Stay With Me

Chapter 26

"Bye mommy and daddy!" Ellie Kate hugs Candice and Joe as they walk out the door. Ian holds Hudson and I wave bye to my best friend.

"Ellie Kate, do you wanna help Ian make cookies?" I close the door and lock it back. We head into the kitchen and Ian hands me the baby.

"Before dinner?" She looks at me confused and we laugh.

"We already have dinner started, now we are going to get the cookies started and eat dinner while they bake." Ian tells her and she smiles.

"What kind of cookies?" She grabs Ian's hand and they walk towards the stove. He pulls a stool up for her to stand on and I grab Hudson and walk in the living room to play with her.

We're sitting at the table eating dinner and Hudson falls asleep in my arms.

"I'm going to go put her down for bed and I'll be right back." I say quietly, not to wake her back up. I go upstairs and put her in the bed. I turn on a night light, Ellie Kate says she has to have one.

"Did she wake back up?" Ian asks as I walk back in the kitchen to help clean up.

"Nope. Sleeping like a baby, cause she is a baby." I wink at him. Ellie Kate brings me her plate and I rinse it off to put in the dish washer.

"So Ellie Kate, you know Ian and I are going to be getting married?" She nods her head and I pick her up to hold her.

"How would you like to be our flower girl?" I ask and her face lights up. She smiles and nods her head yes.

"You would? Great! We can go look at dresses when your mom comes back home." I hug her close and she lays her head on my shoulder.

"Do I get to wear a pretty dress?" She asks.

"Of course! Here, I'll even show some I have picked out." I carry her in to the living room and we sit down on the couch. I pull my iPad out and pull up the dresses I have found.

"Wow I like all of them!" She says.

"I do too, so this is going to be hard." I smile down at her.

"Is your baby going to be in the wedding? What will he wear?" She places her little hands on my belly.

"He will still be in my belly when we get married. So we don't have to worry about what he will be wearing." I tell her and she nods.

"Nina I'm sleepy." Ellie Kate yawns and lays her head on my belly. I look at Ian and he smiles.

"We will put you to bed. You are sleeping in the same room with Hudson. But if you need either of us, we are just down here. And we have a monitor to keep an eye on you guys." I tell Ellie Kate and we walk upstairs. I help her change into her pajamas and brush her teeth.

We walk in to the bedroom quietly and she climbs in to the bed.

"Comfy?" I check with her. I hand her the doll she wants to sleep with and she nods up at me, snuggling into her blanket.

"Good. Goodnight Ellie Kate. We will see you in the morning. There's a night light on in the bathroom in case you need to go." I kiss her forehead and she closes her eyes. Ian shuts the door when I walk out and I grab the monitor.

"They are both such easy kids. I hope this little one goes to sleep that easy." I walk with Ian to our bedroom and he laughs.

"Our luck he won't sleep at all." He pulls his shirt over his head.

"Don't jinx us." I smack him gently on the chest and he laughs.

"Okay okay. Either way I probably won't sleep cause I'll just want to be around him all the time." He kisses my cheek and heads to the bathroom.