The Funny Thing about Love: Feel Good Sweet Romance stories

by Laura Burton

  “For starters, I think she’s on to us. You haven’t told her about us yet, have you?” Blinking softly, she looks up at me.

  “Not yet.”

  Hadley nods and closes her eyes. She smiles, her mouth forming the most divine shape, nearly taunting me into wanting to kiss her like I haven’t gotten to do all day. “Well, trust me on this. She knows. Somehow.”

  “You think?” Draping my arm over Hadley’s shoulder, I pull her into me. We sink back against the lounger as I let her melt into me, feeling her shallow movements as she breathes slow, intaking the fresh air of our backyard.

  “Totally.”

  Subtly pulling the tiny box from my pocket and setting it to the left of me, I lay my head against hers. She smells saccharine with a hint of fresh berries, and I can’t figure out if it’s her shampoo or if that’s just what the inside of her house smells like now due to all the party leftovers.

  Hadley exhales again and slides her cool hand down my forearm, tracing tiny circles into my skin. “She’s feisty, that girl. Just like you.”

  I nod and conceal a chuckle.

  “She asked me if I love you.”

  Hadley’s comment shocking me into resignation, I feel my own easy breath halt in some type of wonderment as a grin pulls at my lips. “What’d you say?”

  “It’s awfully soon, don’t you think?”

  Shrugging, I pull her tighter. “Depends.”

  “On what exactly?” she asks, peering up at me under her ginger eyelashes.

  “Well, I suppose it would depend on your feelings. On my feelings, too. On both of our emotions.” Squeezing her into me, I realize I want to say the words but I’m unsure of how Hadley would receive them tonight, this week, ever. “What’d you say to that?”

  “I said that you’re a very loveable guy for a whole myriad of reasons.”

  Smirking, I press my mouth to her temple. “Is that so?” I whisper, vibing with her sense of humor.

  “Turns out, I think I might love you, yes,” she breathes, her voice so light I almost feel like it might be a figment of my imagination.

  Her admission draws me into silence as I caress her arm and close my eyes, wanting to disappear into the night with her. Just for a few moments. And then I realize what I need to do. I need to tell her. Finally. “For what it’s worth, I love you, too,” I say, reaching over to my left. Grabbing the box, I place it in her hand, causing her to sit straighter.

  Turning to me, she furrows her brow. “What’s this?”

  “A gift.”

  Hadley doesn’t move for a good ten seconds. She just stares at the box as if she’s willing it to open itself.

  I chuckle and shake my head at how adorable she is when she’s surprised. “Open it.”

  “It’s Nora’s birthday, not mine,” she reminds me.

  “I know that, silly.”

  Licking her lips in concentration, Hadley’s expression turns serious. “Are you sure this is—”

  “It’s for you. Just open it.”

  As she tenderly lifts the taped corners and glides the slick silver paper from the box, she removes the lid.

  Where my arm is still draped over her shoulder, I feel her gasp.

  “Parker,” she says, my name dancing from her lips like she knows I’d give anything to hear her say it over and over again. Showing me the box as if I hadn’t been the one to pick it out, she plucks the simple mother-of-pearl pendant necklace from its vessel and hands it to me.

  Taking the delicate Rose gold chain from her, I pause to study the gorgeously feminine slope of her neck, the soft gaze that she throws in front of her as she holds her hair up and turns her back to me so I can help fit her into it. “I know this can’t replace the one that disappeared after our first date,” I say, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder blade. “But I thought maybe this could be the start of our second take together. Act two, whatever you want to call it.”

  “I love it. Thank you,” she whispers, fingering the iridescent pearl. Turning to me, she beams. “How does it look?”

  “You look amazing. As always, Hadley.” Reaching up, I take her chin and capture her lips in mine, kissing her sensually for the first time tonight, slow and with every ounce of meaning I can muster.

  When she breaks the kiss, her breath lost at sea, she smiles at me with those green eyes of her under the veil of night. “We’ll get it right this time.”

  “Yeah. I think I’ve realized something,” I nod. “The mundanity of work, the trials of single parenthood, all the frustration in the world. None of the bad moments matter nearly as much if I get to be with you.”

  “You really feel that way?” she asks, pushing her fingers over her cheek, wiping away what looks like a tear.

  I nod. “I do. It turns out I’ve felt that way for a very long time now. Since getting to know you at all. Three little birds and onward.”

  “Three little birds,” she agrees. Pressing her cool fingers to my cheekbones, she pulls my face closer and draws in a sharp breath as if she’s just recognizing something. “I’m glad this is us, Parker. I’m thrilled we can give this another shot— a real shot this time. And I—” She forces a laugh. “I can’t remember if I said it earlier or not, but I do.”

  “You do?” I ask, uncertain of what she’s meaning right now in our shared moment of awareness and desire and compassion.

  “Love you,” she breathes, a torturous smile tugging at her lips.

  Epilogue

  Hadley

  Hearing an unexpected jolt of noise, I spring up from where I’d been lying on my couch. Looking around my living room, I blink hard, unsure of why I’ve fallen asleep here, but my throat feels dry and scratchy from a crazy night. Wiping my cheek with the back of my hand, I realize I’ve been drooling a bit. Suddenly hearing a knock at the front door, I freeze in my spot, my heart suspended at the shock of reality.

  I must’ve fallen asleep on the couch after putting the four wild girls to sleep in my queen size bed sometime after midnight last night. Nora’s seventh birthday party had ended up being yet another night full of sugar-induced frenzies and games galore. Twister, Clue Junior, Apples to Apples, and the SpongeBob SquarePants version of Life. All four of the girls— Nora, Ryley, Olivia, and Zoe— kept me on my toes.

  One more knock at the front door pulls me from my reverie. Who could be here at this crazy hour in the morning? Reaching up to untangle my necklace, it hits me exactly who this probably is— Parker.

  “Coming,” I whisper harshly, not wanting to wake the kiddos. I’m honestly surprised Pepper hasn’t come dashing down the hallway at the slightest sound of someone at the door, but she’s probably cocooned in the jigsaw puzzle of girls that’s currently sprawled out across my entire bed. Running my fingers through my apparently messy hair, I try to make myself look a tad more presentable. Pulling my camisole down, I attempt to straighten my mayhem of a self as I open the front door and smile, trying not to look like I’ve just rolled out of bed— er, rolled off the couch.

  When Parker spots me, his face illuminates as if he’s seeing me for the very first time in months. Pressing a kiss to my forehead, he steps in and peers behind me, immediately locating the Hadley-sized indentation I’d apparently left on the couch. “Morning, sleepyhead. Late night?” he asks, grinning like a bobcat. He holds a mug out to me with too bright of an expression for this early in the morning.

  “Yeah. Is this coffee?” I ask, taking the mug from him. To be honest, I’m not overly excited by the idea of hot liquid right now, but I still need an immediate shot of caffeine to wake me.

  “Diet Coke,” he grins. “Thought maybe you could use a little pick-me-up.”

  My gaze stuck on him in full-on gratefulness, I blink my appreciation. “You’re the literal best,” I say before taking a big swig, the cool soda and fizzy carbonation immediately soothing my throat. “What time is it?” I whisper, following Parker to the kitchen.

  Setting two grocery bags on the counter, he checks his watch
even though he’s probably just doing that to make me feel better. “Six-thirty. Bright and early.”

  He bends down and fishes for something in the drawer beneath my oven. Pulling up a skillet, he sets it on the stove. By now, he knows his way around my house just about as well as he knows the way through his own. We’ve been together for going on a year now, and to say that we’re more than comfortable coming and going at our own respectable leisure is an understatement. Still, the skillet doesn’t make sense to me right now.

  “The girls are still asleep,” I whisper.

  “Great. Gives me time to start on this,” he says, pulling a carton of eggs and a package of bacon from the first grocery bag.

  Still trying to reorient myself in the light of day, I smile. “Can I help? I can do pancakes.”

  “Nope. You sit and take a load off. I’ll whip them up in just a minute. You did enough yesterday. You planned all this,” he says, nodding to the backyard where the remnants of a demolished ice pop piñata are still probably dangling from the small oak tree at the back of my yard. The girls had busted it open within ten minutes and gathered all the loot.

  “Oh,” I sigh, wiping my fingers under my eyes. “I forgot about the piñata last night. I’ll clean it up this morning.

  “Already took care of it,” Parker says simply.

  In awe of this man, I head around to the other side of the kitchen counter and meet him in front of the sink where he’s about to start washing his hands. Sliding my arms around his waist, I pull him into a hug. “Thank you, babe. You’re my hero.”

  Planting a kiss to the top of my head, Parker chuckles. “You don’t have to go that far. Besides, Nora and I think the same of you. Hands down, yesterday was her favorite birthday to date.”

  “No, I doubt it,” I laugh.

  “Bet,” Parker says, challenging me.

  Looking up into his dark eyes, I nod, feeling an edge of emotion claw at the back of my throat. “Doesn’t matter anyway.”

  “It doesn’t?”

  I shake my head. “I’m just happy to be along for the ride.”

  Parker’s expression wilts something sentimental. “I tell you what. How about you go get dressed, wake the girls, and I’ll have pancakes, eggs, and bacon ready by the time you’re done. What do you think?”

  “I think that sounds perfect.”

  “Good. Go on then,” he whispers in tease, planting one last kiss to my forehead, sending me back down into the trenches of a very serious birthday party hangover.

  I take a quick shower, slip into my jean shorts and a blouse, and somehow manage to wrangle all four of the girls into being breakfast-presentable within forty-five minutes. We eat together on the back patio just as the sun makes its high-sky appearance for the day. And like clockwork, all three of the girls’ parents arrive to pick them up by ten.

  As Parker, Nora, Pepper, and I all reconvene out on the back patio, Parker winks at his daughter. “You have a good birthday, princess?”

  With a smile as wide as the sky, Nora nods and attacks her dad with hugs. “Yeah. It was fun. Thank you, Daddy. And thank you, Hadley,” she says, glancing over at me, melting my heart.

  “Aw. Well, you’re welcome. I had fun with you all, too. That was a good party.”

  Nora nods and glances back over to Parker like they’re somehow articulating something to one another through part of their own little unspoken language. “Can I go play on the trampoline? You can see me from here.”

  Fighting a smile, Parker nods and kisses his daughter on top of the head. “Sure.”

  As Nora peels off out of my yard and over into hers, Pepper follows at her heels, happy to have her best buddy all to herself again after having to share her last night during the party.

  “They’re adorable together,” I say, glancing over at Parker, the man I’d fallen deeply, unfathomably in love with over the past year.

  “They are, aren’t they?” Reaching over, Parker slides his arm around me and pulls me close. It’s warm out here today, but I don’t mind it. I’d missed getting to spend some quiet time with him last night, but reuniting once again always makes me feel a step closer to what our new normal has become over the last twelve months.

  I slide my hand into his because I can tell he’s craving closeness by the way he’s trying to read my face, studying me like I’m some book he’s reading Nora and he’s lost his place in all the words. “Can I have a bedtime story?” I ask.

  Parker chuckles. “Really? We’ve still got a long way to go before bed.”

  “I know,” I breathe, laying my head on his shoulder, gravely tired and a little sore from having taken up sleeping on the couch for a night. I might have to add another room onto my house if the sleepover capacity keeps doubling like it did from last year.

  Without a struggle, Parker starts in on a story as we watch Nora bounce around on the trampoline. “Alright, this one is mighty short, but it’s a favorite of mine. Once upon a time, there was a king who loved his queen dearly at their own little cottage at Beluga Bay. And while, yes, their princess was a complete handful at all times, they both knew they wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Smiling at his tale that had so obviously become us with each and every installment he’d added since the original concoction he’d thrown together for Nora that night on the trampoline, I feel him shift closer to me.

  Squinting, I study Pepper in the distance who’s grounded and busy as ever she tries to catch glimpses of Nora when she’s catapulted high in the air.

  “Well, one day, the king took his queen outside and sat her on the bench. He said, Queen, I’d like it if you’d marry me. The End.”

  My attention now immediately pulled in his direction, I peer over at Parker, my eyebrows lifted in caution. “Really? That’s the story?”

  Parker nods and conceals a grin.

  “And what did the queen say?”

  Pressing his lips together, he shrugs. “I guess we’ll see.” Fishing something from his side just like he had the night of Nora’s sixth birthday, Parker pulls me close and presses a small blue box to my arm under his grip. “I love you more than anything, Hadley Kratz. Nora and I would be the luckiest crew if we could spend the rest of our lives with you, babe. I know we’ve talked a lot about what a marriage between us might look like. And I know you like to talk about how your track record with children has improved greatly,” he chuckles, pressing more of his words to my temple in sweet, ceremonious emotion. “I love you, Hadley. And I’ve loved you for quite a while now. Which is why I want to ask you something.”

  My heart halts in the middle of my chest as I realize what he’s doing now.

  Flipping the box open, he holds it out, presenting me with a ring— a heart-shaped cluster of diamonds set in a thin Rose gold band.

  My throat closes as I feel tears well up in my eyes. Glancing up at him, I chew on my bottom lip, still not one-hundred percent sure what’s happening right now.

  “I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll make an amazing mother, Hadley, and an even more amazing wife.” Pressing his lips to my cheek, he whispers the words that will forever be stamped into the soft, sentimental part of my soul. “Will you marry me? Will you join our little family of two to make it three?”

  Trying not to drown in my own thoughts, I nod, obviously happy just to be included in their family. But this? Parker asking me to make it official with them? I can’t help but grow the fiercest shade of excitement and deep, undying love I’ve ever felt. Choking out the words, I touch my chin to his shoulder, my voice wavering. “Of course, I’ll marry you,” I promise. “Three little birds?”

  Catching a few of my runaway tears with his thumb, he studies my eyes slowly, his attention piercing me with adoration. Leaning in with a smile, he captures my lips in his, sweeping me up into the most romantic, tender-hearted kiss I’ve ever experienced.

  And after a minute, breaking our connection to answer the only way he knows how, Parker grins as wide as the ocean and whispe
rs to my forehead. “Three little birds. You, me, and her. Forever and always, Hadley.”

  The End

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