After, he takes a moment before pulling out and turning me to face him.
I look up at him, taking in the scar on his cheek, the lines on his face, the love in his eyes. The thing that parenting with King has taught me? That there are exceptional men out there who will go to the ends of the earth for their family. That parenting might be the hardest damn job on the planet, but sharing that job with one of those exceptional men makes it so you’re never alone even when you feel the alonest you’ve ever felt. And it’s taught me that I can do hard things because I have a man right by my side who will help me do even the most impossible thing.
I never had any of this with my first husband, but I have it all and more with King.
“I love you for so many reasons, King, but mostly I just love you because you’re you.”
My husband can be a man of few words, but he’s never a man of few emotions. With me, anyway. Most people don’t see all his emotions. They don’t know how to read him like I do. All I have to do to read King is look in his eyes. His heart is always there for me. It’s in the way he watches me. And right now, he’s watching me so intently with eyes that tell me I’m his everything.
He doesn’t verbalise any of this because that’s not his way. Instead, he shows me all this like he has for nineteen years. Brushing a kiss across my lips, he says, “I’m going to cook breakfast and the kids are going to sit and eat with us this morning. Then, I’m going to spend this morning thinking abouteverything you’ve said. This afternoon, after I talk with Travis, I want the three of us to sit down together and go over shit. We’re gonna make changes, Lily.”
“Okay, but maybe you and I need to discuss those changes first.”
He nods. “Can you drop into the clubhouse around lunchtime?”
I mentally work through my day and am halfway through that when he adds, “If not, I’ll put some shit off and come home before Travis gets home from school so we can talk.”
“No, I should be able to make it to the clubhouse today.”
“If you can’t, I’ll make shit happen on my end.”
I pull his face back down to mine so I can kiss him again.
I take my time with this kiss, deepening it and losing myself in it all over again. Losing myself inhimall over again. If I could have one thing today, it would be hours and hours spent alone with this man.
When I finally let him go, he looks down at me and growls, “You need to get all the kids out of the house next weekend to sleepovers or camps or any-fucking-thing that gives me forty-eight hours with your cunt.”
“Only if you promise to bring me flowers.”
King gives me that same look he gave me earlier. The one that says he loves me but doesn’t know what to do with me at times. I mean, the man has never brought me flowers, so we both know he’s not about to start now. I just like to play with him sometimes.
He then takes charge and gets us both clean before leaving me to get dressed and ready for the day while he goes to make breakfast and round our kids up to eat together.
I take my time getting ready while thinking about the day ahead.
King and I might be in the middle of a teenage shitstorm with three teens still under our roof, but there’s no denying that right now he’s made it so I feel like we could take on the world and survive together.
King’s POV
7:00 a.m.
“Travis! Breakfast is ready,”I call out as I finish plating the bacon and eggs I’ve cooked.
“He’s in a fuck of a mood this morning,” Cade says, reaching for a mug to make coffee.
I eye my son. “Watch your language around your mother and sister, Cade.”
Meredith rolls her eyes as she walks into the kitchen. “Honestly, Dad, you never stop swearing. It’s not like Mum and I haven’t heard it all before.”
“She’s got a point,” Cade agrees.
I hit him with the look that tells him not to push this. I never imagined I’d tell someone to watch their language, but I’ve been telling my sons to do exactly that from the age they started swearing. I don’t give a fuck if they swear with their friends or around me, but I’ve made it clear they’re to watch it when they’re with anyone else. And contrary to popular opinion of my kids’, I’ve toned my shit down over the years.
“Can you please set the table, Meredith?” I ask.
She looks at me with a less-than-impressed expression. “The gender inequality that goes on in this house is more than noted.”
Lily joins us as our daughter expresses her thoughts. The smile that lifts her lips at the ends is more than noted by me. Mywife finds it highly amusing to sit back and watch my kids school me.
