Bottom of the Blackest Hole

“Amanda? Oh yes. I am so sorry about that! Of course I’ll talk to him about it. I’ll talk to you later, bye.” I flipped my phone shut with a long sigh.

As most of you are wondering, this is five years after he proposed to me in the park (again). I, obviously, said yes and we married…again. But this time, we actually enjoyed it. Josh took Leila and me to Florida. It was beautiful and just seeing Leila having fun in the beach while her father chased her was good enough. Of course, at nights, Josh and I were busy doing our stuff. You know, the stuff people do on their honeymoon. It was amazing and it led us to me having Bryan, who, by the way, is one since last week.

Josh loves children…very much. He’s trying to persuade me into having one more. Actually, he wants twins. And I got to say, he can persuade.

I pushed the door open into my home. So many memories, both good and bad. Just as suspected, brown curly locks bounded her way to me. Leila clung onto my legs helplessly.

“Mummy!” she squealed. I couldn’t help but let a smile take over my face. She let go of my legs and looked up at me with huge, wide, annoyed eyes. “Daddy is being a meanie head to Dylan again!” she informed me.

“And so I heard,” I droned dryly. Another thing about Josh: he was way too over-protective of Leila. I bent so I was eye level with her. She was wearing a Cinderella dress from last Halloween with her plastic, glass slippers. Her once perfect pig tails that I tied on for her this morning was now loose and crooked. “Listen, how about you be Mommy’s big girl, go to your room, and pack up any toys you want to take over to Aunt Courtney’s house while Mommy talk to Daddy?” Her face seemed to brightened automatically at the mention of her Aunt.

“Auntie Court?” she asked hopefully. I nodded with a grin. “Yay!” she cheered, “Can Dylan come too?”

“We’ll see,” I said. After that, she bounced her way back to her room, preparing her new toys to show off to Courtney.

I turned around to take the now sleeping Bryan into my arms and carried him to his room. I set him delicately on his bed. He shifted a little and placed his thumb in his mouth, sucking it. I leaned down to kiss him on the forehead before heading outside.

Josh sat in front of the TV with pouting lips on his face. His arms were crossed across his chest in a reckless way. I walked over and stood in front of him.

“I heard what you did to that Dylan boy,” I scolded. His eyes met mine with a guilty look.

“He had it coming,” he grumbled. I bit back a smile and sat down next to him.

“You can’t just go yelling at a little boy. What do you have against him, anyway?” I questioned.

“…I don’t know. He’s a boy that’s hanging out with my daughter.”

“He’s her best friend, and only friend. You know how mean kids are these days. It’s even harder for Leila to make friends now that she’s in kindergarten.”

“Can’t we home school her or something?” I looked at him incredulously.

“You’re over reacting.”

“Maybe,” he admitted. I chuckled a little. He was being childish and stubborn about this.

“But really, Josh. Do you want a daughter to already hate you because you wouldn’t let her hang out with her best friend because he’s a boy? We only have like…eight more years until she hits that stage.” I warned.

His eyes widened disbelievingly. “Never! She will never, ever hate me. I’ll be the coolest dad. Just watch,” he promised. I laughed again and rested my head on his shoulders.

“I’m sure you will be.”

“I don’t like how he looks at her.” Josh said.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh please, Josh. He’s only seven.”

“And she’s five! Do you even see the age difference? It’s like pedophile.”

“Once again, he’s seven. He’s only thinking about being dirty and not take a shower. And besides, your two years older than me.”

“That’s different between us,” he mumbled. I could feel his lips on my hair.

“And David is four years older than Courtney. They’re getting married soon,” I added. He sighed.

“Alright, fine.” He gave in.

“Go apologize to his mom and especially him soon, alright?” I could feel him nodding. We sat in silence for a few seconds.

“So,” he began, inching closer to me, “Bryan and Leila are gonna be over at Court’s place. We’ll have the whole place to ourselves tonight,” he empathized.

“What’s your point?” I asked, knowing full well what he was hinting. He smirked.

In a flash, I found myself writhing underneath him. He had my hands both locked up above my head.

“Do you get what I’m saying now?” he breathed down, his voice husky. I forced myself not to smile and feigned an innocent look.

“Not exactly,” I challenged. He began trailing kisses up and down my neck as I squirmed under him. He knew I was ticklish.

“Stop it,” I laughed a little, “Leila could come in any second now.”

He stopped when he reached the corner of my mouth. He didn’t say anything and pressed his lips softly against mine. His tongue swept over my bottom lip and I shivered a little. He smiled against me and released my hands. Instead of pushing him away, they laced in his hair. His hands dropped down to just a little below my waist. We were just kissing nothing more. We would save the ‘more’ later tonight.

He broke away after a while, but he was still close. He gave me a mischievous look and then I felt his hands creeping under my shirt and rested on my side. Then he began tickling me. I shrieked out in surprise and laughter.

“Daddy!” Leila yelled. Josh didn’t stop but his look beckoned her over. She saw my need for help and tackled her dad. Her impact obviously did nothing but he played along anyway. He fell off the couch with her on top and then she began her mission to tickle his sides as well. Unfortunately, he wasn’t ticklish. So instead, he was poking her sides as she squirmed and squealed. I watched this with amusement before joining the fun myself.

Yeah. Life was pretty damn good.

FIN