Roughly Six Feet Tall

I woke up every now and then because Annie was snoring, so I went to move her head until she stopped. One time when I woke up, though, I couldn’t get out of bed...because John had his arms around me. “J…John…?”

“Why do you keep getting out of bed?” he muttered, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. “Chill out. Annie’s asleep and everything.”

“You scared me,” I sighed, burying my face in my pillow before grabbing his hand and wrapping his arm around me more tightly. “How’d you get in here?”

“I jacked your keys before I left last night. No big deal,” John chuckled, playing with my fingers.

“Oh, wow…well, why are you in here? Not that waking up in your arms isn’t a pleasant surprise…”

“I promised Annie I’d be here when she wakes up, but I didn’t really know when she wakes up, so, yeah,” John reminded me, slightly yawning. It was only six in the morning. John probably didn’t wake up this early even for tour. I had a feeling John would be a good father.

“So where are you taking her, again?”

“I…don’t really know…”

I rolled me eyes and squirmed around until I was facing him. “I don’t care where you take her. But it better just be you and Annie. Don’t… Don’t tell your band mates yet, please? I don’t know. I just… I just don’t want this to be a big deal…like, how are they gonna take it? And…And stuff…”

“…Alright,” John said, and I felt him shrug. “Hey. Hey, Avery. How about meeting my parents?”

“Oh, dear god, not for a while, please!” I laughed nervously, absentmindedly tracing his tattoos again.

“Why not? Avery, my mom would love Annie.”

“Really? Your parents wouldn’t be like, ‘John, you guys are too young to have a kid’ or whatever? Because that’s what my dad was like…”

John leaned up to kiss my forehead. “They’d be happy for us, because we’re happy with each other.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. “Then…wait for me. I want them to see us as a family.”

John grinned. “I wouldn’t have it any other way…now. Can we go back to sleep for a bit? I could barely sleep at home. I was too excited for today.”

I laughed, pressing my face to his chest and inhaling the scent of his cologne deeply. “You know, it killed me some days…raising Annie. She’s the spitting image of you.”

“Nah, I wasn’t that cute when I was two years old. I think she looks like you... The eyes, at least.”

“I hope she looks like you.”

“I hope she looks like you,” John argued back. “We can have a boy when we want, and then he can look like me.”

“Oh, John. Let’s not talk about more kids just yet… Be quiet, or we’ll wake up Annie.”

“Ok... You know, lying down with you and cuddling is nice. Haven’t done this in a while. Missed it. Missed you,” John murmured, playing with my hair. The way he looked at me – I swear, not even my own parents looked at me with that much love in their eyes.

We were silent for a while after that, just enjoying each others’ presence and staring at each other. It wasn’t just plain staring, though – it was like absorbing every feature in each other’s faces all over again. John’s eyes lingered on my lips more often than not, so I finally gave him what he was looking for. Tangling my fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck, I kissed him. It was nice, but then John’s hand started sliding up my shirt. I probably would’ve let him go farther if it weren’t for Annie’s cute little yawn breaking the ambience of our labored breathing. So, John quickly pulled back, slid off my bed, and hopped over to Annie’s crib.

“Annie? Annie, girl?”

“Good morning, daddy,” Annie yawned getting to her feet in the crib as she rubbed her eyes. Then she reached up to John, so he picked her up, carried her over to my bed, and lied down with me, keeping Annie between us. “Good morning, mommy,” Annie greeted me as well, and then she smiled. “Mommy, daddy, it feels like we’re a family now,” Annie said aloud after a few minutes, holding our hands.

John glanced at me, grinning when he saw the unshed tears in my eyes. Only John could make me cry out of sadness and happiness. We all lay there squished on my bed until the sun rose and light poured into my room from the windows. “Mommy, I’m hungry,” Annie said aloud, moments before my own stomach growled.

John laughed and hoisted Annie up into his arms. “Let’s go cook breakfast, Annie. I think mommy’s hungry, too,” he laughed, winking at me as he walked downstairs with Annie. After a lovely breakfast of bacon and French toast – I wonder where John learned to cook? – I got Annie dressed and the two of them were off.

I went to work. I tried not to worry, but the whole day, I couldn’t get the two of them off my mind. I mean, John was her father – of course I trusted John with Annie. I guess I was so nervous because it was the first time Annie’s been with someone other than Halvo or my mom. I always knew what Annie was doing when it came to them, but with John… I had to resist the temptation to call or text him during work. It was rather difficult.

I was so glad to be home. I started making some ravioli, one of Annie’s favorites. I made a lot, because I knew Annie would want John to stay for dinner. John came in around five thirty, opening the door with my key and letting Annie inside first. “Mommy, mommy, mommy, look!” Annie cried, waving some plush stuffed something in my face. “It’s a pillow! It’s a pet! It’s a pillow pet!” Annie screeched, hugging the elephant pillow pet tightly to her chest.

John followed Annie soon after, a Build-A-Bear box in one hand, a Charlotte Russe bag in the other, and an adoring smile on his face as he looked down at Annie. “Did you have fun today?” I laughed, hugging Annie and her elephant pillow pet. Annie nodded before grabbing the Build-A-Bear box and running to the living room to show my mom all the things John got her.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget you,” John promised, placing the Charlotte Russe bag on the table before hugging me tightly.

“You spoil us,” I teased, kissing his jaw.

“I’m the dad. It’s kind of my job, Avery,” John joked, grinning before he kissed me.

I got so caught up in the kiss that I let the pasta boil over. “You know what, John, go to Annie. I need to cook without being distracted,” I told him, pushing him out of the kitchen so I could cook in peace.

Annie got a giraffe from Build-A-Bear. She handed John the giraffe and they sat down together on the living room floor, playing with their respective stuffed animals.

I love my family so much.