“Aunt Jordan is coming!” Tressa squealed in joy. “Yay!”
Nina swam away toward the other two children as I called after her, “Don’t think I won’t get you later!”
At eight o’clock, all three kids had finished their baths and were ready for bed. Nina sat on Tressa’s bed with one of her mother’s clay animal sculptures in her hand as she told them the story of how my mother and hers were best friends and how Diana and Tressa were named after them. As she finished her story, she kissed them all one by one and said, “Okay, time for bed.”
Ethan spied me in the hallway, and intent on squeezing out every moment awake he could, asked, “Can Daddy tell us a story tonight? He never gets to tell us any.”
A five year old’s guilt trip is one of the most powerful things in the universe. The boy was destined to be a captain of industry with manipulation techniques like that. Nina looked up at me and waved me in, reluctantly submitting to Ethan’s request if the look on her face was any indication of her opinion on my storytelling that night.
“A story? I don’t really tell stories very well,” I teased as I sat down on the bed next to Nina.
Tressa jumped up on my lap and looked up at me with a plaintive look in her deep brown eyes. “Tell the story about the day we were born. I love the part about Ethan.”
Diana and Ethan climbed onto Nina’s lap and settled in for the best story I had. “I was a surprise,” he said, quickly jumping to the exciting part, as far as he was concerned.
“Yes, you were a surprise. Your mother and I thought only your sisters were going to be born that day. Imagine our surprise when the doctor said, “Mr. and Mrs. Stone, congratulations, you have three children.”
Unsatisfied by my storytelling, Tressa tugged on my shirt to get my attention. “Now you have to tell another one. That one doesn’t count.”
“How about the one about the first time I met Mommy?”
My son’s face told me he was unimpressed with my choice, but Diana and Tressa’s eyes lit up like they always did upon hearing I’d tell the story about that first night I met their mother. Nina just smiled, secretly loving the story, even if she didn’t believe it was the absolute truth.
“One night I decided to go to an art gallery, even though I don’t like art, and your mother was there. I saw her and fell in love at that very moment.”
Diana looked up at her mother and said, “And you didn’t even notice him, right Mommy?”
“Well…”
“No, she didn’t, honey,” I said, cutting Nina off before she ruined my version of our meeting. “I tried to get her attention, but she looked right past me. I left the gallery sad that I hadn’t gotten to speak to her, but when I came back because I just had to know who that beautiful woman was, I finally got my chance to say hi.”
“And as soon as she got to talk to you, she fell in love too, right?” Tressa asked, her eyes wide in anticipation.
“I don’t know. Did you?” I asked Nina as I looked over at her.
“Did you, Mommy?” Diana asked.
“Of course,” Nina answered with a smile. “Now it’s time for bed for all my munchkins. Let’s go.”
Tressa climbed off my lap and into bed as Nina placed Diana into her bed. As I tucked Tressa in with her Teddy bear, she said, “Tomorrow when we go swimming, I’m going to go to the deep end like Diana.”
I gave her a kiss goodnight and smoothed her dark brown hair over her pillow. “It’s a date then. We’ll go to the deep end together. I love you, Tressa.”
Nina and I exchanged children, and while she said goodnight to Tressa, I kissed Diana goodnight with her Teddy bear. Her little hands reached up to cradle my face, and she whispered, “I like your stories, Daddy. I’m glad you’re going to come swimming again tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, sweetheart. Sweet dreams. I love you.”
As the girls curled up underneath their blankets with their stuffed animals tightly in their little arms, Nina and I took Ethan’s hands and walked him to his room next door. Jumping into bed, he scooted under the covers. “Why do you always tell girl stories, Daddy?”
Nina chuckled and kissed his forehead as she placed his bear next to him. “Good night, honey. I love you.”
I stood next to his bed, and when she was out of earshot, I leaned over and kissed him goodnight, whispering, “We’re in the minority here, buddy. There are more girls than guys, so a lot of times, we have to deal with girlie stuff.”
Ethan’s tiny bottom lip jutted out into a pout like his mother’s. “I don’t like that.”
Smoothing his light brown hair off his forehead, I nodded. “It’s just the way it is, buddy. It’s not so bad, though. Girls are okay.”
Twisting his face into a grimace, he reluctantly agreed. “I guess.”
“Goodnight, Ethan. I love you.”
“Goodnight, Daddy. I love you too.”
I found Nina lying across the bed looking exhausted after a long day. Still as beautiful as that first night at the gallery, she smiled as I approached her. “What did Ethan want to talk about?”
Sitting down next to her, I said, “Too many girls in the castle.”
“Do you think he gets sick of spending all of his time with females? Maybe I should look for a playdate for him with one of the boys at school.”
Leaning back, I turned to kiss her. “I think that’s nice, but he just wants more manly stories. Maybe I could tell him the Iron Man story next time.”
Nina raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “He’s not even six years old, Tristan. Iron Man seems a bit much.”
“It’s never too early for a man to learn about heroes, Nina, and there’s none cooler than Iron Man.”
“He’s got a cooler one right here in his dad,” she said sweetly.
I pulled her on top of me for a long, deep kiss. Between work and being the parents to three very active children, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had the chance to just be myself with my wife.
Looking into my eyes, she gave me a devilish grin. “I think you might need another towel. You never know who’s going to come in to interrupt us.”
I ran my hands down her back to cup her ass. Pulling her into my body, I shook my head. “No towel this time, lady. I can be ready to go in ten seconds after I lock the door. You give me the sign, and we’re on.”