Chapter 16

Thursday

A light knocking on our bedroom door made me yawn. "James," I said and nudged him. "Who's at the door?"

"What?" he grumbled.

"James," Ellen said and knocked on the door again. "I hate to disturb you, but your brother is downstairs asking for you."

James groaned and looked at the clock on his nightstand. "It's 5 o'clock in the morning. Why is Rob here so early?"

"Do you think something is wrong?" I was about to sit up when James put his hand on top of my massive stomach.

"I got it. He probably just wants to say goodbye before they head down to the beach. I'll go tell him to go away."

I laughed and rolled onto my side in search of a cool spot on my pillow. I was just drifting back to sleep when I heard James clear his throat.

"So, bad news," he said. "My dad came down with some kind of bug. And..."

"Aunt Penny!" Sophie yelled and pulled on my hand that was hanging off of the bed.

I opened up my eyes. "Hi, sweetie. What are you doing here?" I tapped the tip of her nose with my index finger.

"My daddy said I get to spend all day and night here."

"And we're going to go spend that time downstairs," James said and swooped Sophie up into his arms. "And we're going to be quiet so we don't wake anyone who's sleeping. Right, Soph?"

Sophie giggled. It didn't look like she had any interest in listening to what he said.

"Is your dad okay?" I asked as I pushed myself into a seated position. I yawned again. It had been awhile since I had woken up this early.

"He'll be fine. Keep sleeping, baby, I've got this."

I watched him walk out of the room with Sophie. I was still tired. Plus, Ellen was already here to help. I lay back down and closed my eyes.

 

***

 

When I finally wandered downstairs, I followed all the noise into the family room. I smiled at the scene in front of me. Axel was standing on the couch repeatedly hitting James in the back of the head with a pillow, while James played the board game Pretty Pretty Princess with Scarlett and Sophie on the floor. James was decked out in a pink necklace, ring, and bracelet. Why he got stuck with the color pink was beyond me. It looked like Axel had played long enough just to snag the crown.

I used to love that game when I was little. But I certainly couldn't remember my dad playing with me. "Are you the winning princess?" I asked Axel as I walked into the room.

Axel scowled. "No. I'm the prince. They're the princesses."

Scarlett was clipping on a pair of earrings. I was almost positive that it wasn't even her turn.

"Axel won't play," she said. "He thinks it's a game just for girls. But Daddy's playing, so Axel is wrong."

"I am not," Axel said, and whacked James on the back of the head again.

"Okay, enough of that," James said. He turned and lifted Axel off the couch. "You get to choose what we play next, but right now we need to finish Pretty Pretty Princess. And it's your turn."

He stuck his tongue out at Scarlett and then sat down next to her.

"Here you go, Axel," Scarlett said and put a necklace over his head. "Now you're a beautiful princess."

"I'm not a princess! I'm a boy!"

"But my Daddy is playing and he's a boy."

"That's different. He's a dad, not a boy."

James and I both laughed. James looked up at me and smiled. He looked completely ridiculous decked out in his garish jewelry. But I wasn't sure I had ever seen him more handsome, jewels and all. Being a dad definitely didn't take the man out of James. It certainly took a level of confidence to willingly dress like a princess, and to me that exuded a level of sexiness that was hard to put into words.

When no one was looking, Sophie grabbed a ring, the last piece of jewelry she was missing. "I win!" she shouted.

"But it wasn't your turn," Scarlett said.

"I'm the prettiest princess!" Sophie stood up and started to twirl around in circles.

Scarlett folded her arms across her chest. It looked like she was about to cry.

But then Axel leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Her frown was replaced by the biggest smile. She turned to Axel and kissed him on the cheek.

"Ew!" Axel shouted. He rubbed his cheek where her lips had been, then got up and jumped back onto the couch, retrieving the pillow he had dropped earlier. He tossed it at Scarlett and then picked up another and slammed it against the back of James' head.

"Okay, that's it. Princesses, attack the prince!" James said.

Axel jumped off the back of the couch as everyone else grabbed pillows and chased after him.

I ran my hand across my stomach and turned back toward the kitchen. We can join them as soon as you're out, baby boy. In the meantime, I was starving. I opened up the fridge and looked at the scarce remains. The kids must have ransacked it for breakfast. That was probably why Ellen was nowhere in sight. She handled our grocery shopping and there wasn't much she could make with the current contents of the fridge. I grabbed the bottle of orange juice and closed the fridge. I opened up the cupboard to grab a glass but my eyes landed on a banana instead. And a small note with James' handwriting on it:

 

Saved this for you. Don't let Soph see you eating it. She was very upset that she couldn't have one. I had to pretend that this one was rotten.

 

I smiled and picked up the banana and a glass. The perfect breakfast. Well, maybe not on a normal basis. But recently all I was craving was fruit. I quickly ate so I could join in on the fun. I was just like Scarlett in that way. The thought of missing out on a second of family time made me sad. Plus, I didn't want Sophie seeing me eat the banana. Saying no to Scarlett was hard. Saying no to Sophie was almost impossible. She could cry at the drop of a hat. I was pretty sure she was going to be an actress when she grew up. She'd probably win an Oscar.

When I walked out of the kitchen, I couldn't help but laugh. James was lying in the middle of the foyer surrounding by all the kids who were repeatedly smacking their pillows against his back.

"We killed the beast!" Axel yelled.

I wasn't sure how it had morphed into killing a beast instead of attacking a prince.

James opened one eye to look at me laughing.

"Kids, I think he's still alive!" I pointed to his opened eye.

"Get 'em!" Scarlett jumped onto his back.

James cringed when she landed right on his spine.

Crap. Every now and then James' back would give out. Based on the expression on his face, I was pretty sure Scarlett's landing hadn't magically fixed it. And I couldn't imagine taking care of these kids all day without his help. "Okay," I said and lifted Scarlett off his back. "How about you guys go clean up the board game and pick out a new one to play?"

The three of them ran off toward the family room.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Ow," he mumbled and turned his face away from me. He hated when I saw him in pain. The years together hadn't changed that.

I knelt down next to him on the floor and gently touched his lower back. He didn't seem to have any reaction to that, which was good. I pushed up the bottom of his t-shirt and applied the smallest amount of pressure on his skin. "Does that hurt?"

Suddenly, he rolled onto his back, pulled me on top of him, and started tickling my sides.

"James!" I said in the small amount of breath I could take between fits of giggles. "You liar! You're not hurt at all."

He continued tickling me.

"Stop!" I laughed. "I can't breathe."

His hands settled on my waist. "How many times do you think we've had sex right here?"

I put my index finger against his lips. "James, lower your voice. The kids are in the other room."

He tickled my side again so my hand slipped from his mouth. "God you're beautiful."

I smiled down at him. "You can't flatter me out of this one. I think Scarlett picked up this lying fix from you."

He shook his head. "A trick is different than a lie."

"I thought you were really hurt."

"No. I just wanted you on top of me." He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "But really. We used to come back from events and have sex right when we stepped into our apartment. Do you remember that?"

I bit the inside of my lip. How could I possibly forget? "I might need a reminder."

He ran his thumb along my lip so that I'd stop biting it. "Kiss me, Penny."

I leaned down and placed my lips against his.

He grabbed the back of my head to deepen the kiss. And he wasn't kissing me like our house was filled with company. He was kissing me like we had just gotten back from a gala where we both had too much to drink.

"I remember," I whispered.

I could feel his smile in the kiss. I could feel every emotion when our bodies were intertwined like this.

"What on earth are you two doing on the floor?" Ellen said as she came into the apartment. "James, you're going to throw out your back again."

"We were just getting up," he said and slapped my ass.

"Ellie!" Scarlett yelled as she ran into the foyer. "The ice cream is here!"

"Ice cream!" Axel and Sophie yelled in unison.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" I asked James as I got up off the floor. "They're going to be wired up all day."

"You try telling them no. It was three against two down here for a couple of hours. But now that you're up at least we won't be outnumbered."

I watched the kids run into the kitchen after Ellen. "Thanks for saving me a banana."

"Mhm." He placed a soft kiss against my lips as he pulled me back into his arms. "Ellen said she'd grab some more at the store too."

"Did you know you were still wearing this?" I asked and touched the silly pink necklace.

James laughed. "No. Do you like it?"

"I've never seen it worn better. So they're still refusing to learn the actual rules of Pretty Pretty Princess? It's just a free-for-all with jewelry?"

"They have no idea how to play, but Scarlett and Soph insist that it's their favorite game. I think they just like torturing Axel."

"Speaking of Axel. What did he whisper to Scarlett to calm her down? She's an extremely sore loser and I know she was about to throw a fit."

James laughed. "That kid's a bad whisperer. He said that she was the prettiest princess he ever saw."

"No way. Did he really?"

"That's a direct quote."

"Aw," I said. "That's the most adorable thing I've ever heard."

"Tyler can joke around all he wants about Scarlett being in love with his son. But that boy is just as smitten with her."

I laughed. "I think they make a cute couple."

"They're only three and a half."

"Exactly. And they're already perfect for each other."

James shook his head. "They're practically cousins. Axel calls us Uncle James and Aunt Penny. And Scarlett does the same with Tyler and Hailey."

"Oh, the forbidden nature of it all. Like that hasn't ever intrigued a girl?"

"They're three and a half," he said again. "I don't think they even know what forbidden means. Besides, Scarlett isn't allowed to date until she's 30."

I laughed. "If she was more like me you wouldn't have to worry so much. I didn't even have my first kiss until college."

"But then you started sleeping with your professor. You're a terrible influence."

"Me? I'm the one saying I'd be happy if she ended up with a boy we already know and love."

"Now that I know what it's like to have a daughter, I'm lucky your father didn't kill me. I'm going to want to murder anyone who even kisses Scarlett." He pulled away from me and reached up to unhook his necklace. "I'll be right back. I need to de-princess myself." He winked at me and disappeared back into the family room.