For Fiona

20. Mommy's Day Pt. II

Tim walked back into the house to the sight of Fiona sitting in Lucy's lap on a kitchen chair as they worked together to draw something. "How are my girls doing?" He asked and dropped matching kisses to their heads.

"Daddy! We made cookies, but we didn't make them with chocolate, because Kojo can't eat chocolate, and he's my best friend, and I want to share with him, and now Mommy is helping me draw a mommy bear for her! I put yellow bows on the ears, so you can tell she's my mommy," Fiona shared enthusiastically and lifted up her drawing to point to the ribbons.

"That looks amazing, munchkin," he complimented her. "Can I borrow your mommy for a sec?"

"Are you giving her a present now?" She asked as she hopped down from where she was seated on her mom.

"Sure am." He took Lucy's hand to prompt her to stand. He faced her, and his grin turned lopsided. Wanting to craft the right explanation, he let out a long exhale to settle himself. "I can't thank you enough for being the best mom to our daughter and being the reason I finally have a family. You deserve the entire world for that, but since I can't give you that, I can give you this." Tim pulled the box out of his pocket and held it out for her with a sheepish expression.

Before she even touched the square box in his hand, she cupped his cheeks and murmured, "You and Fiona are my entire world, and nothing could mean more to me than that."

"So you don't want your present?" He asked teasingly to add some levity before he melted.

"Well, since you already bought it, I guess I should keep whatever it is." When she opened the square box, her mouth fell open. "Tim...it's beautiful." It was a thin gold bracelet with a sparkly diamond on the dainty chain. As someone who had always worn and loved simple jewelry, she appreciated that he knew her taste.

He took it out of the box and carefully fastened it to her wrist before swiping his thumb over her pulse point and turning her hand over. For an unexplainable reason, Tim loved seeing Lucy wear his jewelry between his necklace, his rings, and the new addition of his bracelet like she had little tags on her body that communicated to the world she was his. That was why he was so adamant about always wearing his wedding band; he wanted to be hers, too.

"You might have to slow down on buying me jewelry. I'll run out of places to put it all on my body," she said with a giggle, feeling his eyes rove over the pieces he had given her.

"Considering you've got two wrists," he replied and held them both, "and two ankles," he glanced down to her feet, "and ten fingers," he ran his thumbs over her knuckles, "and a long enough neck for at least three necklaces," he traced the space between her collarbones where the necklace he gave her always sat, "I think I'm good for a while." He might have become a little obsessed with buying her shiny tags that allowed him to claim Lucy as his.

"I thought you weren't big on giving presents."

"What made you think that?"

"You give your nephews and your sister gift cards every Christmas. Plus, I've never heard you buy anything so nice for any of your girlfriends."

He usually was bad at gift giving, but it was easy with Lucy, and her reaction plus how she enjoyed everything he gave her was priceless. "You're different."

"Being the mother of your daughter has a lot of perks."

"It's because you're you. Not because of Fiona," he made it a point to clarify.

She was surprised for only a second before she felt that weightless feeling surge through her again, and she had to look down to check if her feet were still on the ground or if she had finally begun to float. She took the half step to bring her whole body flush to his and tilted her head back in preparation. "Don't make me ask when you know what I want right now," she whispered, her lust lacing every word.