by Tina Saxon
“You’re going to be an amazing father. It almost makes me want to give you ten kids.”
I turn around in her arms. “Almost, huh? So…are we talking about nine, then?” I lift a brow and smirk. Her beautiful blue eyes sparkle from residual tears. The corners of her mouth turn upwards, and she shakes her head.
“You’re relentless.”
I shrug. “Just motivated. The more kids we have, the more sex we’ll be having,” I whisper.
She snorts out a laugh. “Well, you’d better enjoy those years because if we have ten kids, I’m pretty sure I won’t be wanting sex anymore after that. I’ll be begging for a chastity belt.”
A few people from the peanut gallery laugh with her. “I can be pretty convincing,” I say, wagging my eyebrows. She rolls her eyes.
“Let’s focus on making sure we get that one.” She tilts her head in the direction of Lexi’s room.
“Oh, sweetheart, I am laser focused when it comes to Lexi. Stop worrying about it. They have no reason to deny us,” I say, mainly to reassure myself. That small percentage that they could come back and deem us unworthy parents eats at me, too, but I choose to focus on the positive. She bites the inside of her cheek.
“I know. Just don’t be too crazy with her with this indoor skydiving thing. We don’t need her to get hurt on top of what happened yesterday.” I can see the guilt written all over her face. She blames herself, no matter how hard I try to convince her that it wasn’t her fault. I thought today would be fun and not as emotion-filled as it’s been.
“I promise, I won’t let her get hurt. Like I told her, I’ll have hold of her the entire time.”
She nods, exhaling quickly. “Where is this place, anyway?”
I tell her where we’re going and pack everyone up. When we file out of Addison’s apartment building, I’m holding Lexi’s hand. Lexi squeals as she runs in place. My eyes have to adjust to the hot pink Hummer limo parked right in front of us. I jerk my head in Max’s direction.
“You didn’t?”
“I did,” he boasts. Lexi screams and runs to Max. He flings her in the air. “Only the best for my Lulu.”
“Max, I love it!”
Addison walks up to my side. “Wow, that’s pink,” she says, staring at the big blob of pink. It’s so obtrusive in the street, I can’t stop looking at it either. We don’t notice that everyone has climbed into the limo until Max yells at us.
“Sweetheart, your chariot awaits,” I chuckle.
“Hmm. Please, don’t ever think I want you to get me a pink limo, okay?” Never crossed my mind. “It makes me think of Pepto-Bismol,” she quips. It makes me a little nauseous.
“Addison, look!” Lexi says excitedly as we climb in. “There are pink lights, too.”
“I see,” she says, trying to sound excited. I glance at Max, and he flashes a cocky smile, proud of himself. “Max, where in the world did you find a pink limo?”
He lifts one shoulder. “I have my ways.” Hell, he probably had this limo painted just for Lexi. I’m a little jealous I didn’t think of it first. I told Max to find us a limo so we could all go together. I never thought he’d find a huge, pink one.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Max,” Lexi says, hopping in his lap.
Lexi jumps around from empty seat to empty seat, having to try each one as we make our way to the skydiving place. She touches every button to see what it does and when she finds the radio, she stops so she can dance around. I feel like the bad guy telling her she needs to sit down while we are moving. It doesn’t help when Jaxon and Max boo me, telling me I’m a spoil sport. Assholes. Addison gently squeezes my leg and smiles up at me. Then she kicks Max.
God, I love you.
“Ow! What was that for?” She glares at him without saying anything. “Wow, you’ve got that mom look down perfect.” He barks out a laugh when she acts like she’s scratching her nose…with her middle finger.
We pull up to the place and everyone hops out. Everyone but Bryn is excited to try indoor skydiving. “C’mon, Bryn, live a little,” I say, throwing my arm around her.
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do. Live.” She blows out her cheeks slowly. “With both feet on the ground.”
“You’ll love it and one of the guys will be in there with you so you don’t slam yourself into the wall.” She glances up at me, eyes open wide, and I smirk.
“Well, that sounds lovely.”
Addison stops at the door and reads the sign. She turns and looks at me. “Did y’all rent the entire place out?” she asks, pointing at the sign. It says they are closed from four to six for a private party.
“Something like that,” I reply, grinning. Max owns this place. He bought the franchise about four years ago. When the concept came out, he jumped at the chance. We also get to come here and play around without having to take the plane up in the air. He has a manager whom he trusts that has been here the entire time to run the place so he doesn’t have to deal with anything except the money part.
After everyone watches the video, we put our jumpsuits on. Everyone except Max. He doesn’t fly in front of a lot of people. He’s not a showy type of guy. Damon, though, has no problem showing off.
He jumps in first and shoots all the way up the tube. Lexi jumps up and down, giggling, and runs to the glass to look. He comes back down, headfirst, and stays that way in front of Lexi for a couple seconds. She yells his name and claps. He continues to show off moves that we’ve practiced numerous times. It’s all about body control and displacing the air pressure with slight movements. He’s only in the tube for two minutes. When he comes out of the door, Lexi runs up to him.
“You are Peter Pan!” she exclaims. He belts out a laugh along with everyone else. “Only Peter Pan can fly like that.” She points to the tube.
“Lost Boys can fly, too.”
“No, they can’t. Tinkerbell only gives pixie dust to Peter Pan,” she says defensively. She puts her hands on her hip, waiting for him to argue with her.
“Okay, you win. I’m Peter Pan,” he says, throwing his hands in the air. “Alright, Tinkerbell, let’s go show them how to fly.” He points to Syd, and she jumps up off the bench.
One by one, either Damon or I take each person into the tube. Max is stationed at the controls, making sure the wind is just right for each person. Lexi and Addison are all that is left in this round.
“Who’s next?” I say, looking at both of them.
“I think I’m ready to go,” Lexi says, walking over to me. Her steps are slower than normal, but she’s putting on a brave face.
“Come on, Tater Tot. I’ve got you.”
“Are you going to let me go?” She slips her hand in mine.
“Only if you give me the thumbs-up. Okay?” She nods in agreement. “After I let you fly for a few seconds, I’m going to fly with you, and we’ll go up there.” Her eyes widen as she leans on the glass and looks up at the tunnel. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”
I’m so freaking proud of her when she stabilizes herself. She listens to all my cues, and she’s sticking her thumb up in no time, allowing me to let go so she can fly on her own. When she sees that I’m not holding her, her smile grows. The wind puffs out her cheeks so she looks like a chipmunk. I glance at Addison and she’s clapping. Lexi waves to her which causes her body to move out of control. I grab her and she puts her hands back in the correct position. She’s still smiling. That’s my girl.
I grab a hold of her suit and nod at Max to turn up the wind. As it increases, I’m able to lift my feet. I make us spin and move up and down in the tube. I have a feeling Lexi is screaming, but I can’t hear anything. Probably a good thing right now. She remains calm, so I continue to have some fun with her. She’s light and easy to maneuver.
When we exit the tube, everyone cheers and Lexi smashes into my legs, wrapping her arms around them. “That was so fun! I want to go again!” she shouts. I stick my arm out against the glass, so I don’t go flying back.
“We will,” I smile. “First, I have to take Addison.” The adrenaline running through her little body makes her a live wire. I’m afraid she’s going to explode with all that energy. Her arms flail at her sides as she talks to everyone about what we did. She’s talking so fast people just nod and laugh. Then she moves to her next victim. “Watch her,” I tell Damon. She’s jumping off the bench, trying to mimic what we did. Damon grabs her and puts her on his lap.
“I think you’re going to create an adrenaline junky,” Addison says as we watch her.
“She’s going to crash hard later,” I say. “Sweetheart, it’s you and me now.” I grab her hand and lead her to the doorway.
“Don’t think of doing any of that crazy shit.” She motions to Damon. My mouth twitches thinking of things I wish I could try while skydiving with Addison. Not sure any of it would be doable, but the wicked thoughts are still there. “Aiden…” she says slowly.
“Don’t worry, none of the things I was just thinking can happen in here,” I whisper. Her cheeks redden as she hits me in the stomach. I laugh at her disapproval of my sexual thoughts. I can’t help it. If she only knew the places I’ve thought of fucking her, she’d think I was crazy. When it comes to her, I’m certainly crazy horny.
I walk into the tube and let her fall in, catching her in my arms. Since she’s a beginner, the main goal is to fly by yourself, so I don’t try anything crazy. After thirty seconds, I do the same thing with her that I did with Lexi. Hold on and spin.
Everyone goes three more times before we finish, each time getting more and more comfortable flying. Brooks tells Max that he’ll pay him to take him skydiving out of his plane. Max said anytime, but he doesn’t want his money. One taste and it’s addicting.
Just like Addison.
Lexi bounces all the way to the pink limo. “This was my best birthday ever!” she exclaims. My smile widens hearing this. We knew the first birthday without her parents might be hard on her, but kids are resilient. They move on too quickly, and sometimes it saddens me. I think that’s why I bring up her father frequently. I want her to remember him. I want her to know that he didn’t leave her by choice and he loved her. I don’t mind being the host for her father’s love. I’ll make sure she knows how loved she is every day of her life.
Chapter sixteen
“Ugh! If any more snot comes out of my nose, I’m going to cut it off,” I murmur into the Kleenex I’m holding up to my nose. It’s so sore and raw that I’m barely touching it.
“You need to go to the doctor,” Syd says. “You’ve felt miserable for the past week, and you’re still not better. We leave this weekend for Vegas. Go. To. The. Doctor.” She pokes me in the arm as she says each word.
I throw my head back into the cushion. I feel like shit. My chest hurts from coughing, my nose burns from constantly blowing it, and my voice is hoarse from my sore throat. The last thing I want to think about is my bachelorette party. In. Six. Days.
Just kill me now.
“Fine, I’ll go to the Minute Clinic.”
Sydney jumps up and puts on her shoes. “Great! Let’s go,” she says with a little too much excitement.
“I didn’t mean right now,” I whine.
“No, we’re going right now. You need meds. I’m going to make sure you get them. Now, let’s go.” She reaches for my hand and pulls me up. I blow out an exasperated sigh to show my annoyance but it makes me cough, which pisses me off even more.
Two hours later and an incessant need to take a shower and wash off the germs from the millions of other sick people at the clinic, I’m loaded up with meds with a diagnosis of bronchitis and a sinus infection.
Syd makes me some chicken noodle soup and sees to it that I take the meds then sends me to bed. I’m sure this is not how she imagined the beginning of her spring break. I’m supposed to be flying to Texas right now to drop off Lexi with Amy and Ted for the week since it’s her spring break, too. Max and Aiden go instead. The air pressure from the plane would have made my head explode, so I stay home.
When my head hits my cold pillow and my sick body relaxes into my soft bed, I pull my comforter around me and send up a silent plea that I start feeling better soon. My mind starts thinking about the wedding and Lexi. It’s hard to believe Lexi has been with me for almost a year already. Somedays it’s hard to remember what it was like before she came to live with me. Jaxon is still working her adoption case. Lexi’s social worker makes frequent visits, and I was elated when she told me she thinks Lexi belongs here with us. Now to prove it to the judge. We have perfected our schedule over the last few months. The months have flown by without any incidents, surprisingly. We constantly ask Lexi if kids are being assholes, but that seems to have stopped after Aiden went and had a meeting with the principal.
Seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child made me love it more. I’d never seen Aiden more excited than when he dressed up as Santa. There have been a lot of firsts for us, and I cherish all of them.
My eyes droop as the medicine takes affect. My chronic cough has kept me up for nights, so I’m exhausted. The inhaler the doctor gave me has given me temporary relief from the cough from hell, so I quickly fall asleep.
***
“Are you sure this looks okay?” I ask, spinning around, looking at myself in a full-length mirror.
“Are you serious?” Syd asks. “You look stunning in that, and Aiden will love it.” I turn back to Sydney, who is sitting on the couch in the dressing room area.
“You really think Aiden will be okay with this number…” I sweep my hand down my body, “…when I’m not with him?”
Sydney has dressed me in a short, black sequin dress. I don’t even think short is accurate. It’s if I bend over my ass is going to show short. The back of the dress is open, draping down to my ass.
She waves her hand around. “The only thing he’s going to think about is that you’ll end the night in his arms, wearing that.” She points at the dress. She doesn’t know Aiden very well, then. “It’s Vegas! Live a little!” Syd jumps up and walks over to me, spinning me around to face the mirror. “You look gorgeous. If I had legs for days like you, I’d be showing them off all the time.”
“You have zero problem showing yours off,” I joke, hip bumping her. She looks at me and wags her eyebrows. I glance at the mirror. I’m just glad I’m not sporting the Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer look anymore. The meds worked wonders and after three days, I started to feel human again. We leave tomorrow afternoon, so Sydney and I are getting some last minute shopping in. I already had a dress picked out to wear Saturday night, but when we walked past the boutique, Sydney saw this dress on the mannequin and here we are.
“Fine, I’ll get it.” It does look good, and I know Aiden will love it…when I’m with him. I might have to get ready after the guys leave and make it a surprise for when we meet up after the festivities. I have just the right shoes to go with it. Excitement for this weekend starts to bubble up inside me. The last two weeks I’ve been sick. I couldn’t think about anything other than trying to breathe.
“I can’t believe you get married in a month.” Syd wraps her arm through mine as we walk out of the store. “I was sure I’d get married first.”
I nod my head. “I did, too. I can’t believe we’re actually getting married.”
Syd whips her head to me. “What?”
“I mean…it seems like it’s the world versus Addison and Aiden. And we are not in the lead.”
“What are you talking about? You’re together. After everything the world has thrown at you, nothing has come between y’all. I’d say you’re the winners.” We weave in and out of people leaving work and head to meet Aiden and Damon for dinner. I bust out laughing when she starts singing “We Are The Champions” by Queen. People stare as she belts out the song. The only thing I can do is smile and shrug. She drags out the last line about champions. The sound of clapping behind us sends us into a fit of laughter. “Look for me on Broadway,” Syd yells out.
“You’re nuts,” I say in between giggles.
When we walk into the restaurant, the heady smell of curry greets us. My mouth waters as I inhale the smell of lemon grass and ginger. I’ve never been so thankful to breathe again. We’re meeting the guys at my favorite Thai restaurant.
“Hey there, Soon-to-be Mrs. Roberts,” Aiden says as he stands and draws me into his chest. His lips graze mine. They’re cool to the touch with the taste of beer still lingering on them.
“Y’all been waiting long?” I ask, looking down at the empty beer glasses.
“About twenty minutes. We had a long day and needed beer. In fact, we need more…” He eyes the place for our waitress.
“Hey, shorty,” I hear Damon say to Syd. I look over and he kisses her. It’s a funny sight. She’s standing next to him while he’s still sitting, and she’s only a couple inches taller than him.
“Let’s not talk about short stuff,” she says, pulling back. “I don’t want to embarrass you.”
“Woman,” he growls and pulls her onto his lap. “You weren’t complaining last night about it being short. In fact, you were having a little trouble—”
Syd gasps and puts her hand over his mouth as he mumbles the rest. “Nobody needs to hear the rest of that sentence,” she says, blushing.
That is for damn sure.
He licks her hand and she squeals, moving it away right before he pulls her in for a kiss. My heart is happy seeing them together. I can’t believe they have been together for almost seven months. They’re starting to talk about moving in together. Syd and I have always dreamed of our kids growing up together like we did. I think about all the stages in our lives that we’ve been through together, and I can’t wait to move on to the next one with her by my side.
“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” Aiden whispers in my ear. I look over at him and I grin. He sweeps my hair behind my ear.
“Just thinking about how happy I am.”
