The love in her eyes told me her answer even before she opened her mouth. “Drew, I can’t even begin to tell you how I’m feeling right now. I love you so much, and…I feel…” Her voice cracked, and she closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, she looked into my eyes like she was looking into my soul. “I’ve never been so happy in my life. Everything just feels so right. It all feels…perfect.” A single tear moved slowly down her face.
I kissed her gently on the lips and then whispered, “Yeah, sweetheart, I know how you feel because I feel the same way. I’ll never be able to tell you how happy you’ve made me, how much I’m in love with you, Ellie, and how that love grows more and more every day.”
“Drew…” she whispered as she reached up and wiped away a tear from my cheek.
“You’ve made me so happy by just loving me, Ells…and by…by giving me Alex and Colt…” My voice cracked as I tried to hold back the overwhelming love I was feeling for this woman. I smiled at her as I pushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “It’s…it’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of and wanted.”
“Why. Does. It. Have. To. Be. So. Hot? I hate Texas in July,” I said as I kicked my feet in Jeff and Ari’s new pool.
Ari was sitting on the edge with Grace, who was splashing and laughing.
“I can’t believe that Grace, Will, and Libby are going to be one next month,” I said as I tried to lean over and splash water on my face.
“I know. It goes by so fast. I still can’t believe Luke is two,” Ari said as she smiled a soft, sweet smile.
I dropped my head back and felt the hot sun on my face. The baby had been moving all over the place today. I felt a funny pain and put my hand on my stomach.
Luke and Alex both came running out of the house and started jumping around in the pool. Grace immediately began crying, and Ari picked her up and put her on her lap.
“Luke, you know better than to run around the pool and splash Grace. She’s smaller than you. You have to protect her, not hurt her.”
Luke tilted his head and peeked at Ari with his beautiful long lashes.
Oh…he melts my heart in an instant.
“Don’t fall for it, Jessie. They learn early how to work you,” Ari said. She turned back toward Luke and said, “Well?”
Luke walked up to Grace, gave her a kiss on the head, and quickly said, “Sorry,” before turning and playing with Alex.
I felt Scott come and sit behind me. He moved his body up against me and put his legs on the outside of mine, dipping his feet into the pool water.
“Damn that feels good. What is it outside? A hundred degrees?” Scott asked as he lifted my ponytail. He began kissing my neck.
“Oh, that feels good,” I whispered.
“Knock it off, you horny bitch. My kids are right here,” Ari said as she winked at me.
I let out a laugh as I watched Gunner pull up a chair for Ellie and Colt. Ellie looked exhausted but so happy. She glanced over and smiled at me. Then, she looked at my stomach and let out a giggle.
“Jessie, you have to be having a boy. You are all belly,” Ellie said.
Ari’s dog, Scarlet, came up to me and began nudging my arm. I picked up my arm and began petting her softly. I closed my eyes, and an image of Trey popped into my head. I hadn’t thought about him in months. I still felt like the accident was entirely my fault. If I had just waited for Scott, Trey wouldn’t have tried to force me to leave, and the accident would never have happened.
When I’d met Trey’s mother and father, they’d told me that Trey had been having some emotional problems. That had been one of the reasons his fiancée had left him and he’d stayed in Belize for so long. He had been hiding from a life he didn’t want to go back to.
Would things have been different for him if he hadn’t met me? Would he have gone home and led a different life? A happy life?
I opened my eyes and looked over at Ari, who was staring at me.
She has some kind of sixth sense, I swear.
She always seemed to know when I was feeling guilty.
She gave me a slight smile and shook her head. “Stop,” was all she had to say.
I did just that. I quickly pushed all thoughts of Trey from my mind.
I felt the pain in my stomach again, and I quickly looked around. Jeff was now leaning down, kissing Ari, as Grace was reaching out for him. Alex and Luke were pouring water over each other. Josh and Heather were in the water with Will and Libby. Ellie was talking to Heather while Scott was in a deep conversation with Josh about making a bench for the end of our bed. He wanted Josh to help him make it. Gunner walked around, holding a sleeping Colt. Matthew was sitting in one of the lounge chairs, playing a video game.
I turned and looked at all of our parents. They were all sitting under the covered pavilion that Scott, Jeff, and Gunner had made. Sharon, Grace, Elizabeth, and Sue were all sitting together, laughing at something Emma was saying. Jack, Brian, Philip, Mark, Greg, and my father were all listening to a story Garrett was telling.
I tilted my head and looked around at four generations of friends.
Gunner started humming, and Alex must have heard him because she got out of the pool and ran up to him. She started asking him to put the baby down and hold her. I giggled at how jealous she was of Colt getting attention from her daddy.
Gunner smiled down at her. “You miss your daddy’s cuddle straps?”
“What?” Josh, Jeff, and Scott all said at once.
Gunner smiled as he handed Colt to Ellie. “Yeah, my cuddle straps,” he said as he flexed his arms.
Ellie rolled her eyes.
Ari said, “Oh, for the love of all things good, Gunner.”
Jeff, Josh, and Scott all looked at each other and then back at Gunner as they started laughing.
Jeff shook his head. “Pussy.”
Ari smacked Jeff. “Jeff! The kids, for Christ’s sake.”
Jeff turned and looked at Ari. “See! See, this is why your dad gets pissed at me when the kids swear. You get mad at me when I swear, but you swear at me for swearing. Why can you swear at me, but I can’t swear? How is that fair, Ari?”
She took a sip of water and smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t know, but in my father’s eyes, it’s fair.”
Jeff just looked at Ari and smiled as Luke dumped water over Ari’s head. She screamed and jumped up. She grabbed Luke and gave him a tickle attack.
“Are Brad and Amanda still planning on coming out?” Heather asked Josh.