His Love, My Choice (Book 2) [Completed] - book 1 on Inkitt dot com

Chapter 24 - Laera & Liam

Liam

I was still in a state of disbelief that we'd made it to this point.

Sitting across the massive island in our kitchen was my beautifully pregnant wife, Mrs. Laera King.

"Liam, are you hearing this?" she said as she grabbed a piece of toast and began to slather it with raspberry jam, Cyn's favorite, before handing it to a very contented little girl in her new pink dress.

They'd just returned from shopping before we all sat down for breakfast. Sheila and her husband had been adamant about heading back home to take care of their restaurant, and my girl wouldn't hear of them leaving before she'd gotten a chance to spend some quality time with them. So, after convincing them that the fastest way they would make it back would be to forgo the tickets for their return flight and let me fly them privately, I'd called in a favor to have the entire Harrod's shopping luxury department store shuttered for a few hours.

We'd pulled up in a series of Range Rovers, our tiny party of thirty, which included a security detail, and everyone was allowed to roam freely. But it was Cyn who was truly like a kid in a candy store when she'd discovered a quaint boutique for little girls that paired frilly dresses with a matching outfit for a custom-made doll.

Unsurprisingly, the Cortez's only picked up a few minor things as mementos of their trip and primarily for their friends and family back home.

I'd watched Laera as we walked in and out of store after store, and even though I had the staff catering to her every whim, there was nothing that persuaded her one way or another to spend money. I could see that the way to spoil her was just going to have to be having a private showing at the house or perhaps having everything bespoke and customed to her liking.

But she practically sparkled beside me with that huge rock on her finger and the way her silk shirt dress draped beautifully over her curves.

Even now, in the middle of this gigantic chef's kitchen, with all of us around, it still seemed as if she was holding court, and we were all her very loyal subjects.

"Daddy, I want down now, pwease," Cyn said with a mouth full of toast and jam.

"I got her," Laera said as she was sitting directly beside my little girl but I'd gotten there first somehow when she was just a hairs breath away from lifting Cyn off her chair.

"You're not supposed to be lifting her at this stage in your pregnancy, sweetheart. Just leave that to me from now on," I tried to say it in a way that wasn't admonishing because I knew that, just like me, it was impossible to resist that jam-stained little face.

But when I was rewarded with a soft kiss on the lips from her and a sticky jam fingerprint on the sleeves of my dress shirt once I'd placed Cyn in Veron's awaiting arms, I knew that I'd struck the right balance. Even Veron had a pep in her step and had been laughing and joking along with all the others as she and Cyn waived goodbye for the latter's bath time.

"Ah, my sweet, sweet cariña. I am, no, we are so happy for you," I overheard Sheila say as she brought up her hand from the side of Laera's waist to cup her face. Then she planted a kiss on the side of both of her cheeks, and I feared that it was going to be a repeat of the cry-fest that had occurred right after the wedding.

"I really wish you could stay longer," Laera couldn't hide the deep feelings that she had for the Cortez's. That's why I knew that I couldn't walk down the aisle without at least trying to get them out here. I was thankful that everything had worked out and that my girl was now the happiest I'd seen in quite some time.

When it seemed as if their embrace of each other was going to outlast their entire stay, I looked over at Sam, who knew my shorthand so well.

"I'm also so happy that I got to meet you both and that you're allowing me to hitch a ride back to the US on your plane," Sam interjected with just the right amount of levity.