Page 113 of When I'm With You
“Are you doubting my baking prowess?” I ask, as I slide the latte I made for her across the island, picking up her left hand and running my thumb over the diamond on her ring finger. We got engaged a week after my retirement press conference. I bought the ring a few days after I made the decision to retire and was just waiting for the right moment. When a freak March snowstorm blew through the week after the press conference, I took it as a sign and proposed right here in the back yard in the middle of the storm. After I slid the ring on her finger and kissed the breath out of her, we collapsed back into the snow and laid there, holding hands, watching thesnow fall from the darkened sky. It was just the two of us and a perfect snowfall, and it was the best moment of my entire life.
She smiles gratefully, taking the first sip. “I mean, no? I’m just wondering if twelve dozen cookies might be too many cookies considering it’s just our friends and family coming over.”
I sigh dramatically, mainly for effect. “We’ve been over this, Juliette. We need everyone’s favorites. Hansley family tradition. And since all the Hansleys are coming over today, it had to be done.”
She smiles. “I know. I’m just fucking with you. I love when you make all the cookies. You look super hot all busy in the kitchen.”
“Hot, huh? Tell me more.” I saunter around the island until I’m crowded up between Julie’s legs. I slide my hands into her hair and tip her head up, taking her mouth in the kind of kiss that belongs in a dark bedroom and not a bright kitchen at seven thirty in the morning with the sun streaming through the windows. But I can’t help myself. I never can around her.
“That’s a hell of a way to start a morning,” Julie says, a little breathlessly, when we pull apart.
“The best way.” I wink at her and walk back around the island to grab the last tray of cookies from the oven.
“So, we’re all set for today,” she says, leaning her elbows on the island and propping her chin on her hands. “The food is coming at ten, and I told everyone to be here at ten thirty. Charlie already texted and told me they might be a little early because the girls woke them up at five and she is, and I quote, “so over parenting and ready to dump the kids on us and have a mimosa.”
I laugh, knowing that I’m about to spend at least a part of the morning in the pool entertaining kids while Charlie drapesherself over a lounge chair with a drink in her hand. She’s a whole entire mood.
“Works for me. It’ll be good practice.”
“Practice for what?”
“For when we have our own. I’m thinking at least four, with the option for five.”
Julie narrows her eyes at me. “Two, with the option for three.”
I scoff at her. “Two isn’t enough. Can’t play a good football game with just two kids.”
“Here’s a thought. What if your kids don’t want to play football? What if they want to, I don’t know, dance. Or do art. Or sit on the couch and read a book.”
“They’ll want to play football. It’ll be in their genes.”
“I don’t think you understand how genetics works.”
“You know what? I don’t really care how many of them we have or what activities they like. They’ll be awesome no matter what.”
“Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?”
“Because you’ll be their mom.”
Her breath stutters out at that, and I watch her eyes get misty. I round the island again and pull her up from her stool, wrapping myself around her. When I feel her arms go around my waist, I am one hundred percent sure no one in the world has ever felt as happy as I feel right now. It’s just not possible.
“I love you, Juliette. You are my whole entire world.”
“I love you too, Ash. It’s a good life we’re making here.”
“The best.”
I kiss the top of her head, closing my eyes and breathing in her honey vanilla scent, thanking whatever god is listening for bringing this woman into my life. For giving us to each other to love.
When we break apart, we look at each other for a beat, andtwin grins spread across our faces. I know what she’s thinking, and I’m thinking the same.
“I should go get dressed,” she says, taking a step away. I pull her back for one last kiss before releasing her. She walks towards the stairs while I start putting the now cooled cookies onto the platters I have waiting. She pauses for a minute, like she always does, when she passes the gallery wall of pictures from our road trip. When she moved in, the first thing she did was go through our shared album and choose pictures to frame and hang. I don’t even know if she realizes she does it, but I love seeing the soft smile that always takes over her face when she looks at the memories of the two weeks that changed both of our lives.
“Hey, Juliette?” I call as she turns away from the wall and heads up the stairs.
She turns back. “Yeah, Hot Shot?”
“You ready?”
