25. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Five
Layla
“Okay, so she’s already had some dinner, but since it’s still kind of early, she will want a snack. She can have fruit and some milk,” Charlotte says as we try to shuffle her out of the house.
“Got it. Fruit and milk,” I agree. “Now, go out and have fun.”
Josh is holding Brie while I get rid of Charlotte and my brother. Asher wants to take her out to dinner, so Josh and I agreed to babysit.
“Thanks so much for doing this,” Asher says. “We owe you two. Bye, baby girl, have fun with Aunt Layla and Uncle Josh.”
Wow. Josh has always been called Uncle Josh, but hearing our names together like that, like we’re married. It makes my entire body break out into goosebumps. I want that, and I want it with him.
I close the door and turn around. Josh and Brie are smiling back at me, and I think my heart explodes into a million pieces.
“So, what does my favorite niece want to do?” I ask as I walk back into the kitchen with them .
“I want to play hide and seek.”
“Ooh,” Josh replies. “I must warn you that I’m awesome at hide and seek.”
Brie giggles in his arms. “I bet you can’t find me.”
“I’m seeking first?” Josh asks.
She nods her head. “Uh huh. Come on, Auntie Lay-lay. Let’s go hide.”
Josh winks at me then covers his eyes and starts counting. “I’m only counting to thirty. You guys better hurry.”
He begins counting while Brie and I run up the stairs.
She stands frozen in the hallway. “Where should I hide?”
Instead of pointing out that she just bragged to Josh about her hiding ability, I grab her hand and lead her to the laundry hamper at the end of the hallway. I open it, and it’s miraculously empty.
“Would you be too afraid to hide in here?” I whisper.
She shakes her head, so I lift her up and place her down inside. Then I hear Josh on twenty downstairs, so I put the lid back on (making sure to crack it for air and start to scramble around for a spot.
I run into the guest bedroom and panic as I hear him shout that he’s coming. Crap, I open the closet and try to wedge myself between some of the clothes.
This is such a weak spot. Although, I don’t know why I care so much. We are doing this to entertain the four-year-old, not for me to actually show him up. But I just so happen to be super competitive.
The sound of doors opening and closing downstairs, as well as his empty threats of finding us, make me smile.
Then I hear him coming upstairs, and I hold my breath. He’s being so dramatic. Every door he opens, he makes an ‘aha’ sound, like he just found someone.
That’s when I hear the giggles coming from the hallway. I shake my head as I listen to Brie snicker inside the basket. I wait in anticipation for him to find her, but then I hear footsteps come into the guest bedroom.
At first, they sound like they are getting further, maybe from the other side of the room, but then I hear them get closer and closer. Light shines into the closet as he opens the door. I stand as straight as I can against the back of the wall, behind the clothes.
I hear a choked laugh, then the clothes part, and he is staring at me. “Found you, Freckles.”
Stepping forward, I cross my arms across my chest. “It’s only because I used all of my time to help Brie,” I whisper so she doesn’t hear me.
“Aw,” he throws an arm around my shoulder. “Don’t feel bad. I’m sure you’ll do better next time. Now,” he says louder as we walk into the hall. “Where can that little booger be?”
More giggles.
We both look at each other and silently laugh together at how damn cute she is .
“Is she in here?” he asks as he swings open a hallway closet door. “No, she’s not in there.”
More giggles.
“Is she in here?” he continues as he jumps into her bedroom. “Nooo, she’s not in there.”
More giggles.
“Wait a minute. Did I hear something?” he asks.
More giggles.
“I think I know where she is,” he says as he walks back into the hallway.
More giggles.
He stands in front of the hamper while I lean against the wall and watch. He’s always been good with her, but I don’t think I’ve had this intimate of an experience with the two of them where I can really see just how great he is.
“How about in here?” He throws the lid off the hamper, and she screams with laughter then stands up.
“You found me, Uncle Josh!” she exclaims.
He lifts her out of the basket and onto his shoulder. She hangs off him and squeals with delight.
“I found you, you little rug rat.”
“Aunt Lay-lay, he found me.”
I come up behind them, laughing as she hangs upside down. “He did find you. I wonder how. ”
“I couldn’t stop laughing,” she giggles in delight.
We walk downstairs where we end up playing with her toys for a while. Then we settle down with some fruit and a TV show before bed. Josh gives her a kiss on the cheek before I take her upstairs.
She’s an easy kid who just needs a nighttime story and a kiss before bed. When I walk back down, Josh has two glasses of wine waiting.
He hands me one.
“Thank you,” I reply. “Would you like to sit out on the dock? I have the monitor so we can see if she gets out of bed.”
“Sounds great.”
We walk outside and down to the dock, where two adirondack chairs are positioned at the end. We take a seat together and look out at the beautiful sunset on the water.
He leans in until I smell his delicious cologne. “Cheers,” he says. “To our first joint babysitting venture together.”
I clink our glasses together and laugh. “We should start a business together. How much do you think they’re paying us for tonight?”
“It better be at least twenty an hour. I’m no fool at what the going rate is these days.”
I chuckle and take a sip of my wine. “Mmm, this wine is so good, but I miss my friend’s wine.”
“Oh, you got a wine person?” he asks slightly sarcastically .
“Shut up, it’s not like that. I met her at this networking event years ago. She’s in the wine business and obviously works with restaurants. But she lives in Cleveland, so I don’t get to see her very often. She just knows all of the good wine.”
“Well, why don’t you just buy the bottles she recommends?”
“It’s not that easy. She will recommend bottles that aren’t sold in our local liquor store. Although, I should call her up and tell her I want her to send me another case of bottles.”
“A case? That sounds like an alcoholic talking right there.”
“Oh, stop it. That is very common in the wine world.”
After we finish our glasses, he keeps looking at me funny. Could it be that he’s drunk?
No, that’s ridiculous. We only had one glass.
“Come here,” he says as he pats his leg.
“What?”
“Come here. I want to snuggle with you and watch the sunset.”
Swoon. I literally don’t think I can handle the way he talks to me so openly. I shiver a bit as I sit on his lap and lie back.
He wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek.
“Are you cold?” he whispers.
“It’s you,” I admit.
“Me? I make you cold?” he asks in confusion .
I turn my head up and look at him. “No, you make me shiver. Everything you do or say can make my body react like I’m seventeen again.”
We both exchange this intimate embrace with our gaze as the world around us fades away. The moment transcends words. It’s a silent conversation between the two of us, where our eyes reflect our soul’s deepest thoughts and feelings.
My heart races as my body is ignited with a spark that only he knows how to light.
“Freckles,” he whispers softly.
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
My chest fills with a mix of emotions. The words hang in the air as I process the weight of his declaration. In this moment, everything has changed. I feel it deep down in my heart that this is the start of something amazing.
My heart is frantically beating as I catch my breath enough to say, “I love you, too.”
He kisses my lips gently, then rests his head on my shoulder, wrapping his arms around me tightly. We watch the sunset in silence, but I know nothing will ever be the same.