An hour later they sat at an intimate outdoor table for two. The sound of Latin music mixed with the deep rustle of palm fronds. The cobblestone patio and strings of bistro lights criss–crossing above added to the ambiance. Everything about this resort was perfect. Every detail seen to.
“So good,” Matt said, scooping up his last bite of beef carnitas. “Probably the best Mexican food I’ve ever had.” He smiled as he said it, but glanced at his phone for the third time in half an hour.
“I know. Me too.”
He picked up his drink, looked at it then set it down. “Did Gracie sound stuffy to you?”
Abruptly, she lowered her fork, her gaze jerking from her plate to his waiting eyes. “I was thinking that, too. But she was fine at the reception, didn’t you think?”
“Yeah. I think so. But it was busy.”
“True.” She reached for her margarita, took a small sip. “Your mom will call us if she starts running a fever, right?”
“Uh…yeah. I’m sure she will.” Matt actually wasn’t sure at all. His mother wouldn’t want to interrupt their honeymoon. He didn’t want it interrupted either.
They were in a tropical paradise. He finally had Abby all to himself with her sexy little bathing suit, miles of bare skin, and an almost hourly need for coconut scented lotion spread over all that smooth skin. Damn. “Did you hear Mary crying?”
Abby’s expression was nearly pained. “Did you?”
“Um…I thought…maybe.” He stared at his finger tapping a furious beat near his plate. “But, hey.” His eyes met hers with a quick, bright smile. “I’m sure she’s fine.” Abby had left plenty of breast milk, and he knew Mary would take formula in a pinch. But she was only six weeks old.
“Matt?”
“Hmm?”
“We’re not going to make it five days are we?”
The tension drained out of him in one huge exhale and he reached across the table for her hand. “I don’t think so.”
Abruptly, she scooted her chair back and in the next second was in his lap. “You’re not disappointed?”
“Are you?” Her smile was his answer and he clasped her face in his hands. “Abby. As long as you’re in my sights, I couldn’t be disappointed, ever.”
“I love you.”
They shared a long kiss, because they could— it was an adult–only honeymoon resort after all— but mostly because she was his wife and he would kiss her whenever he damn well wanted to.
They broke apart, laughing, then laughed again when they caught the look of their waiter standing beside the table with his hands over his eyes. He’d been teasing them all night.
“Will you be having dessert?”
“Yes,” Abby said and started to stand.
Matt held her fast in his lap. “We’ll have one of everything.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Boxed to go,” Matt added.
A wide grin spread across the young waiter’s face. “Yes, sir!”
Abby raised an eyebrow? “To go, Mr. McKinney?”
“Absolutely, because in about ten minutes I’m going to be doing a lot more than kissing you.”
“Then you’re going to take me home and do the same thing.”
“Absolutely. With the kids sleeping feet away. All of us under the same roof.”
“That sounds perfect.”
And it was.
2
A Valentine’s Day To Remember
IT STARTED OUT as the perfect day. Abby McKinney laid warm and loose in her husband’s arms after her Valentine’s Day wake–up call, as Matt had called it.
It was still dark as they breathed together, their bodies intertwined, listening to Mary’s morning sounds on the monitor.
“We have to get up.” His voice rumbled through his chest and into hers.
“Yes. We do.” She didn’t move.
When Mary’s coos grew louder and more insistent, Matt patted Abby’s bottom, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and rolled away. “Better get a move on,” he said with a wink and a kiss to her lips. “I’ve got big plans for you today.”
Awake now, she watched him grab some clothes to take into the bathroom. He closed the door and she rolled to her back with a smile. She had some plans of her own.
Thirty minutes later, dressed in jeans and a thick red sweater in honor of the day, Abby entered the kitchen. She wasn’t always dressed for breakfast, but Valentine’s Day in elementary school was almost as big as the day before Christmas Break.
She’d been over everything in her mind, but just for her own satisfaction, she took a marker from the drawer and went to her TO DO list on the refrigerator. She drew a line through the items already accomplished:
Valentine boxes, A, G, J
Valentines A, G, J
Choc strawberries
Icing for cookies
J belt ?
NL to the W
No way Matt would know that last one meant— new lingerie to the wash.
She prayed she could find Jack’s karate belt by 4pm. No doubt Annie’s was already laid out with the her gi even though her class was two days away.
She passed Matt where he stood at the sink with the baby over his shoulder and kissed his freshly shaven cheek. “Mmm. Yummy,” she whispered at his ear, as she always did when she smelled his aftershave.
Their four other children sat at the kitchen table, wearing various pieces of school uniform. Except Charlie, who didn’t wear a uniform for preschool. Instead he wore navy blue sweet pants and long sleeved gray T-shirt with a T-Rex on the front. And there was Annie who was already completely put together, including a matching plaid headband.
“Jack, put your bowl in the sink if you're done. Gracie, hurry up and put all your cards back in the bag,” Abby said, taking Mary from Matt.
“So, I’m hitting Jack’s party at eleven and Annie’s at eleven thirty,” Matt said, handing her a mug of coffee.
“Right. And you’ll have Mary with you while I run crafts in Gracie’s class.”
“Got it.” He was looking forward to all the kids’ parties, but especially Annie’s. He knew she still held a small seed of doubt. That he’d remember to show up, that he’d want to. It would be one more step in eventually ridding her of all fears.
“I’ll nurse her right before,” Abby went on. “But you’ll need powder formula just in case she gets fussy.”
“Roger that,” he said, fastening Mary into her baby swing. “Formula, small water bottle, and all my baby charm. Isn’t that right? Huh? You gonna fall for Daddy’s charms?”
Abby smiled then opened her mouth to continue the daily run down when their three— almost four—year old let out a desperate cry from the table.
Gracie had upended her cereal bowl all over her Valentines—because she’d insisted she needed to count them one more time. She and Matt both jumped into action, doing whatever they could to minimize the damage. A crash from the counter had them both spinning.
Jack stood open mouthed over thick shards of what was a white platter. Every one of the chocolate covered strawberries she’d stayed up late last night to make for the teacher’s luncheon lay in the midst of disaster on the kitchen floor. All except for the one frozen in Jack’s fingers just inches from his mouth.