"That one afternoon, I kissed you. In the middle of the street, where a white truck zoomed past our connected lips. And boy, it caused problems we couldn't have seen, but wasn't it also amazing?"
...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Tranquil: the birds softly chirping outside, the father of your child laying beside you in bed, your sisters in the room just down the hall, and the sun peeking through the curtains. I didn't know I was able to feel this good after how I felt weeks ago with Lori. Here I was though.
Deen was awake but neither of us made a move to remove ourselves from bed. His chest was pressed against my back and he softly cupped my stomach. When his hand wasn't there, it was either interlaced with my hand or tapping a beat on the side of my thigh. I could feel him humming a song against my chest and it made this morning even more relaxing.
From outside the room, we could hear some shuffling which reminded us that we had two little girls in company with us. I soaked up the sound of the birds and Deen's hands around my body before the morning got to a start.
"The girls are up," Deen mumbled behind me.
"Yep," I said just as quietly. "Ready to take on today?"
"Let's get to it, baby. Here, let me help you up."
Deen got out of bed and helped me sit up and get on my feet. We walked to the bathroom to brush our teeth and rinse our faces. We weren't rushing or reaching over each other. Just laughing at toothpaste foam from our mouths and bumping hips.
We got to the spare room where the twins were. They were talking on the bed still in pajamas. My heart skipped a little.
"Good morning, girls," Deen said.
"Good morning," they sang back. They ran up to me and smiled. I leaned down as best as possible to kiss their foreheads. "Hi, sissy."
"Hi, my gorgeous girls. Sleep well?" The twins nodded. "Good."
"So," Deen started. "How do pancakes for breakfast sound? Chocolate chip, strawberry, blueberry? Whatever you guys want."
I had been craving chocolate chip pancakes for days now and Deen knew. I smiled at him and internally cheered.
Like the family we were, we marched downstairs in unison as the girls started arguing about whether they wanted blueberry or strawberry pancakes. I missed hearing their voices back and forth and it brought me back to the days of living in Mississippi.
"I vote strawberry," Pamela said.
"And I vote blueberry," Penny countered, giving Pam a calculated glare.
"How about both?" Deen proposed with a small smile. The girls slowly nodded, unsure if Deen was serious. "Good. It's settled then."
Deen began taking out the fresh fruit and chocolate chips along with all of the dry and wet ingredients to make pancakes. He had made me dozens of stacks of pancakes over the past month so we had everything in stock. I watched as he didn't request for the girls' or my help but just got into action. Some days, I didn't know how I was with a literal angel of a man—or at least when he wanted to be.
