Ever After New York

Cruel Summer.

(Hero's POV)

"Jo, knock it off." I groan.

"It's not me." She giggles in response.

I open one eye and see my daughter, laying above my head as she tugged at my hair. "How did you get up there?" I smirk before reaching above me and placing her on top of my chest.

She lifts her head slightly, making gurgling noses at me. "Hi Annie." I smile at her. "Are you my new wakeup call now? Mummy doesn't get to do it anymore?"

Jo smiles at me before leaning down and placing a kiss to my lips. "Of course, I still get to do it."

"What's on our schedule for the day?" I ask her, watching Annie slowly fall asleep on my chest.

"A scene this evening." Jo says. "The rest of the day is ours."

I ponder possible ideas of what we could do before the perfect idea pops into my head. "Why don't we take Annie to the lake?"

Jo's beautiful smile widens as she nods quickly. "That would be perfect."

I watch Jo get up from the bed, my shirt that she wore hugging her curves perfectly as she walked towards the bathroom.

I was trying my best to hang in there while Jo recovered. But seeing her walk around, in only my shirt... hell just looking at her in general drove me insane.

I had to respect Josephine though. I couldn't even begin to imagine what she had gone through before, during, and after giving birth to my child. I loved her with every fiber of my being and when Josephine said she was ready then I better damn well be satisfied.

I just hoped it was soon.

I missed her, in indescribable ways.

She returns from the bathroom, wearing a thin cotton t-shirt and jean shorts. Through the white fabric, I could see a green bathing suit covering her body.

"Going swimming?" I raise a brow at her.

She looks down at herself, almost as if she were second guessing her choice in clothing. I hated that she was so uncomfortable with me now. What was she trying to hide? Didn't she know that I would love her regardless of what she wore?

She clears her throat. "Erm, I put this on just in case we took Annie in? And it's hot out... I don't know."

"You look great, Jo." I tell her wholeheartedly.

She smiles softly at me before moving towards the bed. She gently lifts Annie off of my chest so I can get up. I make my way towards my suitcase and pull out a pair of jean shorts and a shirt, settling with the rest of my appearance. "Ready?" I ask her.

"One second." She replies, zipping up the front of Annie's swimsuit.

She lifts her off of the bed before grabbing her book off of the nightstand. "We should bring a blanket."

"I'll grab one." I tell her.

On the way out, I grab the knitted blanket off of the couch. "We should take the Capri." I say.

"No!" Jo protests.

"Well how else would we get there?" I ask with a laugh.

"We could walk?" Jo suggests.

"Hell no." I scoff. "It's too far. And that's not good for Annie. Come on Jo, I'll be good I promise." I pout my lips at her, hoping it would change her mind.

I grin triumphantly when she nods her head in agreement.

We walk towards the Capri which was parked in the lot next to the trailers. I open the passenger side door for Jo to get in before jogging around to my side. I pull down the sun visor and the keys drop into my lap.