She nodded vigorously. “Uh-huh. Gotta burn off all those calories before we eat lunch. And for lunch, we’re going to have pizza. Then, we’re going to go to the museum and look at pictures. Then, we’re going to come home and make more pictures so we can put them on the wall and make our own art gallery that Daddy can walk through tonight. After we eat dinner, of course. You always eat dinner before you go look at pictures.”
I yawned. “Right you are on that one.”
Listening to the little girl rattle off our plans for the day made me feel even more drained. But, I did my best to try to bury it. I swallowed my yawns and rubbed my eyes every time I felt them watering, trying to play off like I still hadn’t quite woken up.
But, Gavin wasn’t having it. “Hey, princess?”
“—and tomorrow evening, we’re going t—yes, Daddy?”
He reached over and patted her arm. “Promise me that you’ll go a little easy on Miss Eva for now, okay? She needs to get settled into her new room and new routine, after all. Remember how hard that is for you?”
Asia’s voice grew sheepish. “Sorry, Eva.”
I stood up and kissed her cheek. “No sorries necessary. Just give me a few days to get settled in, and I promise you, we’ll have all of the fun in the world before you go back to school.”
Her eyes lit up. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yes, really. But, for now, how does another movie marathon sound?”
She gasped. “With snacks?”
“With all the snacks.”
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Daddy, I gotta go get changed! It’s a pajama day!”
Gavin got up and helped her down off her little booster seat before she scurried off toward the stairs. I leaned back and closed my eyes, thankful that I had wrangled the excited ball of bouncing energy that was Asia Lincoln into having nothing but a restful day today. The sun was shining brightly outside, and part of me felt guilty for not getting her out into it.
But, I figured if she wanted to take a break and go out back, I could float around in the pool or something while she swam.
“So, I made some phone calls after you fell asleep last night,” Gavin said.
I heard Asia rushing around upstairs before my eyes found his. “Oh?”
He nodded. “Yep. I made a lot of them, actually. And one of them was to the director of this film I’ve been cast in.”
I felt my stomach lurch. “Oh.”
He pulled his chair around until he sat next to me. “I called and told the director that I wouldn’t be able to do the film in Hollywood because of my growing family.”
Shock filled my system. “Wait, you what? Seriously?”
He placed his hand on my knee and squeezed. “Yeah, of course, I did. Eva, if I took that job, I’d be gone for your entire first trimester and part of your second one, too. I don’t want to miss all of that. If people want me to film that badly, they can come here and film. But, I’m not traveling anywhere during this pregnancy. I missed a lot of it with Asia, and I don’t want to miss anything with this one.”
I placed my hand on top of his. “That makes me feel a lot better, thank you. How did they take it, though? What about your career?”
His smile settled into a grin. “Well, the good thing about being in demand is that sometimes people are willing to be more flexible than usual. So, after some talking and a lot of convincing, I got the director to agree that Miami is a far better place to shoot the upcoming movie instead of Hollywood Studios.”
I gasped. “You didn’t.”
He chuckled. “Yep. I got them to change the film site. I mean, that’ll be a lot of ferrying back and forth from the island to the mainland. But, now I can film, we can stay here, and everyone will have what they need. How does that sound?”
I leaned toward him and captured his lips in a searing kiss. “I think it sounds fantastic.”
In one fell swoop, Gavin pulled me into his lap, and I melted against his strength. Our tongues melded together in a familiar tango they were growing accustomed to, and my heart took flight. I loved this man. I loved everything about him, perfect and imperfect. And the idea that he would have turned down a movie just to stay by my side helped cast aside every worry I fell asleep with last night.
I whispered against his lips. “You’re perfect; you know that?”
He kissed my forehead. “I’m not perfect, but you are.”
