Nine | Lyric
Nine
Lyric
“Do you want another pillow?” I asked, looking over at Cole as he laid beside me in the king-sized bed we decided to share.
“I’m good, but thank you.”
“Okay.”
I worried my lip between my teeth, feeling more nervous about having Cole in my bed than I thought I would when I offered it to him.
“I can go sleep on the couch,” he offered as if reading my apprehension.
“No, it’s okay. Sorry, it’s just been a long day, and I’m feeling a little out of sorts.”
“It’s okay to let your guard down, Lyric.”
I swallowed hard and stared at the ceiling because it was, in fact, not okay to do that.
If I let my guard down, I would find myself letting him take care of me, and that wouldn’t do anyone any good.
We both knew that his staying in the house with me was temporary.
While I would need his continued support to help with the kids, the last thing I needed was to get so used to having him around that I couldn’t function when he left.
On top of that, we still had the whole ‘being married’ thing to address at some point. Now wasn’t the right time for it, but I wasn’t sure that there would ever be a right time. We’d been separated for so long that I didn’t know if there was even anything left to save of our marriage.
“Stop overthinking everything and try to get some sleep,” he said, interrupting my thoughts as they spiraled out of control. “We can start tackling problems when we’re fully rested.”
I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see me. That was the thing I had always loved about Cole, that he somehow just got me. I didn’t have to tell him what was wrong because he just seemed to know. Or at least, that was how it used to be before everything fell apart and I moved to New York.
The sounds of his soft snoring filled the room as I rolled onto my side and stared at the wall, wondering how in the world I was going to do this.
******************
I woke up to the smell of bacon cooking and coffee brewing.
I grinned, remembering the times Cole used to bring me breakfast in bed.
He’d purchased the most beautiful tray at a vintage market and would fill it with my favorite foods, a glass of orange juice, a cup of coffee, and whatever flowers he could pick and put in a tiny vase.
Then we would sit in bed and enjoy the morning together as we started the day.
The sound of laughter floated through the room as I walked in and saw Ben sitting on the couch with Chloe, watching TV, while Kara helped Cole make breakfast.
“Good morning,” Cole said when he saw me.
Kara smiled, but Ben said nothing, just gave me a head nod before returning his attention to the cartoon Chloe was obsessed with.
“Good morning,” I replied, hating how uncomfortable I felt around my own family.
I knew it wouldn’t be easy to come back and step into this role, but I also didn’t imagine it would be this hard.
“I got an email today about a delivery window,” I said to Cole as I passed him to get the orange juice out of the fridge. “I thought everything came yesterday?”
“There might have been a few things I didn’t tell you about,” he answered, scrunching his face as if he were a little kid about to get in trouble.
Playing the part, I set the juice on the counter and put my hands on my hips as I playfully narrowed my eyes at him.
“Spill it,” I said, not bothering to hide the smile on my face because the way Kara was looking at Cole and me made my heart melt in a way I hadn’t expected.
She was full on grinning, her eyes bright as she watched us.
“I knew that a lot of the furniture here was outdated,” he began, pulling the food from the pan and turning off the stove. “So, I might have taken liberty with buying a few things. You know, new start, new furniture?”
“What all did you buy?” I questioned, feeling a bit worried and relieved at the same time.
Worried because I didn’t want him spending his money on stuff for us, but relieved because the couch had seen better days, and the two recliners gave me the creeps.
I wasn’t sure what might be living inside them, but based on the size of the holes and the stuffing protruding from them, my guess was that it wasn’t something I wanted around the house as a pet.
He took a deep breath in and slowly let it out, totally embellishing everything as Kara laughed at him.
“I might have bought a new sectional, and I might have bought two new recliners.”
“Is that it?” I narrowed my eyes and took a few steps toward him.
“No,” he said, his grin so wide that I couldn’t stop mine from spreading across my face.
“I also bought a new entertainment center, a new coffee table, new end tables, and...”
He paused, looking from me to Kara and wiggling his eyebrows, which only got more laughter out of her.
“A huge TV!”
My mouth opened, my jaw hanging in disbelief.
“Cole!” I gasped, shaking my head as I laughed. “I cannot believe you bought all of that!”
He shrugged, but I noticed the blush that crept up his neck and kissed his cheeks.
“Well, it’s too late to return it because it looks like they’re here to deliver it,” he said, nodding to the window where two men were approaching the door, the two delivery trucks parked in the driveway behind my car.
While I knew he had ordered a lot, it was wild to see that it took two trucks to deliver everything.
“Perfect timing, too, since breakfast is ready. We can eat while they get everything brought in. Ben, Chloe, go sit down and start eating,” he called to them as he went to open the door.
Ben carried Chloe to the table and sat her down in her chair before taking his seat. I looked at Cole, feeling nervous about interacting with the kids again on my own while he told the guys where to take all of the furniture he had delivered.
“Let’s fix our plates and then wait for Uncle Cole to join us so we can say grace,” Kara said, taking over and directing her siblings.
I was happy that she so willingly stepped in to help me, but I couldn’t lie and say it didn’t sting to hear her call him Uncle Cole when I was just Lyric to them. Not wanting to get the day off to a bad start, I ignored those thoughts and watched as they fixed their plates.
Cole joined us a few minutes later, and once the kids had their food, we began serving ourselves. I sat down and looked at him, catching his eye for a split second before he lowered his head and said grace.