50. Pancakes
PANCAKES
Oliver—January
I was trying with all of my might to be careful not to step on any squeaky steps. Hudson was still sound asleep, but pregnancy was doing wild things to Ivy’s sleep schedule. I didn’t want to disrupt any of it unless I had to—which I ensured I never did. Problem solved.
But I’d had to get up early and feed the animals, ensure the horses were okay and let them back out now that the storm had died down. They’d get antsy stuck in the barn for too damn long, which was the last thing we needed today.
Pushing the bedroom door open, I found her sprawled on her side, a pair of gray boy shorts hugging those perfect hips and a baggy T-shirt she’d snagged from my drawer bunched around her ribs.
Pencil in hand, her little notebook I bought her beneath it, and the small bedside lamp on.
She hadn’t noticed I was here yet, feverishly scribbling out words or plots or character arcs. It was hard telling.
Pulling off my shirt and jeans, I set them on the back of the corner chair and climbed back in beside her.
“Whatcha writing?” I asked, my hand running up her bare thigh and settling on her little bump. Even almost six months in, her bump was still tiny, but her doctor assured us it was normal, and our little girl was safe and sound in there. Growing right on schedule.
“I had an idea for book two!” She peeked back at me over her shoulder.
“Oh yeah? No more soulmates?”
“Oh no. Soulmates is absolutely staying. Don’t be crazy.
But what if it was an arranged marriage gone wrong?
He’s set to marry her sister, and then at the alter he looks across the way and they lock eyes, bam!
” Her hands clapped together. “Bonded. And then he has to cancel the wedding as her sister is prancing down the aisle. Iconic.”
I chuckled and kissed her belly and then her hip. “Dump your girlfriend to find your wife. Sounds good to me.”
Ivy rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure it does sound good to you, Mr. Carragan.”
She closed her notebook, setting it on the side table, and then rolled to her other side so she was facing me. “How are you feeling today?”
I shook my head, pulling her thigh up on mine. It seemed to relieve some of the hip pain she’d been struggling with the last week or so, and she let out an audible sigh.
“I should be asking you that question, baby doll.”
She shrugged. “I’m fine. Pregnant and sore. Now answer, my stubborn man.”
“I’m okay. First birthday in a while for Emily that I don’t feel like I’m just going through the motions for Hudson. I feel like I can actually enjoy the day and celebrate the woman she was with the people I love.”
Ivy smiled, her hand wrapping around the back of my neck as she pulled me down for a kiss.
My hand sank back and cupped her ass, pulling her closer to me.
Her teeth sank into my bottom lip as if she couldn’t bear another moment without my opening for her.
I was only too happy to oblige, our tongues meeting as if this was the first time all over again.
It always felt like this with her.
A knock at the door had her pulling away with a giggle, along with the resounding voice.
“Dad! Pancakes?” Hudson hollered through the door.
“Yeah, bud!”
“Cool. I’m getting the batter started.”
His footsteps down the stairs could be heard from the other side of our door, and I shook my head. “This evening, you’re mine, Ivy Tinsley.”
She pressed one more kiss to my lips, one I eagerly returned. “Absolutely. Now go help him. This nausea won’t settle for lumpy pancakes again like I did last weekend.”
I shuddered. Hudson had tried to get up early and make us breakfast last weekend. Pancakes and eggs—all of which were great, except that the pancakes hadn’t been stirred enough, so there were still some clumps of dry mixture in a few.
My poor girl had chugged her water when she found a clump, claiming they were some of the best she’d ever had. The dedication was unmatched.
“Fine. I’ll go help him. You go take a shower and get ready.” I kissed her and then her belly once more, resulting in a soft giggle from her. A sound I cherished and would for the rest of my life.
Hudson was swinging, and the chilly air had Ivy bundled up at my side, her head on my shoulder and my arm around her waist.
“I can’t wait till she’s out and she can swing with her brother.”
Many people had asked if we were worried about Hudson being close to his sister with the eleven-year age gap between them, but Ivy had laughed every time. There hadn’t been a single moment since we’d told Hudson that he was having a little sister that he hadn’t been ecstatic about the news.
Would he be as excited the moment she came and did a great deal of crying and making a mess? The jury was still out, but I had a great deal of faith in the kid.
“Me too, baby doll.”
She tilted her head up, smiling at me. “It’s crazy to think about how much has changed in a year. Three hundred and sixty-five days ago I was sitting on this bench, crying, and you were trying to sit as far away as possible, as if I was going to attack you or something.”
I thought about the engagement ring I had shoved in the back of one of my drawers of my dresser.
The pink sapphire that sparkled almost as brightly as her.
I’d had it for months, but when we found out she was pregnant, she made me promise to wait until after our little girl was born.
She wanted a proper proposal and a proper wedding, and I’d give her whatever she wanted.
But instead of saying any of that, I chuckled.
“That wasn’t exactly what I was thinking.
It was more around the effect of you being a ball of sunshine, and I desperately wanted to understand who was hiding the sunshine from you.
I just wanted to scoop you up and bring you home with us.
Let you see there was more to life than what you were seeing. ”
“I think you managed to do that just fine, Oliver. Just took me a bit to catch up.”
I cupped her jaw and kissed her once more. “I would’ve waited forever, Ivy.”