August 21st 2021
- Taylor -
"Sleep tight, monkey man," I smile as I blow Auggie a kiss, the little guy almost asleep in his crib. Rosie is already asleep, and Karlie is getting ready in our room while the two girls hang out downstairs. I still can't really believe that I let Karlie and Lilah convince me that this is a good idea, but the girls are responsible and Kar and I really do need a little time to ourselves - but my anxiety couldn't handle this being a frequent thing.
I peek in on Rosie on the way past, but the little one is still fast asleep with her arm propped safely beside her so she doesn't hurt herself in her sleep. We spoke to the school and they told us that they'd speak to the girls involved, having been able to name them after checking the CCTV. Ro has been kept away from them since, with Dixie playing bodyguard after hearing what happened to her cousin. We spoke to Lily and she said that the girl is in Dixie's class and she's been in trouble before. However, if she comes near Ro again then we will be taking this further.
"You look beautiful," I smile as I find Karlie in front of the mirror, the model flattening her dress over her stomach. "Do I look pregnant?" I laugh as I wrap my arms around her waist, "you're only six weeks, Karls, you don't look pregnant just yet." I press a soft kiss to her neck and she sighs, "I already feel like nothing fits right."
I frown as I turn her towards me, taking in her full appearance. I shake my head and I can feel Karlie watching me as I take in every inch of her body. "I think you're right, you would look so much better without the dress," she rolls her eyes as pushes my shoulder and I pull her into my arms, "you are just as beautiful today as you were the day we met, Karlie, and you're only going to become more ethereal as you grow our child. Don't you ever question that, okay?"
She melts as she stares into my eyes and I pull her into a soft kiss, she's the love of my life and nothing will ever stop me being in awe of her beauty - especially not her being pregnant with our baby.
"Are you ready to go?" Karlie hums as she pulls away and I nod, "I just need to grab my shoes, but both kids are asleep so we're good to go." She nods in agreement so she goes off downstairs to speak to the girls while I grab my shoes and then follow her.
I sit down on the sofa to put my shoes on as Karlie questions Lilah and Antonia, making sure they know who to contact if something happens or if they can't get in contact with us. "We should only be a couple of hours, there's money on the island for pizza and the little ones should stay asleep until we get back, okay?" Lilah rolls her eyes at me as she laughs, "we know, mom, it's okay. Go and celebrate your anniversary, we'll all still be in one piece when you get back." I give her a look to disapprove of her sarcasm as Karlie offers a hand to help me back to my feet. "We love you, be good," I kiss Lilah's cheek and she laughs, "I love you too, mom."
Karlie and I grab our coats from the hallway closet and I take her hand as we go out to the waiting car. We don't typically take security with us these days, but I have them at the house tonight because we won't be in and it makes me feel better about going, but Ian also suggested we take a driver so neither of our cars are missing from the driveway. The lengths we have to go through to keep ourselves and our kids safe is scary sometimes, but we'd go to the ends of the earth to protect them.
"My love," I open Karlie's door, helping her in as she smiles at me. I close it and then get in beside her, telling the driver where we're going. "Are you feeling okay?" I check with her for the millionth time today, Karlie laughing as she takes my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze, "I'm fine, Teff, and the kids are going to be fine. The girls are old enough and responsible enough to handle a couple of hours without us, and we both know they're just going to end up ordering pizza and making out on the couch like they usually do on a Saturday night."
