Wyatt

Sunlight poured in through the window. Birds were chirping. Wyatt swore he had never slept so good.

He knew why, of course. The angel sleeping beside him was snoring softly, still worn out from the night. He had stayed awake until he was sure she was asleep, making sure she was going to spend the night. But when she snuggled even closer into him as she dreamed, he had allowed himself to fall asleep.

Now he looked at her, peacefully sleeping the last few minutes of the dawn away. They were both still naked, and her legs were entwined with his. He knew he wanted to wake up like this every day for the rest of his life.

She stirred a little, then opened one eye. A smile crept across her face. “Hey,” was all she said.

“Hey,” Wyatt responded.

They looked at each other for another moment before Lily closed her eyes and pulled the blanket back over her head, clearly trying to get a few more minutes of sleep.

He was about to leave her there, letting her sleep while he made a pot of coffee, when he suddenly heard a very familiar set of footsteps stomping through the house.

Oh no, he thought.

Lily poked her head out from the covers, her eyes going wide. She looked like she was in a panic for a moment.

“Daddy!” came the cry from the other side of his bedroom door. With that, Lily hid her head back under the covers. Wyatt turned his back to her and toward the door.

The door opened, and in came Maggie. “Daddy, are you awake?”

Wyatt brought his finger to his lips, saying “Shhh.”

Maggie whispered as loud as she could, “Daddy, are you awake?”

“Yes, Maggie, I’m awake. What do you need?”

“You have to come with me right now!” she cried.

As usual, his heart began to race. “Is everything okay?”

She pouted. “My swimsuit is missing. I need my swimsuit!”

Wyatt let out a sigh of relief. He seemed to remember having this exact conversation a week or two ago. “Okay, honey. Let Daddy get dressed and he’ll help you.”

“But Daddy, I need it now!” She began to crawl up on the bed, but stopped. “Who’s that?”

Wyatt’s heart sank. “What do you mean?”

Maggie pointed. “There, in bed with you. Is it a stranger?”

Wyatt didn’t know how to respond. Lily slowly poked her head out from under the covers. “Hi, Maggie,” she said sheepishly.

Maggie made an exaggerated motion of wiping the sweat from her forehead. “Phew, it’s Aunt Wiwey. For a second, I thought it was a stranger.”

Wyatt could tell that Lily’s heart melted a little bit at not being a stranger. This was hardly how he wanted this kind of admission to go, but it could have gone worse.

Lily held out her hand for a high-five, making sure to keep her body still covered. “Maggie, I know exactly where your swimsuit is. If you wait for five minutes in your bedroom, I’ll be in there to show you.”

“Okay!” Maggie said, then jumped down and ran out of the room, noisily stomping the whole way.

Wyatt turned to Lily. “You don’t have to help us out today, you know. Mildred can take care of anything.”

Lily leaned in and kissed Wyatt deeply. If he thought they had more than five minutes…

When she broke the kiss, she smiled. “Don’t worry about that. I want to spend time with her. And with you. With your family.”

Wyatt ran a hand down her side, stopping when he reached her tummy. He placed his palm on it. “Not ‘your family’. ‘Our family’. Or at least, it will be soon.”

Lily grinned wider than he had ever seen. “That’s the plan.” She jumped up, walking over to his dresser. He checked out that ass before she pulled on a pair of his sweatpants and a t-shirt. “I’ll have to bring some clothes over.”

He smiled. “I’ll make room for you.”

She gave him one last wink before going out the door to help Maggie find her swimsuit.

Wyatt leaned back and put his hands behind his head. Being a single dad had never been the plan. He would never forget Caroline as long as he lived, but he knew that with Lily around, his family would be whole once more.