“Baby.”
A smile curves my lips. I roll to the side without opening my eyes to reach for my wife.
“Good morning, baby,” I mumble through the haze in my head, giving up on the search for El.
I wait for the kisses, the hugs, her warm body pressing to mine but nothing happens. I touch something soft, one eye opens and I sit up once I see the twins. Her side of the bed is still warm but El is missing.
Someone said baby. I’m sure of that. Squinting at them, I ask, “What did you call me?”
“Baby,” Wyn answers.
She is sporting the same gown as Bren. It has been months since they matched outfits and my heart warms at the sight. I inch closer to pull them in for a hug, they break away from it fast with a frown.
Bren sits on one side of me, Wyn takes the other side. I am blessed among girls. “Why does Mummy call you baby?” Bren looks so serious asking this and laughter escapes me. I pat her hair. “You’re not a baby.”
Maybe. “I’m Mummy’s baby.”
The twins share one look, then back at me.
“No, you’re not,” Wyn continues on behalf of her sister. “You’re old. You cannot be a baby.”
I place a hand over my chest. My poor heart. I don’t care what they say, I am Elna’s baby. She’s my baby too and they are my little princesses. El walks in before I provide an answer to them, Wyn jumps off the bed and rushes into El’s arms. She carries the cute troublemaker and winks at me. My heart does a flip.
Stopping at the bed, she smiles at me. “Good morning, baby.”
El doesn’t have a chance to say more, her mischievous daughter interrupts. “Don’t call Daddy baby. He’s not a baby.” El looks to me as if to decide her next reply. Wyn adds, “Why do you call Daddy baby?”
They have no right to tell their mother what to call me. I like being El’s baby. El sits beside me and sets Wyn on her lap. I do the same with Bren so the twins are facing each other and El and I are touching.
“Baby is what husband and wife call each other,” El tells her. Her patience is admirable. Wyn is a twat.
Her lips pucker. “So when I marry, I’ll call my husband baby?”
Wyn’s face scrunches like it’s the worst thing she has been asked to say. El must have been used to their silliness, she giggles and puckers her lips for a kiss. Wyn indulges her and her mother returns the kiss.
“Yep,” El answers. “Baby. Or sweetheart or honey or sugar pie or sugarplum or sweetie or hubby.”
“Why don’t you call daddy sugar pie?” Bren asks. She tugs on my beards, reminding me I need to shave or trim it. “I like pie.” She stretches her hand to her sister and says, “I like honey too. I don’t like baby.” That’s their problem, not mine or El’s. I feign hurt and sigh heavily. “Daddy is Mummy’s baby. Hmm.”
“Yeah,” El says with a nod. “Your daddy is a big baby.” Sensing my fake annoyance, she pinches my cheeks. “My big baby. My love.” I melt at her compliments, she bites her lips and I know she’s thinking about last night’s incident in the bathroom. My naughty wife. “Alright, babies. You have to go to school.”
The twins shriek. “Don’t call us babies, it’s only Daddy that’s your baby,” Wyn murmurs.
I save El a reply by saying, “Yes, Princess.” El opens her mouth and closes it, I steal a kiss from her as she stares at her little creations in wonder. Yeah, they are unbelievable sometimes. But we love them. They complete us. Wyn clings to El as she stands and helps Bren to her feet. One person is missing. “Where’s Bri?”
“Downstairs and ready to go to rehab,” El says. She pushes herself up on her toes and plants a kiss on my forehead. I blush. She waggles a finger as she starts for the door. “Don’t move an inch from here.” The girls giggle. “Wait for Mummy.” I wink, she rolls her eyes but stops to say, “I love you, baby.”
I love her more.
The room is quiet after they leave, I smoothen the sheet and rush into the bathroom for a quick bath before El arrives. I am not sure she’s taking the girls to school or Brianna’s appointment but I’m glad she is doing it without me needing to ask. I wash up fast and return to the room. El is on the bed, waiting.
My towel drops to the floor, I stand in front of the wardrobe, naked. Our eyes meet for a brief second, her lips curl upward in a half-smile as I stroke my dick without breaking eye contact. I need her. She doesn’t walk up to me. We both know our conversation will be forgotten if she comes close.
“Are they gone?” I ask as I pull a shirt over my head. The pair of beach shorts is next.
She nods. “Yeah. Enzo is taking them. Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
A pang of guilt hits me. I didn’t get to kiss Brianna goodbye before she left. I can make it up to her with something better. If El agrees. My fingers brush the diary, I hold it for a full minute, then drop it back.
El pats the bed. I settle down and she feeds me waffles with a grin. There’s enough cream in the coffee. It’s too sweet but I can’t complain. I empty the plate and mug, she gives me a thumbs up and sets the tray aside. We sit face to face in the middle of the bed, legs crossed with our knees touching.
“I’m nervous,” she says with a laugh.
“Me too.” El presses her palm to her cheek and smiles. I decide on the easiest topic. “What happened to the fashion line?” She was supposed to tell me about it last year, then the fight happened. “Tell me.”
“It’s on hold until further notice.” My lips part in shock. She nods. “I need another investor.”
If that motherfucker left my wife stranded, we will have serious problems. “Why?”
“T backed out.”
I wrap my hands around hers. “Why?”
El stares up at me. For a moment, I’m struck by the similarities between her and Wyn.
“Because I asked him to.”
A tightening in my stomach follows her words. I don’t want to get too excited. “Why?”
“Because a certain someone advised me to get rid of him.”
I almost laugh. Almost. Because El looks cute with the little gestures she does with her hands as if she has no idea where to place them.
“So you did it because of that certain someone?” She nods. “Hmm.”
“For real,” she adds. “We were seeing for the first time this year at the lake, he wanted to convince me. He wanted us to meet to negotiate.”
My brow lifts, she sighs. “Brandon, you are making it hard.” Closing my eyes, my lips press into a line. “I guess I was scared we wouldn’t work out a second time and I didn’t want to be without my friends when that happened.” Her face takes on a serious look as she pours out her thoughts to me. I place a pillow on my knees. “It was really selfish of me to have held on to a friendship that was ruining your happiness.”
“El,” I breathe out.
She tosses the pillow and climbs on my lap. Her arms slide around my neck and my back connects with the headboard. I can’t look away from her contrite gaze. “I’m sorry.” I don’t know what she’s apologising for but she is forgiven. “I didn’t mean any of those things I said. I’m sorry I made your life miserable.”
“Baby,” I interrupt her. “Elna, you didn’t.”
El shakes her head. “I did. You were mad. Vincent was on the VIP list for the charity. He was the highest donor. I didn’t know you two weren’t on the best of terms.” Because I didn’t tell her, so it’s also partly my fault. “With so much going on with us, I guess I forgot you were my priority as much as the twins.”
A soft sigh escapes her, she cups my face and tries to smile. I sneak a hand inside her gown, the body contact calms her. El lets out a relieved breath. My lips brush hers in a chaste kiss, she pecks my jaw.
“You forgot?” My lips twitch and her teeth sink into the corner of her lips. The past is in the past, we can move forward from this. I flatten my hands on her belly, she sucks in a breath. “Who reminded you?”
She sighs. “I don’t know.” She knows. “You, I guess. I thought you hated me.” Her eyes lift to my face. “I don’t think I ever forgot those words—you are a flee or flight woman. And when I really thought about it, it was what I had become. I shouldn’t keep him around as a backup plan. You are my backup plan.”
Her words elicit a smile from me. I like this El. “I’m your backup plan,” I say over and over again until the words become a part of us. I might make a frame out of it, so I am reminded I’ll always have her in the good and the bad. My lips meet her collarbone, I pepper kisses all over her neck. “I’m your backup plan.”
“Yeah.” Some of her confidence wears off, her arms slide off my shoulders but I push them back up. A hint of doubt shadows her face and she does that nervous lip roll. “It made so much sense in my head.”
My teeth graze her chin. “It makes even more sense now that you have said it. I like being your backup plan. I like knowing that I can always count on you no matter what happens.” She smiles. “We will work out this time, okay?” We stay that way until I realise it’s my turn to talk about us. “I am selling the club.”
El giggles. She slaps her hand over her mouth and erupts into a throaty laughter.
“What?” I ask.
She snorts. “I’m glad you’re selling it.” When I look on in shock, she adds, “I hated that place.”
Hurt flashes through me. My chest falls in defeat. “But you didn’t say anything.”
“Because you loved it.”
“Oh.” My brows draw together, I flick a finger over her nose. “Next time, let me know. Talk to me.” El makes a funny face. “I’m serious, Elna.” She sobers up. “If you don’t like something, tell me. Please?”
“Okay.” Her voice is sad. “So... I guess I should tell you that I don’t like how close you are with Sophia.”
Words hitch in my throat, the hurt glaring in my eyes must have scared her. We talked about Sophia in the past and she was fine with our friendship. Sophia is also her friend. El takes my hands before I react. I don’t think I want to be put in the position of telling Sophia our friendship has run its course. It will be tough. Subconsciously, she was my backup plan. My friend because we can’t be more than that.
“I don’t want you to stop being friends with her,” she says and my chest sags. “Yesterday when I went to your office and you weren’t there, I called her.” No one mentioned that to me. “I didn’t like the fact she knew my husband’s location and I didn’t. I know she is a good person but you tell her stuff before you tell me and I’m your wife, not her. I want to be your best friend.” She gulps hard. “I know I broke your trust already but I want to try again.”
“Done, baby. You before her.” Her face lights up at my response. “What else do you not like?”
Tapping a corner of her lips, El says, “That’s all.” I don’t know why I don’t believe her. She rubs her nose against mine and my doubts disappear. “I’ll tell you when I remember any new ones. If there are any.”
“Okay, love.”
She beams. “I like it when you say love.” I wheeze with laughter. “And I like it when you say baby.”
“Okay, baby love,” I offer as an alternative. Laughing, she slaps my arms. “My Elna. My baby. My love.”
My woman. My everything.