Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
I kiss the top of my nephew’s soft head, walking him around the house while Dom and Tess eat. When I make it back to the kitchen, Rowan has Max and Ollie both on his lap, one on each leg.
He’s letting Ollie feed him all the toppings off of his pizza. It’s one of his things; he loves feeding us the food he doesn’t want to eat. Rowan’s concentrating on whatever Dom’s talking about, nodding and opening his mouth as Ollie brings a pepperoni up to it.
With an arm around each boy, he can’t eat any pizza himself. We’ll both end up eating when everyone else is done. I love his patience and selflessness. Holding both boys and letting Ollie feed him means peace. And peace is everything in this house.
Ollie used to have meltdowns because he was so frustrated about not being able to communicate with us. Speech and occupational therapy have helped. Even when things were at their worst and we were exhausted from Ollie not sleeping well, Rowan has been my rock. He didn’t ask me if I wanted him to hire someone to clean the house; he just did it. He arranges a weekly date night for us every week without fail.
Sometimes, because of our kids’ schedules, date night ends up being on a Monday, but on that night, Rowan sets up a babysitter, dinner for the babysitter and the kids, and a dinner reservation for the two of us.
That night alone means everything. Our marriage is the foundation our family is built on, and we both want to keep it strong.
Ryland starts fussing and Tess shoves the rest of a piece of pizza into her mouth and gets up to take him.
“He’s hungry,” she says after finishing her food.
I meet Rowan’s gaze. “You want to eat?”
“No, you eat, babe. I’m good.”
He has to be so hungry. I don’t think he’s had time to eat anything today, between picking up our grocery order this morning and going right to hockey with the boys.
When he winks at me, my stomach flutters. I don’t think he’ll ever stop having that effect on me.
It took me a long time to find him, but I found the best and he was so worth the wait.
CHAPTER TEN
Rowan
“I’ll need to pack a bag?” Cam gives me a puzzled look. “Like what kind of bag?”
“An overnight bag.”
Her expression changes rapid fire with different reactions. First surprise, then worry, followed by excitement and...back to worry again.
“All night? I don’t know how Ollie will do without us all night.”
“Cassie can handle it. She’s got a lot of experience with special needs kids.”
That wrinkle between her brows shows up. “Yeah, but--”
I put my hands on her hips, giving her a reassuring look. “It’s time. We haven’t had a night alone in more than three years. And Cassie’s been babysitting for us for more than a year. The kids all love her. Sam and Tate will be here to help.”
She cringes. “Did you talk to them about it?”
“Yeah, I made sure they’d both be home Friday night.”
“Did Tate say we’re too old to be having sex?”
I laugh. “Not this time, no.”
I can see the wheels turning in her mind. “Okay, I want to do this. I do. But Mae has indoor soccer on Saturday morning.”
“Sam’s taking her.”
“Oh...really?”
I nod. “It’s all covered. Date night goes from 5:00 p.m. Friday until noon Saturday this week.”
She can’t even fathom it. Our three-hour weekly dinner dates are the only time she’s had away from our kids since Ollie was born.
“Where are we staying? Somewhere close, so we can get home if there’s an emergency?”
We’re staying at a five-star boutique hotel downtown, but I’m not ruining the surprise and telling her that. The drive from our home in Elmhurst to the city depends on traffic, but it’s not bad.
“Of course. Now get that fine ass to a lingerie store. I’ll do school pickup today.”
She puts her palms on my chest and looks up at me, her eyes bright and happy.
“Okay. Friday. So I have three days to get ready for this.”
I furrow my brow, confused. “What do you need to do to get ready?”
“Hair. Nails. An outfit for dinner. Maybe a little waxing if you play your cards right.”
“Fuck yeah, babe. I’m at your service this week if that’s what I get.”
She stands up on her toes to kiss me. “Thank you for this. I’m excited.”
“Me too.”
That’s an understatement. I’m fully hard right now. We went through a period of almost two years with Ollie where he slept so badly that sex was mostly an afterthought. We got in the occasional quickie, and that was it.
I’m finally getting an entire night to remind my wife we’ve still got it.
“Hey, are you here alone?” Cam asks lightly.
I turn and get up from my chair at the bar of the restaurant where we have a dinner reservation. My wife is wearing a low-cut black V-neck dress and sexy red heels, her hair in waves around her shoulders. For a few seconds, I just drink in the sight of her.