JUNE 25
I leaned down and kissed the top of Stryker's head. He tried to pull away, which wasn't something that my son usually did, but he had just seen his grandfather enter the room. He was excited to play outside with him. "I love you, little man. Make sure you're good for Mamie and Pappy, okay?"
My son nodded. He had pulled away from me and was already following my dad outside, where I assumed they were going to play some game together. Stryker loved playing games with his Pappy. And, of course, Dad loved finally being able to do all the boy stuff that he couldn't do when I was a kid.
"We'll be back in one week, okay, Stryker?" Alex called.
"Okay!"
Mom shook her head, watching the two boys run outside. "Your father acts like a little kid again every time Stryker comes over. He loves it."
"Well, Stryker loves it, too," I said. "Thank you so much for taking him, Mom. We really appreciate it."
"Oh, it's not a problem. We love having him. You two go and enjoy yourselves. You're going to the British Virgin Islands, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah. We'll be on planes for about thirteen hours. But I can't wait to get there. It's going to be so amazing. I'll be able to lay out on the beach and suntan. Well, I probably won't actually tan, because of the skin that I inherited from you."
"Sorry about that. You can blame my own mother," Mom said. "Make sure you wear lots of sunscreen."
I smirked at my husband. "Oh, don't worry. I will." And I was going to have fun having my husband put it on me.
Alex cleared his throat. He knew me well enough to know what that smirk meant. Let's just say that he would get mighty embarrassed if I were to share all of the escapades that we got up to in the privacy of our bedroom. And most of them were my idea. Alex was smart, but he didn't have the dirty mind that I did.
"All right. We better head out. Thank you again, Merlin. It's nice to be able to get away for a little while. As much as I love Stryker, it's hard to have some quiet time with my wife with a child in the house."
"Oh, I know. I know quite well how that goes."
We waved and made our way back to the car.
"One year," I said, getting buckled into the passenger seat. "I can't believe that we've been married for an entire year already."
He gave me a goofy grin, starting the car. "It's been the best year of my life," he told me, as he began driving toward the airport. It would take us about half an hour to get there.
I rolled my eyes. "You are so cheesy."
"Yeah, but you love it."
Well, I did. But I wasn't going to tell him that.
"How are Maddie and Sammy doing?" he asked me. "You went to visit them this morning, on your way home from the store, didn't you?"
I nodded. "Yeah. They're doing pretty good. I mean, they're both exhausted, but they're good. I can't believe how big Nathan is getting, though. He's two and a half months old already. It's crazy."
"I know."
"You know what's even more insane, though?"
"What?"
"Maddie says that they want like, seven kids. Seven. I'd go nuts if I had that many kids. No more than three for me."
Alex shook his head. "No kidding. Especially since we want all boys. Three will be more than enough. Although, if anyone can handle having seven kids, it's your twin. She's amazing with kids."
"She is."
I looked down at my lap. Alex and I knew that we wanted to have more kids at some point. We just hadn't really talked about when, though. And seeing my tiny nephew again made me realize something.
"Alex? Seeing Nate today…I realized that I miss having a little baby. I mean, I don't really miss the late nights, and the crying, and the stinky diapers. But I miss holding a tiny human in my arms and watching them grow bigger every day. I miss the first laugh, the first step, the first smile. All of that stuff. I miss having a baby."
"You think we're ready for a baby?"
"I am. Are you?"
He was quiet for a little while, thinking about it. Then he nodded, smiling widely. "You know what? I am. I do have to warn you, though. I have no previous experience with infants. Not really. I mean, I was twelve when Lorrie was born, but I wasn't too interested in babies at that point. I was too focused on school. I didn't really help out much with her."
"I know. You'll do fine, I'm sure. You've been so great with Stryker."
"Yeah, but Stryk is not a baby. He's older, and I think that's a little easier."
I shrugged. "In some ways. Older kids understand more. But older kids are much more mobile and have all kinds of ornery ideas. Anyway, I do have some experience with infants, so we'll make it work. I think now is a good time to start trying. I don't want too huge of a gap between Stryker and his next sibling. I mean, even if we get pregnant right away, he'll still be six before this one is born. I'm okay with a six-year gap, but –"
"Any more than that will probably be too much," he finished for me. "I think Stryker is ready for a brother or sister. I know he wants one. I think it will be good to expand our family now. I think we're all ready for it that next step."
I felt a smile pull at my lips. "I think so, too. So, we're going to try for a baby." I couldn't believe how excited I was about that. I really did want another baby. "Alex, I am so happy that I met you. You have been so good for me and Stryker."
"The feeling is pretty mutual, Mac. You guys are my world. And I'm glad that we're going to try for another baby, that we're going to increase our family."
