Shattered Pieces

Twenty

Spencer

I roll to my right, propping my head up on my hand. Olivia sound asleep beside me is the best way to wake up. I've taken this view for granted for the past three and a half years. Going to sleep and waking up without her has been hell the past few weeks. A smile forms on my face as I watch the easy rise and fall of her chest.

I've noticed the soft lines forming on her face the past few weeks, the dark circles under her eyes. This separation, or whatever it is that we're doing, hasn't been easy on either of us. Right now, however, her black curls partially cover her face; there are no harsh lines and no dark circles. She seems like she's at peace.

My forehead carefully falls to hers, and I breathe in her scent of peaches and vanilla before pressing a tender kiss to the bridge of her nose.

"Good morning, beautiful," I whisper.

Her eyelids flutter a few times before slowly opening. A smile forms on her face, and she reaches her hand up slowly to caress my cheek. Her movements are so hesitant like she doesn't believe I'm real­— like there's no way I'm actually lying next to her right now.

"Hi, handsome." She smiles at me.

"Last night was—"

"Exactly how the first night we met should've ended." My wife cuts me off with a wink.

"How do you know I was even feeling you that much that night?" I tease.

"Oh, please. I had you eating out of the palm of my hand." She tilts her head up and presses her lips to mine.

"Still do, Olivia. Still do." I kiss her twice more.

We hear a little commotion downstairs which is concerning because Olivia and I should be the only ones in this condo. Spending the night with my wife was not initially part of the plan for our date night, but one thing led to another, and a round in the car turned into a nightcap which turned into a round or four at the condo. Both exhausted, we decided it'd be easier just to stay the night here and fell into the bed.

"Stay here. I'll go see what that noise is." I kiss the top of her head before slipping out of bed and sliding on a pair of pants.

"No shirt, Mr. James? Are you trying to give our intruder a show?" She smirks at me.

"Gotta use every weapon at your disposal, Mrs. James." I wink at her.

As I make my way toward the stairs, the noise becomes more prominent. I was just playing around with my wife at first, but it really does sound like someone is in here. I cautiously make my way down the stairs moving closer to the noise until I come face to face with...

"Jordan?! The hell are you doing here? And where is my son?"

"Jordan??" My wife's voice rings out behind me.

"Olivia, I told you to stay upstairs." I turn to her incredulously. Luckily, it's only Jordan. Had it been a real intruder and she followed me...

If something happened to her, I wouldn't know what to do. I wouldn't survive it.

"Jordan... where is Grayson?" She ignores me, returning to the most important question of the morning.

"Hear that, lil G? Your parents didn't forget they have a baby. They had us scared for a second when they didn't show back up last night and didn't send a text, didn't they?"

Shit. I guess we could have at least sent a text.

"Dada!" I hear my son's tiny voice and soon hear his little hands slamming into the ground as he crawls from the family room to the kitchen.