“We’ll get you a snack, sweetheart.”
Autumn turns to me with a bright smile.
“Hi Joshy,” she says, as though it isn’t the middle of the night for her, and we just casually met.
“Well, hi there,” I say ruffling her curls.
She yawns dramatically and curls up against Molly’s shoulder.
“You think she’d be up for a Vegas wedding?” I joke.
“Only if there’s cake.”
“There will always be cake.”
Molly grabs Autumn a snack of apple slices and we settle on the couch, the three of us in a messy pile of limbs and love. Autumn finishes her apple and then she falls asleep again, snuggled between us.
I watch Molly as she strokes our daughter’s hair, her other hand resting protectively on her still flat stomach. The faintest hint of a bump is there, but I can already picture what it will look like in a few months’ time. And this time, I know I’ll be there for every moment, every first.
This little family we’ve built, against all odds, is everything I never knew I needed. And to think, it all started with a drunkenweekend in Vegas. A weekend I thought would disappear into hazy memories and cheap hangovers.
Instead, it gave me Molly. It gave me Autumn. It gave me the new baby. It gave me this life that I love.
I glance at Molly again, and she catches me staring.
“What?” she asks, her eyebrow raised.
“Nothing,” I say softly. “I was just thinking.”
“What about?”
I smile, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
“How I went to Vegas for a stag night and came back with my own wife to be waiting for me.”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling too.
“So cheesy.”
“Oh completely. True though.”
“And you’re never getting rid of me now, you know.”
“Good. Because I’m never letting you go again.”
CHAPTER 49
MOLLY
There’ssomething magical about waking up in a hotel room where the morning light pours in like warm honey and the scent of fresh Mickey Mouse shaped waffles drifts through the hallways and into the rooms. The cheerful hum of families heading off to the park buzzes just outside of our door, mingling with the laughter and excited shrieks of children and the distant jingle of Disney music playing from the hidden speakers. Somewhere out there, Goofy is greeting a crowd, Cinderella is hugging a little girl who dreams of one day being a princess just like her, and the spinning teacups are already whirling.
But inside of this room? It's still quiet. Soft. Peaceful. I’m excited to get out there and join in the fun, but these few minutes of quiet reflection are good too and I try not to make any noise and risk spoiling this moment.
Joshua is lying beside me, his breathing deep and even, his dark lashes casting shadows over his cheeks. He lays on his side facing me, his arm slung across my tummy. I can feel his chest rising and falling against my side in an easy, steady rhythm. He looks younger like this. Like the weight he always wears at workhas melted away in the presence of sunshine and stuffed animals and cotton candy.
I gently lift his arm away and I turn carefully, not wanting to wake him up just yet, and my eyes land on the little bundle of curls peeking out of the covers in the next bed. Autumn.
She’s curled up with her plush Stitch toy, wearing her Moana pajamas. Her rosebud lips are slightly parted as she sleeps. One of her hands is flung above her head, her tiny pink fingernails catching the light. She’s the picture of contentment, her face soft and serene.
