Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
We had the small, fluffy dog we’d once discussed. But our daughter had a set of tiny bunnies who were free to roam in her room. Our other son had, since he was little, an obsession with fish. So he’d asked for his own tank two years before. He and his father had been carefully maintaining it since.
I was actually surprised it took this long for our oldest to figure out what kind of pet he was interested in.
“Sounds good,” our son said, turning and walking out. Likely off to tell his siblings about the future trip.
“Hey, it could be worse,” Raff said as he walked into the room and moved behind my chair.
“How’s that?”
“He could want one of the lizards that eats bugs.”
“Bugs?” I asked, lip curling.
“Yep. Lots of them eat bugs. Fat, juicy caterpillars. Black soldier fly larvae—which are basically maggots. Or, for the bigger ones, roaches.”
“Oh, like hell. He can have his chuckwalla. So long as he doesn’t let it… run around the house and freak me out.”
“Well, let’s go visit them first. And make sure it isn’t a passing interest. We could use to a get away.”
“We can’t go to that same guesthouse.”
“Why not?”
“There’s too many of us. They only have the two suites.”
“Yeah, but the living room couches pull out. The boys can crash there. They won’t mind. And we can have our outside tub,” he said, hands massaging my shoulders. “And moon-gazing bed. On the other side of the building from the kids.”
“Okay. I’m sold. But we’re going to have to stock that fridge this time. Those boys have hollow legs lately, I swear.”
“Grocery bill has tripled this year,” Raff agreed. “So, when do you want to go?”
“Well, the kids are out of school in six weeks. Any time after that works for me. We’re gonna need a pet-sitter.”
“Luckily for us, we got a giant family we can inconvenience with that task.”
There was a soft knock at the door just as Raff leaned down to press a kiss to my neck.
We both let out a little sigh. We were used to the interruptions. But never immune from the frustrations surrounding them.
“Yeah?” Raff called.
“Daddy,” our daughter said, shooting her father a smile that looked a lot like his—charming, open, a little lopsided.
“Princess?” Raff replied.
“Do you want to make jewelry with me?”
“Absolutely, I do.”
“Is this a daddy-daughter playdate, or can I make jewelry too?” I asked.
I had a bracelet handmade for me for every single year Raff and I had been together. They were on constant rotation, depending on my outfit.
As for Raff, he still wore that one I made him all those years ago. Even though he’d needed to restring it seven times already when it got too stretched out.
So then we spent the afternoon sitting around the dining room table making jewelry with the kids while talking about our upcoming vacation.
Just when I wasn’t sure my heart could get any fuller, Raff reached across the table, slipping a bracelet on my wrist.
Raff - 24 years
“Fuck if that ain’t the best view I’ve ever seen in my life,” I said as I walked out onto the balcony with two mugs of steaming coffee.
“It really is gorgeous, isn’t it?” Lula asked, glancing over at me.
“Baby, I’m not talking about the mountains,” I said, passing her a mug. “I’m never talking about the landscape if you’re in it.”
“You’d think, after this many years, you would run out of new ways to compliment me.”
“It’s your own fault for being so damn gorgeous.”
She was, too.
She’d aged. We both had.
But those smile lines? Those were proof of how many times we sat around laughing with our kids, the club, or completely on our own.
The white hair peeking out that she was sure to dye as soon as we got back to Shady Valley? Those were evidence of how many years we had shared. How much joy and love we’d shared.
“So, how are you feeling?” I asked as we both leaned on the railing, looking out at the sprawling snow-capped mountains.
“I never imagined that our vacation house would be in a cold location,” she admitted. “But it is nice to see the snow.”
We hadn’t done some grand investing in personal real estate over the years. Because she was right—it was wasteful to have several houses that you didn’t live in. But we’d made the calculated decision to get a chalet in Whitefish, Montana as a getaway. We figured it would be the perfect place to spend the holidays. Which was what we were doing there. Setting up the house for all the kids to make their way in. The trees were up, garland hung, and the presents, well, the presents still needed wrapping.
But we would get to that later.
“Slash said he wants to borrow it next month for a little retreat with Nyx.”