Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, brushing his fingers over my cheek.
“Just how happy I am.”
Before he could answer, I heard, “Uncle Joey! Uncle Gage! Daddy got us flowers!” I turned to see Olivia running toward us. I couldn’t believe she was almost seven… She had on her princess dress, which she never wanted to take off. Mouse had bought her three more so she’d always have one ready to wear while the others were in the wash.
Her little sister, Josephine, came running after her, in her usual backward baseball cap and jeans. She’d be starting T-ball soon. She was obsessed with sports and loved getting dirty. Christopher, the newest addition, was attached to Mouse’s chest in a carrier.
“Those are beautiful.” Gage knelt and smelled them, and then Olivia held the flowers out for me.
“They smell great,” I said, then looked at her sister. “Hey, kiddo. What’s up?”
“Nothin’.” She was a little badass, and she knew it.
“Can me and Josephine stay at your house tonight?” Olivia asked.
“Yeah, can they stay at your house tonight?” Romeo teased.
Gage and I looked at each other, and then we both shrugged. “Sure,” I said. “We don’t mind.” One of the spare rooms in our house was set up for when the girls stayed over.
“Will you play baseball with me?” Josephine asked Gage.
“Of course.”
After that night, he hadn’t picked up a bat or a ball again, not until Josephine found an interest in it. It was good to see Gage claim that back too.
“I’m exhausted,” Mouse said.
“Well, you have a baby factory going on over there. It’s not a surprise,” Gage replied, and she flipped him off.
“I saw that, Mommy!” Olivia scolded.
“Yeah, I saw it too,” Romeo added, and we all laughed.
We chatted for a little while before they had to be on their way. Romeo said he’d drop the girls by our house later and thanked us for taking them. We finished our day at the market, went home, and put everything away before they arrived.
When they got there we ordered pizza and played baseball, then watched a princess movie with them. A little after nine we tucked them into bed, kissing their foreheads and then heading to our room.
We took turns to shower, in case one of the girls needed us. Then, finally, we were in bed, wrapped up in each other. The reality of our day, of our lives, of our fight for happiness washed through me. “We did it, didn’t we? We really did it.”
“Yeah, Jojo, we did.”
“I’d go through it all again if I had to, all the pain and loss, if that’s what it took to get us here.”
He rolled toward me, pressed his forehead to mine. “I would too.”
“What you are, I am,” I whispered.
“I love you, Jojo.”
“I love you too.”
Despite all the tragedy, all the terrible things we’d lived through, life really was beautiful.
The End