It felt monumental.Huge. It felt like the biggest step Charlotte had ever imagined taking with someone and like it still wasn’t enough.
“Right. I”—Sutton cleared her throat, biting her lip—“I really meant it; you should use it whenever you’d like.”
“Is this your way of telling me you can’t get enough of me, darling?” She toyed with the soft strands of Sutton’s hair that had fallen out of her ponytail, the question both teasing and serious.
“Yes,” Sutton answered, so seriously. With no possible pretense.
Charlotte’s heart pounded against her rib cage as butterflies erupted inside of her. “Good. Because I can’t get enough of you either.”
Sutton exhaled a soft, beautiful sound, the warmth of her breath washing over Charlotte’s cheek. The look in her eyes was intent, meaningful, as she spoke. “I want you here whenever you can be. With me. And with Lucy. I was thinking tonight could be the first night you stay over with her home?” Sutton suggested, her voice hopeful. “I’ve discussed it with her, the fact that you’d likely be staying here overnight.”
“And she’s okay with that?” Charlotte needed to clarify before she gave in completely to the light, thrumming feeling inside of her.
Sutton’s laugh was sharp and infectious. “Oh, she isthrilled. Expect an early wakeup call.”
“Then, I’m thrilled, too.” She really, truly was.
The smile that flashed over Sutton’s face was contagious, so bright Charlotte was entirely wrapped up in it.
“Why don’t we heat you up some dinner and you can tell me everything about what happened at the foundation? You have this look about you that tells me you feel very satisfied about your accomplishments today.” Sutton slid her hands away from Charlotte’s waist, intertwining their fingers as she started to lead the way out to the kitchen.
Charlotte followed without a second thought. “You’d be correct about that.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sutton had always enjoyedher birthday, as a rule.
Growing up, her parents made birthdays for all of their children very special. The birthday boy or girl got to pick what was for dinner; they got to pick their own themed party; it was a day forthem.
She’d been very lucky to have her parents and her family, something she’d always known, but it was a fact that had become more and more apparent as she’d gotten older.
Also as she’d gotten older, birthdays had taken on a new meaning.
Throughout her childhood, her adolescence, even into her young adulthood, she’d cared more about the celebration and about getting older. She’d wanted, very much, to be seen as an adult and to be taken seriously.
Now, and for the past decade, things had slowly changed. Especially since she’d had Lucy.
While birthdays were no less joyous, Sutton viewed them very differently.
She didn’t care about gifts anymore—not that she’d been a very materialistic child, but what kid didn’t love seeing a bundle of presents picked out especially for them?
Her outlook on the passage of time was drastically changed. Shewasan adult now, taken very seriously. And while she didn’t feel negatively about the concept of getting older—she’d had no panic when she’d hit thirty and continued to feel more than fine about aging—she’d come to start wishing the clock would slow down.
Not because ofherage, but because of how everything changed when it came to everyone else. How quickly it seemed Lucy was growing up. How much older her parents were getting.
The thought occurred to her now as she walked down the sidewalk next to her mother, toward the restaurant they were going to for dinner.
She gestured a few feet ahead of them, where Lucy was animatedly talking to Sutton’s father, clutching his hand as she jabbered on. “Remember when she was so little she’d climb Dad like a little monkey whenever you two were in town? And she’d cling to him, refusing to get down?”
Lucy was, admittedly—blessedly, because Sutton wasn’t ready for it to not be so—still little enough that she could easily be carried, especially in a piggyback. But she was such a ball of energy now that she often preferred to be walking, running, hopping, or skipping on her own two feet.
Her mom chuckled, lightly bumping her shoulder into Sutton’s. “Of course.” There was such a reverential warmth in her smile as she stared ahead at her husband and granddaughter. It remained in her gaze as she turned and looked at Sutton. “Then again, I remember the same about you. When you were so small, you’d curl up on my lap and still have room for your favorite stuffed animal to join you.”
And there it was, that little ache in the reminder of how time passed so quickly. One day, Sutton would have a birthday wherein she was walking down the street next to anadultLucy, and yes, she was not ready to think about that.
Shaking her head slightly, Sutton couldn’t help but return her mom’s grin. “If my childhood memory serves, you had a very comfortable lap to sit on for story time.”
Katherine laughed. “Well, I would offer to try to recreate the memory for you, sweetheart, but I’m not sure you’d get the same comfort from it, given that you’re even taller than I am now.”
