Page 30 of Boss' Obsession

“I love you too, little girl.”

We go down to the car and start the hour-long drive home. In minutes, Beth settles into her seat and closes her eyes. I figured the trip might take a lot out of her, so I turn down the radio and let her sleep.

With the lights of the city in the rearview mirror and the darkness of the world coming through the windows, I spend the long, silent drive thinking about how our lives have come together. Before Beth, I couldn’t imagine anything becoming more important to me than my work. Now, I’m thinking that two days per week might be too much time away from my family. Maybe I’ll have the tech guys come out and wire my office so I can work from home all the time.

We arrive home and I gently shake Beth awake. She stretches and asks, “Why did you let me sleep? I could have kept you company.”

“You did keep me company. I like watching you sleep.”

I help her inside and we find her mother seated on the sofa, reading a book.

“How were they?” I ask her.

“Perfect as always. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s past my bedtime. I hope you guys had a wonderful time.”

“We did,” Beth answers. “Look what Bryan gave me.” She holds up her arm to show her mother the antique bracelet.

“It’s beautiful. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Her mother leaves and I make Beth her nightly cup of tea. We sit together on the sofa as she sips it by the fire. When she finishes, I help her up the stairs. We look in on all the children on our way to the master bedroom. She looks confused when I stop at the door to the empty nursery.

“Why are we stopping?” she asks.

“I have one more surprise for you.”

I open the door and switch on the light. In the center of the room sits the crib that I’ve been making with my father in the wood shop. He rubbed it down with tongue oil, causing the grain of the wood to glisten under the light, and tied a large red ribbon around its center. As promised, he delivered it while we were gone.

“This is beautiful,” Beth says, running her hand along the side rail. “Did your father make this?”

“No, I made it. Well, with his help and guidance of course.”

“Oh, Daddy. This is incredible. I can’t believe it.”

“So, you like it then?”

“I love it.”

I take my beautiful wife to the bedroom, helping her out of her sexy, red dress and into her nightshirt. From the bed, I watch as she brushes her hair and washes her face.

Soon, she’ll be bringing our fourth child into the world, yet she hasn’t changed a bit. As my hair starts to gray and a few tiny wrinkles form around my eyes, she continues to look like a perfect little angel.

She climbs under the covers and I put my arm around her, pulling her head to my chest. “Thank you for another perfect anniversary, Daddy.”

“Thank you for a perfect life, baby girl.”

The End.

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