Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The sun streamed through the gap in the curtains, a cool breeze floating through the open window to tickle Gaia's skin as she lazily opened her eyes to the bright morning, squinting against the deliciously warm rays. Her head sinking into her soft pillow, she turned her cheek against the cool cotton to see Evan snoozing beside her, slightly propped up with Clover lying on his chest. Her mouth hung open a little, her cheek squashed the soft hair of her father's bare chest, and her back rose and fell as she dreamed.
An empty bottle stood on Evan's bedside table and Gaia relaxed. He had fed her while she had slept. It was closing in on nine o'clock, her Sunday lie-in coming to an end, but it wasn't over yet. Cosying up beneath the duvet, she shifted closer to her husband and rested her cheek against his arm, closing her eyes once more. Sunday was her favourite day, no contest. It was the only day that she could rest in bed and relax with Evan, spending the day with her children whom she sorely missed during the week, hardly seeing them for more than thirty minutes a day.
As though reading her mind, the door creaked open and Alfie padded into the room with a blanket and a book trailing from one hand, quietly climbing onto his parents' bed and curling himself against his mother. He burrowed beneath the duvet and nestled himself under Gaia's arm and she smiled at the feel of his soft curls against her skin.
"Mmm," she hummed in contentment. "Morning, baby." She stroked his back and rolled over to kiss his soft, sleepy cheek.
"Mornin' Mummy," he whispered, as though the greeting was a secret, and Gaia held him close, hugging her son and wishing she could stay like that all day. Lazy mornings in bed were some of her favourite times, when her children ended up in her bed just to be near her once they had woken up. As busy as her life was, and as hectic as her children made it, she couldn't wait for there to be another baby in that bed.
"Did you have a good sleep?"
Alfie nodded and clambered onto his mother, lying on her the way Clover lay on Evan, and she let out a choked laugh when he squashed her chest. He lay with his face barely a couple of inches from hers, his serious features blurring before her eyes when he asked, "Read a book?" He held up the book he had brought in with him, a hand-me-down from one of his cousins once they had grown too old for the childish stories.
"Ok," Gaia said, giving in without protest, "but you have to lie next to me, ok? I can't read if you're squishing me."
Alfie giggled and rolled off her, dropping onto the bed with a soft thump, and Gaia tucked her arm around his shoulders as she opened the book with one hand and she watched him as she read. She lived for that face, his bright eyes filled with wonder as he gazed at the pictures and listened to his mother's words. She wasn't sure how much he understood and she knew the words on the page were nothing but squiggles, but he loved little more than to hear a story, and Gaia loved to read to him.
Halfway through the short book, Evan stirred beside her and he yawned, his arm automatically curling around Clover as he stretched out with a vague wince and a quiet groan as he settled against the mattress and opened his eyes, glancing over at Gaia with a smile when he registered the book in her hand and his quiet son who lay with his head on his mother's chest.
