“You’re not, but you will be.”
“What are you going to do? Snap your fingers and – voila! – I’m over it.”
“Nope.” He brushes my hair from my forehead. “I’m going to show you how real families act.”
I want a real family. More than anything. But I’m afraid to reach for it.
Adele babbles over the baby monitor. “Baby girl is awake.” Zane sets me on my feet. “We’ll continue this conversation later.”
He kisses me quick before strolling down the hallway toward the nursery. For someone who was scared of babies a year ago, he’s a great dad.
Time to make some breakfast and show Zane I don’t burn everything. I gather eggs and sausage from the refrigerator.
“Good morning, baby girl,” Zane greets Adele over the baby monitor and I pause to listen to him as he begins to sing.
Rise and shine, baby mine. It’s time to wiggle that cute behind. The sun’s up high, the day’s brand new, and Daddy’s got a song for you.
I hear him making his way down the hallway and hustle to the stove to start on breakfast before he catches me eavesdropping.
“Here you go, baby girl.” Zane lays her down on her playmat in the corner with her baby gym.
Boozer prances into the room and zeroes in on the baby. I wag my finger at him and he pauses. I return my attention to making breakfast.
Zane makes me a coffee and hands it to me with a kiss on my hair. “Smells good.”
“I went with scrambled eggs since I didn’t know what kind of eggs you prefer.”
“Sounds good,” he says before sitting at the table with his coffee and pulling out his phone.
I sigh. This morning is everything I’ve ever dreamed of. No one fighting. No one snarling at me. No one claiming I’m trying to steal her boyfriend.
Just a nice, peaceful, relaxing morning with the two people I love most in the world. I could get used to this. Fear tries to rear its ugly head but I shove it down. I refuse to ruin these moments because I’m afraid of the future.
I’ll live in the moment. That’s one good thing Mom tried to teach me. I never listened, though. It’s hard to enjoy a good moment when you don’t know if you’re going to be homeless in the next one.
I shove thoughts of my childhood away and finish breakfast. As I’m bringing the plates to the table, I check on Adele.
I gasp. Boozer is laying next to her.
“Boozer,” I growl.
Zane chuckles. “Your dog loves Adele.”
“A little too much,” I mutter.
I open the sliding door and motion to Boozer. “Come on. Go outside and do your business.”
He barks before rushing outside. Adele cries and reaches for him.
Zane stands to pick her up. “It appears she loves Boozer as much as he loves her.”
I grasp his hand to stop him. “Wait.”
“What?”
I point to Adele. She’s now on her front, trying to follow my dog. She grunts with frustration before pushing up and crawling.
I gasp. “She’s crawling!”
