Max
Two years later…
“Max,” Avery whisper-hisses and smacks me across the chest, waking me up. “Wake up.”
I crack an eye into the dark room. “What?”
“I heard something.”
“It’s an old house. It creaks,” I tell her and toss an arm over her, pulling her tightly into my chest. “Go back to sleep.”
“What if it’s an intruder?”
I grunt. “Is the dog barking?”
“We don’t have a dog.”
“Then it’s not barking.” I chuckle. “Go back to sleep.”
She smacks my arm. “Seriously. You’re going to send me out there?”
“I didn’t tell you to—”
Thud.
I sit straight up.
“See!” she squeaks quietly.
Thud.
I’m out of the bed and into a pair of shorts in a flash, rushing out the door. My adrenaline is pumping my heart into hyper speed as I go in hunt of what the hell is going on. Slowly and stealthily, I move down the hallway toward the stairs.
Thud. Clank. Thud. Rattle.
Step by step, I sneak down the stairs, easing my foot onto each board. Visions of a masked intruder rummaging through our drawers and then beating the fuck out of him flash behind my eyes. My family is at risk, and I’ll be damn if anyone is going to make them uncomfortable. This is our safe place. Our home.
Clank. Something metal screeches.
I hit the bottom step, ready to fuck someone up, and turn the corner.
Maddi’s in the kitchen in her pajamas, holding a bowl with one arm and stirring with a large wooden spoon. Her hair is pulled back into a slept in ponytail with strands falling carelessly.
“Maddi…”
She yelps, snapping her head toward me as she drops the bowl causing a hell of a racket. “Dad!”
Before I vowed my love to Avery and made her my wife, we started the adoption process. And even though I promised to be the best father to her, she didn’t start calling me dad right away. Instead, on the day I gained my wife, Maddi interrupted the wedding right before the preacher could tell me to kiss my bride. Avery knew it was coming. My parents, my sister, my brothers, knew about it. I was in the dark.
She sat me down on the steps of the gazebo and started her little speech, reading from a piece of paper, her eyes brimming with nerves and love.
“Momma has always smiled. I can’t remember a time she didn’t. Even when I can tell she’s had a bad day, she always smiled at me. When you came into her life, her smile started glowing. I remember thinking how cool it will be when I turn older and find someone who makes my smile glow. You took me to school one day ‘cause momma didn’t feel good, and I glowed all day.
When you asked me about adopting me and becoming my dad, I was really, really happy. You don’t have to love me, but you do and I love you. You’re the best dad in the world. But I’ve been hiding something. A big secret.” Zach handed some papers to Maddi before she handed them to me. “You’re marrying momma today and becoming her husband and today you’re becoming my dad too.”
I’m man enough to admit, I held her and cried. Everyone was…even Zach.
That day, my wife and daughter made my life whole.
Shaking my head, I snap out of the memory and cross my arms over my chest with a slight smile. “What are you doing?”
She looks down at the mess on the counter and grins.
Avery slides into the kitchen wielding an umbrella like a rifle, ready for… a rain storm? “What the… What are you doing?”
“I’m making breakfast,” Maddi replies, her view bouncing between us.
“At four in the morning?” Avery asks, dropping her rain guard.
“Well, yeah. It’s Father’s Day and Dad has to go to work soon. I wanted to make him pancakes before he went.”
I kiss the side of her head. “I don’t go to work for another three hours.”
“I don’t know how to make pancakes so if I don’t start now, I might not have them done in time,” Maddi replies.
“Pancakes don’t take long to make,” Avery explains.
“I can help you then,” I tell her.
“You’re not supposed to help. I wanted to do it for you and before Momma had to get up with Luna.”
Avery sighs. “She’s going to be wide awake soon with all the racket you’re making.”
Luna…
Avery told me she was pregnant while we were at the fair with Maddi, inside of a photo booth. My face was priceless…so much so, that it’s on the fridge to this day. They won’t let me take it down. My life was threatened if I even thought about removing it. My eyes are huge. My grin between scared out of my wits and happy as fuck.
Nine months after I married the love of my life, my baby girl came screaming into the world. Maddi got the sister she’s always wanted, a present I loved giving to her.
Avery was my first true love.
Maddi was my second.
And Luna completed me.
My girls show me daily how lucky I am to be surrounded by all their beauty.
“How about this…” I start, moving her off the stool. “Instead of an early morning breakfast, how about I get off work early and we can cook dinner together?”
“It’s Father’s Day, Dad. You’re not supposed to cook.”
I tap her nose. “It’s what I want to do. Besides, who said I’d be cooking?”
“Really?” she whispers.
“Yes. But for now, go back to bed.”
We follow her back to her bedroom and I tuck her in. “I love you.”
“Will you wake me up before you go to work?” she asks.
“You have school in the morning. Get some more sleep and I’ll see you when I get off work.”
“I love you.”
I kiss her forehead, her eyes already shutting to find their way into the darkness of sleep. “Love you, too.”
All my life, I vowed to protect my sister. I swore I’d keep her safe and out of harm’s way. And I believe my girls are my reward for keeping that vow.
My life is so much more than money. It’s inundated by so much happiness, even sleep deprived baby Luna nights couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. My girls are my perfections, my world, my completeness.
Funny how life can change in a few short years. We went from bachelors, scouring for a quick dip with no-strings attached and swearing off love and forevers to being madly in love and settled down with families. We used to laugh at guys like us, men tied down to their wives, and say they were missing out on the best days of their lives. Boy, were we fucking wrong.
Little did we know our lives never started until we met the loves of our lives.