniel while Mary sits on his lap, looking at us.
“Do you remember when I asked you something a few days ago?” Daniel asks her. Of course, she’s confused.
She furrows her brow but then shakes her head. “I don’t know…”
He smiles. “That’s okay. I asked you for your permission to marry your mother. Remember?”
Immediately, she nods, and her face lightens up, pure euphoria in her eyes. “Yes! Yes, I remember!”
Just a second after, her little hands fly over her mouth. “Wait, really? You’re going to marry mommy?”
Daniel nods. “Yes, sweetie. You’re correct, I am.”
I glance over at him, my heart filling up with love as I watch his expression change. He looks at Mary with pure love and warmth toward her.
She squeals loudly, but we ignore the looks of the other families. All that matters to us is this. Our family. Our memories.
Mary’s eyes go even wider, and her little hands wrap around his neck as she pulls herself into him. “So… you’re really gonna be my daddy now?” she asks, her voice almost too big for her small frame, a mix of disbelief and excitement.
I smile, tears fill my eyes. But Jesus, it’s not because I am sad. My tears are a pure sign of happiness.
Seeing the two people I love the most like this together? It’s the best feeling in the world.
The moment feels timeless, like nothing else in the world matters. I watch the two of them together, and all the words in the world fall short of how much I love them both.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
The amount of times Mary has called Daniel her daddy in the last three hours is insane. It could fill up a whole dictionary.
By now, we’re sitting in a restaurant, the three of us eating dinner.
“What’s your favorite color?”
He takes a sip from his water while thinking. “I guess, black.”
She rolls her eyes. “But what about purple? Or pink? They’re so pretty! Black is so… So… Boring.”
Daniel laughs. “If you say so, sweetie.”
“Hm… And your favorite animal?”
Oh, God. Yeah… I can tell this is gonna take a while. I grin at Daniel, but he just shakes his head laughing.
“Lions, maybe.”
Mary nods. “Okay… I can understand that. Did you watch the lion king?”
“Of course. Did you?”
“Yes! Oh, do you like unicorns? I love unicorns!”
“Who doesn’t love unicorns?”
Daniel doesn’t, it’s obvious. This man is into guns, bikes, weapons and torture techniques.
Unicorns don’t do it for him. But… Let’s not mention that to my daughter.
“Do you prefer cats or dogs?”
The sigh he lets out seems inaudible to my daughter, but I can definitely tell he’s aware that she won’t give up until she knows everything about him.
“Dogs. Hey, do you like Rottweilers? Or Dobermans?”
“They’re scary! I like kitties more.”
He sighs, looking at me. “We’ll never get a Doberman, am I right?”
I shrug, grinning back at him. “Maybe. If you ask nicely.”
The smile on his lips melts my heart. God. I need this man with me forever, and I’m willing to do everything to achieve that.
“Daddy?”
His eyes turn toward her with a sparkle of admiration. “Yes, sweetheart? Do you have more questions?”
Mary nods immediately.
“If mommy gets a pretty dress, will you buy me a dress, too?”
And of course, he nods.
As if he’d have any other chance.
“Do you want it to be purple? Or pink?”
Fuck me. He remembers her favorite color. Let’s ignore the fact that it was only a few minutes ago that she told him—he remembered.
He’s going to spoil her. Like he spoils me. I already know that.
… Who am I to stop him?
“Oh! Purple! With sparkles, daddy!”
He grins, looking back at me with a twinkle in his eye. “Do you want a sparkly dress as well?”
I snort, my hand covering my mouth in an instant. “Obviously. A huge white one. With enough tulle to drown in, a veil that drags three meters behind me, and sparkles that outshine the stars. If it’s not like that, I am calling off the wedding in an instant.”