“Look at them, Bandit. Look how beautiful. Can you believe they belong to us?”
I couldn’t have possibly loved them more.
If there was one word to describe how I felt about my life now, it was gratitude. I was just so damn lucky to have this beautiful family. And I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, I would never take it for granted. The scare we had only made us stronger. There was nothing that made you appreciate someone more than almost losing them.
Bianca looked exhausted, and Georgina, whose cheeks looked like they were burning up, was coughing with a runny nose. I needed to get them home. If I was being honest, there was nothing I wanted more than to get out of here and spend a lazy Saturday lounging on the couch with my family.
I lifted Georgina out of Bianca’s arms. “Let’s go home.”
Bandit took the opportunity to place his head in Bianca’s lap. Between the three of us, she had her hands full.
“You can’t just leave, can you?”
“I own the joint. I can do whatever I want. Things are winding down anyway.”
After saying our goodbyes to my father and Myra, the four of us quietly snuck out and ventured down the hall.
As we entered the elevator, Georgina started to cry. Her medicine had worn off, and she was done, so ready for a nap. Bandit was barking as he often did whenever she cried, which clearly demonstrated why we weren’t getting much sleep lately.
Right after the elevator doors closed, something unusual happened. The lights went out for about three seconds then came back on again before we finally began to descend.
Bianca chuckled. “Well, that wouldn’t have been good.”
“No, it wouldn’t have. As much as I appreciate the reminder of how we met, I’m not sure I could handle two babies screaming at the top of their lungs at once.”
She smacked me playfully. “You loved my balls and my screaming that day.”
“I did. I loved your balls from the moment I first met you, and I especially loved your—”
“Be careful. She understands more than you think.”
“Ruff!”
“So does he,” I added.
We all packed into the waiting Town Car. After Bianca fastened Georgina into her car seat, our daughter was finally falling asleep.
Halfway into the ride home, it was actually quiet. A thought occurred to me as I turned to Bianca.
“You never told me what I was opening.”
“What?”
“That fantasy from years back. You kept getting interrupted whenever you’d go to tell me about it.” I rubbed her thigh. “What was it?”
“My fantasy at this very moment would be more along the lines of you opening a carton of ice cream and feeding it to me in bed while rubbing my feet. That sounds divine.”
I bent my head back in laughter. “We can do that.”
She ran her fingers through my hair. “Okay, you really want to know what it was?”
Leaning in, I growled, “Fuck yes.”
“Okay, so it started with you opening my…shit!”
The Town Car came to a screeching halt. My arm instinctively reached out across Bianca’s chest to protect her.
“Sorry about that, folks. Guy cut in front of me, so I had to slam on the brakes,” Sam said.
And that was the end of our peaceful quiet time.
Georgina woke up and began crying hysterically.
I bent down to kiss her head. “Shh…it’s okay.” Taking out my phone, I quickly logged onto YouTube and pulled up the Chance Bateman channel. I scrolled down to the video of his baby girl laughing hysterically at the goat’s noises, hoping it would help calm Georgina down.
She took my phone in her tiny hand, but it didn’t help. She started to cry even harder.
“Ruff!”
Bianca chuckled, “That backfired. Now, we have a barking dog, a goat saying ‘baa,’ a baby laughing, and a baby crying.”
The truth was, I couldn’t imagine my life without chaos. Couldn’t imagine my life without her, without them—without this.
“These are the sounds of life, Bianca.” I beamed. “Music to my ears, Georgy Girls.”