by Celia Crown
There are some delusional fans but it’s nothing he can’t handle. His security team is handpicked by him, all female because any man’s eyes on his girls make his blood boil. He won’t stand for any indiscretions; his girls are his sole reason to live.
James gives his girls the most luxurious lifestyle, even when Mari doesn’t care for materialistic things. That doesn’t stop him from spoiling them with so many gifts that their cheeks hurt from smiling.
Every month, there’s a trip to somewhere in the world and James remembers why he gets up every morning to work. Nothing motivates him more than seeing their green eyes light up like a Christmas tree when they land in another country.
He goes to work and deal with pompous asses, come home to his girls and gets showered in kisses. It’s a balance he needs, it’s worth the anger and irritation he feels when he talks to business CEOs.
“Daddy?”
His hand stops at the doorknob of their bedroom, his daughter’s naive giggles chimes over the barrier.
A hush comes from Mari’s own laugh, James wonders what they are up to now. They could have heard his keys jiggling or the door being shut as he stepped into their big estate.
He cracks the door open slowly just in case his daughter is waiting too closely at the door.
Scanning the room for his family, he finds them frozen in the middle of doing something and laughter blooms in his chest as it rumbles out like thunder.
They are so adorable.
When he says Lisi takes after Mari, he means everything.
Mari has a hairbrush in her hand while she stays unnaturally still on the ground with crossed legs. Her skills as a living doll make this scene funnier as James watches. Their daughter is a different story; her tiny legs shake and the smile on her face barely contains her excitement to see him.
Lisi stumbles and grabs onto his pants with a puff of air knocked out of her mouth.
She laughs, “Daddy!”
He crouches down, pulling her into a hug and grins. “Hey, princess.”
Lisi smooches his cheek with kisses and lots of grabby hands all over his face, he returns her affection with his own kisses.
His wife sets the hairbrush down on the ground and crawls over to them with a wide smile, James greets her through a series of loving pecks.
“How’s work?” Mari asks, trapping their daughter between them.
He grunts, “Infuriating.”
She doesn’t need to hear about the mishaps and annoying hours.
Mari chuckles. Her green eyes are one of the things that he fell in love with, they are a shade of apple-green that gives him peace and whacks him with equal parts of adoration.
“Lisi and I made banana pudding today,” she mentions.
James nods with a hand smoothing down the locks of blonde hair, his daughter’s bird’s nest hair can be a handful when she doesn’t want to brush out the tangles.
“Taste funny!” Lisi pouts, crossing her chubby arms over each other.
He laughs at her, “You don’t like it?”
“No!” Lisi stomps her foot, smacking her lips like she wants to get rid of the banana flavor.
His eyes meet Mari’s and she shrugs.
“It did taste funny, we didn’t have baking soda so baking powder had to take its place.” Mari beams so proudly that he doesn’t have the heart to tell her they are two different things and the result won’t be as tasty.
“Next time we’ll bake together.” James offers and Lisi jumps in his arms with a shout of elation.
Mari takes his hand and brings his palm to her lips, “Dinner is almost ready.”
Her words are muffled by his hand, but he picks up on it, James leans in to kiss her again. Lisi throws her little arms around him and gives him an obnoxious smooch on his cheek as Mari smiles against his lips.
He never wants to leave this room.
Mari pulls on his hand and he follows her action to stand up with their daughter hauled onto his forearm. She swings her legs and chats animatedly about whatever is on her mind, going from cartoons to popcorn kernels.
The kitchen and eating area fill his nose with homemade meals, he’ll eat whatever Mari makes. He’s a simple man; a humble meal will do him fine, he’d rather not overwhelm his palate with overly salted meat or acidic vinaigrette on salads.
They all situate at the dining table with Lisi picking up her fork excitedly for her plate of fettuccine pasta. Mari places down Lisi’s plate before setting his portion down in front of him.
Their little girl digs in so quickly that sauce smears around her mouth, Mari laughs and wipes the sauce away with a napkin. His pasta lays on his plate, untouched as he takes in the sight of his two favorite girls grinning at each other as if the world ceases to exist besides their little family of three.
He always comes home for dinner, no matter what. That’s one thing he takes pride in because eating dinner with his girls are more important than some business deal that can perhaps make them wealthier. That’s not even a guarantee. It could be the president of the country for all he cares, he’s still going home to spend time with his family.
Dinner flies by with more watching than eating, but he finishes his food before Mari shoos him to their bedroom shower because he needs to wash off the grime and stress from a day of work. She tasks herself with cleaning Lisi and putting her to bed, James says his goodnight to his daughter with a kiss to her forehead.
The master bedroom and Lisi’s room are next to each other, he designed this way for quick access if anything were to happen and it soothes his heart to know that his daughter is sleeping soundly next to them.
The hamper collects their dirty laundry, his suits tend to be given to professional dry cleaning, but he often wears casual clothing to work because he owns the art gallery and the headquarter building, so he can dress however he likes.
With the hot water spraying at a temperature higher than normal, his skin melts under the pressure as he stood for a solid five minute without doing anything. His hand makes quick of the soap on his body and the shampoo in his hair, he shouldn’t linger in the shower longer because the temptation of the bed is compelling.
Shutting off the shower, he shakes the excess water from his hair and towels off. His hair is next to be dried, the hairdryer bursts hot air onto his scalp and he jabs his fingers through the wet strands as he feels no discomfort at the tugging.
Snapping the power button off, he messes around his hair to see if it’s dried. Once he is pleased with the warm hair, he strolls out the bathroom naked as the day he was born.
A squeak comes from under the covers of the bed, he witnesses Mari lunging deeper into the duvet like a wiggling cat.
It’s not like she has never seen him naked. James chuckles to himself and opens a drawer of briefs and slips one on. It’s a bedtime routine that he’s memorized by heart that he can do it on autopilot.
The cover offers him instant warmth as his legs slid in, his bare chest breaks out in goosebumps at the change of temperature.
His sweetheart pops her head out from beneath and smiles goofily at him. He curls himself around her and brushes her hair away, she hums with drowsiness in her eyes.
She begins to dip in and out of the dreamland, James continues to caress her skin with gentle strokes. Every brush of his fingers rewards him with a slow breath from her plump lips, he cups her cheek and lays a gentle kiss on her forehead. He lingers, breathing in her floral scent and the remnant stress evaporates.
“Love you,” she croons with closed eyes.
He resonates her confession, “I love you.”
James tucks her deeper into the cocoon and slithers his arm under her neck as a makeshift pillow, she snuggles closer and her lashes flutter a moment later.
Mari trusts him to watch over her as she sleeps, to make sure nothing would happen in her most vulnerable state. She says she can protect herself, and James knows she’s a strong woman, but there’s always that chance of something happening an
d he wants to be the wall that shields them.
Years in the army left him paranoid, he has seen the evil deeds done and the unfortunate events that traumatized many of his fellow soldiers. He’s blessed to be able to return home and meet Mari, a life without her and their daughter is unimaginable. It frightens him how easily they can be stolen from him and he will fight to get them back, but he’d rather avoid that situation before it happens.
He drapes his other arm around her stomach and brings her closer until there isn’t any gap between them.
His dark eyes drop and a calming lullaby of her eased breathing lures him to her dreamland where he hopes that she’s dreaming of him.
The bed is cozy, warm, and soft as James breathes in from the crown of her head. That small action causes a noise to come out of her parted lips with a sigh, Mari’s glassy eyes open, peering at him with a loopy grin that portrays her innocence.
“I love you,” she said.
James chuckles and repeats his love through a kiss to her lips.
She must have slipped into a dreamless sleep and woke up, she thought she didn’t say her goodnight confession to him and atones in her sleepy haze.
Mari is such a sweet girl.
His sweetheart.
His little doll.
This time, his eyes shut for the rest of the night.
Tomorrow is a new day for him to bring happiness to his girls’ faces, tomorrow is their effort to shower him in love more than the day before, and tomorrow is another string of memories that he’ll treasure.
James looks forward to tomorrow.
Finale
Author’s other works!
Noir MC Series
KANE (Noir MC - Book 1)
VLAD (Noir MC - Book 2)
DEAN (Noir MC - Book 3)
Standalone
Pretty Girl
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