She swings the pillow again with the force of a lumberjack.
I retaliate by picking up the first pillow she threw at me, and soon, I’m chasing her around the room, trying to land a good blow. I make sure to avoid any headshots, but I manage a smack against her butt that sends her flying onto the bed.
“You have an unfair advantage of being bigger!” she shrieks as she flips onto her back and starts furiously swinging the pillow at me. She can’t even see anything she’s laughing so hard.
“I think you have the advantage. You’re scrappier.”
I climb onto the bed, intending to bring the pillow down on her stomach, but she reaches up and tickles my ribs before I can do anything about it.
I fall to my side next to her, and she jumps on top of me. She’s a no-holds-barred pillow fighter.
“I can’t breathe I’m laughing so hard,” she gasps as her beating slows down.
She pins the pillow to my chest. And I stare up at her. Her eyes are bright, and her cheeks are flushed. Her hair is everywhere, and she’s breathing rapidly, an adorable, silly grin on her face.
And she’s sitting on my stomach.
I reach for her, grasping her hips. She giggles when my fingers dig into the sensitive curve, and I pull her forward to sit a little more comfortably.
“Oh dear, I guess I should have knocked,” a voice says.
Lucy gasps and attempts to leap off me, except I’m still holding on to her and too surprised to let go. We end up in an awkward tangle of limbs, and I get a knee to the inner thigh.
“Oomph.”
Lucy pats my back awkwardly and stands up. “I’m so sorry, Goldie—I—we, uh…we were making the bed, and I, er…”
Grandma laughs. “You don’t have to say anything. Felix and I had our fair share of pillow fights when we were young too.” She winks, and I do my best to scrub that idea from my mind. “I’m so glad to see you two having fun together. So many people get married and forget that the whole point is to enjoy each other. I know you two will last because of this.”
My stomach drops as I glance between Lucy and Grandma. Well, shoot. Now I’m going to have to pretend to be married to her for the rest of my life. I didn’t think of the ramifications of Grandma loving Lucy. I wanted her to like her, sure. But now she’s rooting for us to reach a fiftieth anniversary.
“Here, let’s make the bed real quick, Lucy,” I croak out.
She looks at me gratefully and scoops up the clean sheets that fell to the floor in our tussle. We both do our best to ignore Grandma watching us with a loving gaze.
TWENTY-THREE
Lucy
“You have everything you need, Grandma?” Miles asks as we follow her back down the hall after putting the bed together.
“Oh, yes, honey. I think I might get ready for bed, then go make myself a cup of tea to wind down. You know me; I’m a late-nighter. Don’t let me keep you two up,” she says with a wink.
I smile at her. “I have a box of vanilla tea in the cupboard, and it’s caffeine-free, if you want to try that. It’s my new favorite.”
“Oh, thank you. You’re so sweet.” She pats my shoulder and then stands there, staring at us.
I wish she would go to her room so that I can talk with Miles. I need to figure out where I’m supposed to sleep if she is sleeping in my room.
Because after that little pillow fight? I’m a little afraid I’m overly attracted to my husband.
She sighs as she looks at us. “I wish I had been there for your wedding…but I’m also so glad you have each other. Miles, you really picked a sweetheart.”
My heart lurches in my chest. I don’t know if it’s her kindness or my guilt causing it.
Miles grabs my hand and pulls me after him, toward his bedroom door.
My feet start dragging as we approach. There’s something very final about walking through that bedroom door. I’ve never seen inside it. And if I walk in there, our marriage is going to feel a lot more real.
