Eight o'clock is her bed time.
"Let's go to bed Amelia. You have a big day tomorrow! It's your first day of school. You'll have fun but you have to go to sleep first," Josh quietly speaks to our daughter.
She is a perfect mix of us. She has my baby blue eyes, my sporadic freckles, my crazy thoughts. She has Josh's deep brunette hair, his short stature, his calming abilities.
"Lie down my girl," he tenderly whispers into her tiny ear. She flashes him a half smile and rolls over. I stand over in the corner observing them both. Josh flicks off the light switch. He waits in the doorway a moment longer. "I love you, so does your mom. She loves you so much."
I remember the days where Josh would do the same thing to me.
*Ten years earlier*
We had the whole night planned. He would pick me up in a few minutes, head down to the bar, and I would go to his house for some privacy. Putting the last of my makeup on, I could hear his motorcycle rev its engine in my driveway. Tonight is the night. I sauntered down the staircase to find Josh standing in my doorway.
"I love you," he said holding a bouquet of a dozen of pastel pink roses. Josh wore his signature plaid shirt with a white top underneath and a pair of jeans, still as sexy as ever. He had a shy grin on his face when he took my clammy hands and whisked me to his vehicle.
I hugged onto him like an ape while we rode. The wind in my face. I was so young then, so carefree. Lights whizzed past us until we reached the bar. This was my first night at a bar with someone besides my brothers who always harassed me for only doing two or three shots. I had a feeling that Josh wouldn't follow suit.
Josh helped me off of his bike and we walked into the bar. We found ourselves two empty stools. A busty woman with a plethora of tattoos asked us what we wanted.
"One beer," I stated
"What she's having," Josh chimed in after me. He looked at me with a look that you could only dream about. I recognized the same look because my ex, Nick, had given me the same one months earlier. The look of love. "Jennifer, you're my world. You 're the sun and the moon and all the stars and galaxies beyond. You are my girl. I love you," he declared.
I didn't know how to respond to that. At the time we had been together for only a few months. Everything seemed to be happening very quickly that night even though it had only just begun. I said the only the only thing I could think of, "I love you too."
The night ticks on. Together we go through at least a case of beer. The whole night was us laughing about everything from the colors of the sky, to movies, to politics. We were so childish then. I totter out of the bar, jumping like a little girl. I see Josh emerge. My impulses and hormones take over and I kiss him. A warm chill waves through every cell of my body. I dragged him to the motorcycle and headed to his place.
We were lucky that we made it home alive with all the alcohol coursing through our veins. We walked into his house feeling light, so bubbly. The couch had made its way beneath us while we kissed. Kissed everywhere. I felt his warm body under mine. My hand brushing over his anchor tattoo. His hand brushed through my wind blown hair until he stopped. Just stopped.
All of the sudden Josh sobers up as we heard a trash can rattling out front. Who knows what it could be? At first I thought it was simply a raccoon looking for food to feed its young. But the sound persisted.
I could hear a man whisper "Quiet down you shits! Do you know who's house this is?! Even though he's short he could still knock us out easily. Probably has some bodyguards sleeping downstairs so stop making so much noise!"
