I shake my head no.
“I don’t think reminiscing about the stupid things we did before we became parents seems appropriate with our little monkey in the car.”
“Good call,” he says as we pass the Club.
It doesn’t even look the same, seems the rebuild of the wall I took out made the Marron brothers decide to rebuild the entire thing. It looks like an actual bar now, complete with a patio and a parking lot.
It’s not even half as fucking cool as the one we run on the beach.
We pull into the cemetery lot behind Dellwood Park, and I glance around, panicked for a second, questioning why we came back.
“It’s good, Vix,” Pax says shutting the car off. “I’ll be right beside you, and so will she.”
For a second, I think he’s talking about Liv, until I realize he’s staring out my window as I turn my head and see my mother standing there with a bouquet of orchids.
I smile politely but feel my motherly instincts take over and all I want to do is shield Liv from her as my heart drums mercilessly in my chest.
Pax rolls down my window and grabs my hand firmly as I squish my eyes closed tight, trying to calm my nerves.
“Hi, Helen… Gabe,” he greets warmly, “I think we need a minute to recover from the drive, would you guys mind if we met you at Robert’s plot? We won’t be long.”
“Oh, of course, dear,” Mother states. Her voice sounds almost as nervous as I feel, and the sound of Pax rolling the window back up tells me it’s safe to open my eyes.
I peek back at Liv, relieved she’s still out of it, dreaming of amphibians or pythons, not demons and devils.
“She’s going to be fine, I promise, just take a deep breath, like Dr. Dell showed you.”
“Easy for you to say,” I undertone. “Just don’t let Olivia out of your sight, in fact, don’t even put her down… if something gets chucked, I’ll protect my own head.”
Pax sighs and kisses my cheek.
“I hardly think she’s going to beat you with a bouquet of flowers, but fine, I’ll keep the little princess safe, same as I will you,” he pauses to kiss me. “Nobody messes with my girls.”
The slight growl in his tone hits me square in the stomach as I lean in and grip his hair, forcing his lips to mine. I want him so badly, and I know we’ve both been so focused on Liv, sex has been on the backburner.
Just kissing this man gets my body fired up lately, and I can’t help but run my hand over the thickness in his pants, wanting to hear him growl the words.
“Bad Mommy! Yuck!” Liv squeals in her playful tone. “Bad, Bad, Bad!”
That wasn’t even close, my little angel.
“Well, I think that’s our cue, you heard the lady,” Pax shrugs and laughs. “Now stop being a bad mommy like your daughter said and get your sweet ass out of the car.”
I stick my tongue out at both of them and stretch as Pax grabs Liv from her seat and sits her up on his shoulders.
I haven’t been back to my father’s gravesite since the day of the funeral, and as we approach, I’m thrown off by the memorial statue that now stands at the head of his plot. It’s a massive angel, at least fifteen feet high, made of grey stone that sits weeping over a rock.
I watch mother place her bouquet on the ground just beneath it, as she pulls out a flower and turns to me.
“He would have wanted you to weep for him,” she says, handing me the flower. “He loved you more than anything,” she pauses, staring at Pax and smiling as he yelps playfully, trying to remove his hair from Liv’s fists. Her eyes meet mine again as she runs her withered hands up and down my arms. “Wow! Look at you, you are so beautiful, Kirsten, so grown up,” she continues, “And look at her, she’s precious… oh my goodness, is she yours?”
I nod and smile.
“Not just mine… she’s ours, mine and Pax’s… her name is Olivia, Liv for short.”
“Olivia… what a beautiful name… can I hold her?”
Her eyes meet mine, pleading, as I take in her spirited tone that tells me she isn’t the mother I used to know.
She’s caring and kind, no hostility in her whatsoever.
I turn to Pax and nod, giving him permission.
I watch contentedly as Mother takes Liv into her arms, studying her precious little face and taking in the same magic we saw the minute we met her too.
“She’s perfect… absolutely perfect,” Mother coos. “Isn’t she Gabe?”
“She is,” he confirms, quickly looking in Pax’s direction.
I almost want to laugh but hold it in as Pax steps forward and extends his hand.
“I think we should try to be civil and let our differences go for my daughter’s sake.”
“Yes, of course,” Gabe agrees, “I’d like that very much.”
They get to talking as I stand in front of the weeping angel, running my fingers through Liv’s dark brown curls.
“I thought she looked like Pax the second I laid eyes on her; I fell in love with her even quicker than I did when I met Pax. She’s a King now, and I will teach this little girl to cry whenever the hell she wants too. Well at least when it comes to her emotional well-being anyway,” I add.
“I can see this little angel has an amazing mother already. She’s blessed. But how is it that she’s a King? I thought the two of you were married.”
“We are, but Pax took my name since he doesn’t know his.”
“I’m sorry, I’m not following… how does the man not know his
