“Yes. Does that really surprise you?” She smiled.
“No, it doesn’t. What did you come up with?”
“I want to name our son Collin, after your twin brother.”
As I put my hand on her large belly, I smiled at her. “I would love to call my son Collin. Thank you, sweetheart,” I said as I kissed her.
“Good, I’m glad you’re on board with it. I really wasn’t sure how’d you feel about it.”
“Collin would be honored to have his nephew named after him.”
Ellery smiled and went back to her sketch pad. I answered some emails and read some articles.
“By the way, how’s Ben doing?” she asked.
“Ben’s doing good. He’s settled in his office, and he’s buried up to his neck in legal bullshit.”
“I think it’s great that you hired him, and I know Cassidy is happy.”
“He’s a great lawyer. He’s marrying my sister, and he’ll be at all the family functions. How could I not hire him?” I winked.
“Just think, this time tomorrow, we’ll have our second child. I never thought I’d have one child, let alone two,” Ellery said.
“Me neither, baby. I never saw kids in my future, until I met you.” I smiled as I looked over at her. She looked so tired. I pushed her hair behind her ear and ran the back of my hand across her cheek. “Why don’t you put your sketch pad away and get some sleep. You look tired.”
“I am tired. It’s been a long day,” she said as she closed her sketch pad and set it on the nightstand. She leaned over and gave me a kiss on the lips. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I smiled.
It hadn’t even been five minutes and Ellery was sound asleep. I was thirsty, so I got out of bed and headed downstairs for a bottle of water. On my way back up, I stopped into the spare bedroom that we had turned into a nursery. I flipped the light switch and looked around. The painted ocean blue walls with colorful fish, coral, and seaweed made you feel like you were standing in the bottom of the ocean. The turtles Ellery had painted on the wall were amazing, as were the stars up above on the ceiling. She spent three months painting the room and she just finished putting the final touches on it yesterday. I smiled at the thought that come tomorrow, I’d have a son, and we’d finally be a family of four.
Chapter 39 Ellery Six years later…
We took the kids out to dinner before heading over to FAO Schwarz. Christmas was in three weeks and the kids were excited to see Santa Claus. We sat in the restaurant, waiting for our food. Julia was sitting next to Connor, and Collin was sitting next to me. Both kids were coloring a picture. Julia kept looking at the group of women who were at the next table. They kept looking over at Connor. I noticed her looking at them, but I didn’t say anything. The waitress walked over and set our food down in front of us.
“Julia, eat your chicken fingers,” Connor said.
“I will, Daddy, don’t worry,” she responded as she kept looking at the table next to us.
I knew those women were staring at my husband and, after all these years, I still had a problem with it. But I’d toned it down, and I didn’t embarrass Connor as much. Out of the clear blue, Julia looked at Connor.
“Daddy, those women keep staring at you and that’s rude.”
I almost choked on my salad as I started to laugh. Connor looked at me with wide eyes.
“I know, Julia. Don’t worry about it. Just finish your dinner,” he said.
“Mommy, why do they keep staring over here?”
“They keep staring because they think your daddy is very handsome. Now, finish your dinner so we can go see Santa Claus.”
Julia smiled as she ate her chicken. Collin was being a good boy and eating his dinner because he was excited to go to the toy store. As we finished eating, the waitress brought our bill and Connor paid. When we got out of the booth, I took Collin’s hand and Connor grabbed Julia’s. As we were leaving, I instantly froze when I heard Julia speak.
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that staring is rude?” Julia said to the women at the table next to us.
I heard Connor apologizing to them as I smiled and kept walking. When we stepped outside the restaurant, Connor stopped and looked at me.
“Did you hear what your daughter said back there?”
“Yes.” I laughed.
“It isn’t funny, Ellery. She embarrassed me. Now I have to worry about her too?”
I kissed Connor on the lips. “Yeah, I guess you do,” I said as I patted his chest.
“Aren’t you going to say anything to her?” he whispered.
“Why don’t you?” I asked.
When we were walking down the street to FAO Schwarz, Connor stopped and bent down so he was eye level with Julia. “Julia, what you did back at the restaurant embarrassed Daddy, and I don’t want you to do that ever again. Okay?”
“Why, Daddy? Mommy and Aunt Peyton say things to people all the time if they are doing something rude.”
Connor shot me a look and I couldn’t help but laugh. He stood up, took her hand, and growled at me. “Great, she’s just like you.”
“Aw, you love it. She’s protecting her daddy.” I smiled as I hooked my arm around his.
We entered through the doors of FAO Schwarz and the kids were in Heaven. The first thing we did was get in line to see Santa. The line wasn’t too long, and all the Christmas decorations and animated people keep the kids occupied. Connor put his arm around me and kissed my head. I smiled as I rested my head on his shoulder. Julia and Collin got along great. She was protective of her brother and stuck up for him, even with us. It was finally our turn and both kids went and sat on Santa’s lap.
“What do you want for Christmas?” he asked Collin.
“I want a bike and a train set,” he said.
“And what about you, pretty girl?” Santa asked Julia.
“I want an easel and paints, so I can paint beautiful pictures like my mommy. Oh, and I want new Barbies and a baby doll, but it has to be the one that goes potty and comes with diapers and a bottle and really cute clothes. I want jewelry so I can sparkle like a princess. I want this really cool four-story dollhouse with all the furniture and the family of four.”
“My, oh my, you sure want a lot of things,” Santa said.
“Of course I do, Santa. It’s Christmas, and my daddy said I can have anything I want. So I want all that.” Julia smiled as she got off his lap. She started walking way, stopped, and turned around. “Oh Santa, I also want an iPad. The 128GB in white with a Hello Kitty case.” She smiled.
I looked at Connor. “What?” he asked.
“And you blame me,” I said.
He laughed as we walked over and took the kids’ hands.
“That’s a pretty long list of things, Julia,” Connor said.
“Not really, Daddy. There’s more. I’ll give you my complete Christmas list when we get home. I’ve been adding to it for months.”
Connor shook his head and looked at me. I guess I was going to have to have a little talk with Julia on what Christmas was really about. When we reached the big piano, Collin and Julia ran to it as fast as they could. The piano was their favorite part of the store. Connor and I stood back and watched as our two beautiful children played on it.
“Standing here, like this, I feel like I’m watching me and Cassidy,” Connor said.
“It’s amazing how fast time flies.”
“I bought it,” Connor said as he looked at me.
“Bought what?” I asked.
“The big piano. I bought it for them for Christmas. That way we could all play on it, together as a family.” He smiled.
I stood there and shook my head. “What?” he asked.
“I bought one too.”
Connor pulled me into him and kissed my head. “Great minds think alike, baby. That’s okay; we’ll keep one at the penthouse and one at the beach house.”