Chapter 39

Jessi

I woke up the next morning tangled up in Chris’s arms. I could hear Caleb grunting in his crib, but I didn’t want to move. Chris was warm and inviting, and for the first time since I had seen him at that runway job I wanted to enjoy him. Rest against him. Fall into his body and not get up.

But Caleb’s cries were growing and I wanted Chris to get some rest.

I slid from the bed and grabbed my robe from the floor. I slipped on a pair of panties and tied a bow around my waist, then headed for Caleb’s crib. I picked up my crying son and carried him into the kitchen where I promptly got to work on his breakfast.

A scrambled egg and applesauce.

I was working on getting the coffee pot to work when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. A warm pair of lips descended to my neck and I giggled as Chris kissed me. He reached around me and grabbed a piece of toast that had popped up from the toaster, then he scooted a chair out from underneath the kitchen table.

“Good morning, baby boy. How’d you sleep?”

Caleb cooed at Chris and it warmed my heart.

“I slept well, thank you for asking. What are you eating? Did Mommy fix you some eggs? Mmm, those look good. Does Mommy have any more eggs?”

“Mommy can make more eggs,” I said with a grin. “How does Daddy like those eggs?”

I looked back and watched my son smiling at Chris as he looked at me.

“Anyway Momma can fix them is fine,” he said.

I smiled at the stove as I began to cook breakfast for all of us. When the coffee was done, Chris got up and made me a mug to sit at my side. He sat back down beside Caleb and the two of them continued to talk back and forth. I saw Chris even help Caleb with a piece of egg that was being stubborn.

It warmed my soul to watch him and his son together.

“If you want to stick around today and spend some more time with Caleb, you can,” I said.

“Would you be okay if I took Caleb to my place?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t have a problem with that. Though I haven’t taken Caleb to the ocean or anything.”

“What? You live right by it,” he said.

“Well, a lot of factors go into it. People like to take photographs of me and I don’t want Caleb plastered around everywhere. Then there’s the sunblock and the sand. I was scared he would eat it and all sorts of crazy stuff.”

“You never just took a chair and sat with him as the ocean tide came in?” he asked.

“It never occurred to me to do so. I was so tired all the time and I was sleeping every chance I could get in the beginning.”

“Well you won’t have that issue now. I want to be around to help out as much as I can.”

“Then by all means, stay,” I said.

The two of us ate breakfast and Chris continued to bond with Caleb. He took Caleb and cleaned him up after breakfast and then I packed us up to go to the beach. I made sure we all had sunblock and changes of clothing and plenty of snacks and drinks. Then I piled us all into my car and we drove over to the beachfront property where Chris lived.

We set ourselves up on the sand and there weren’t as many people as I thought there would be. I put some sunblock on Caleb and put little floaties on his arms in case he became adventurous today. I watched Chris pick him up and take him towards the water. The two of them played in the puddles the ocean waves were leaving behind and my gut clenched. This was what had been missing between Caleb and I. A dynamic I couldn’t give him that he could only get with his father. Caleb was laughing up a storm as he kicked the water around, and Chris was there to watch him every step of the way.

Seeing the two of them playing together like that brought tears to my eyes.

“I think he’s ready for a snack,” Chris said.

“Good thing I brought plenty,” I said. “You want some banana, buddy? Hmm?”

But then I saw Caleb nuzzling into Chris’s shoulder.

“I don’t think he’s hungry,” I said, with a grin. “I think he’s tired.”

“Do you want to take him inside?”

“Well, we’ve got an umbrella, and a light blanket. And our chairs lean back. He can sleep on me.”

“Could—he sleep on me?” Chris asked.

“Of course he can. Come sit down. I’ll dig the blanket out.”

Chris got settled into his chair as Caleb fell asleep on his shoulder. I pulled out the thin blanket to cover Caleb with and handed it over to him. Our fingers touched and a shiver shot up my spine, and soon he was reclining back in his chair with our son in his arms.

I took out my camera and captured a photo of it to keep on my laptop.

“This okay?” Chris asked.

“It’s perfect,” I said.

“Do you like it here?” he asked.

“I love it here. I can see why you purchased the beach house.”

“Could you see Caleb out here more often?”

“I told you. You can bring him out here whenever you want.”

“What if he slept here?”

“I mean, I think I would want to be with you. But as long as you had the space to set up a room for him, I don’t see why not,” I said.

“What if you slept here, too?”

I turned my eyes back to Chris as I furrowed my brow.

“What are you asking?”

“I’m saying—you and Caleb are smashed in an apartment and I have a beach house that is big enough for the three of us to live in. You rent month to month, I own this place. It’s got direct access to the beach and a wonderful view at night. Plenty of room to set up Caleb’s nursery and you’re still close to all of your photoshoot hotspots. Why don’t the two of you, you know, live here?”

I felt my heart drop to my toes as my face began to pale.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Yeah. I mean, when is your lease up? Is it a yearly lease?” Chris asked.

“Yeah, it—it is. Um, it’s up—yikes—in a couple of months, I think?”

“Then, don’t sign a new one. Jessi, let’s move your stuff here and do this thing together.”

“Raise Caleb under the same roof.”

“Why not? It’s healthier for him, and things between us are finally smoothed over. I feel good about it, Caleb feels good about it.”

“Oh, and how do you know Caleb feels good about it?” I asked with a grin.

“I mean, he’s snoozing on my shoulder. I’d say he’s pretty comfortable with the idea.”

“Maybe you’re just comfortable. I can attest to that fact.”

“And I could be comfortable every night if you moved in.”

I gazed out over the water as a smile spread across my cheeks. Move in. As a family. And Chris was serious about it. Our family would wake up to the beach every morning. We could take morning family walks and watch the sun set over the ocean every night. Caleb could grow up surfing and loving the water like I used to when I was a child.

We would be a family.

Like I dreamed we would be when I was pregnant.

“Okay,” I said breathlessly.

“Really?” Chris asked. “You’re going to actually do it?”

“Yeah. I mean, if you’re serious about it,” I said.

“I’m very serious about it, Jessi. Look at me.”

I turned my eyes to meet his as I slid my sunglasses off my face.

“I’m very serious about it,” Chris said. “I want the two of you to move in with me. I want to do this together. I want to be a dad to Caleb and I want—”

I watched Chris reach out his hand as he wrapped it around mine.

“I want to be the man you’ve always deserved, Jessi. The man I know I am.”

I smiled as tears crested my eyes.

“I love you, Chris.”

“I love you too, Jessi.”

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his as Caleb slept on his chest. I could feel the love he had for me as his hand ran through my hair. He cupped the back of my head and held me to him, our lips resting together. I felt my body relax into him, and my arm slid around both his body, and that of my son.

Our son.

My arm slid around my family. I had a feeling so many more of these moments were in our future. A future that was shining as brightly as the sun that had lulled our baby boy to sleep.