Chapter 47

Mia untangles herself and crawls out, caught by her father who walks her back, holding her by one arm while retrieving her clothes. He moves close to Emma, leaning in to kiss her tenderly on the mouth, before sitting down on a chair, pulling Mia onto his lap, and once again dressing his child. Emma shakes her head and quietly chides Mia out of my earshot, so as not to embarrass her. The little girl is staring up wide-eyed and on the verge of tears as her mommy gently asks her to stay dressed. Emma always did have more control over Jake’s offspring than he did. Mia is his ‘mini me’ and it’s no surprise that Emma is able to manage both equally well.

She moves to a lounger near me and awkwardly tries to maneuver into it. Jake is fast on his feet, letting Mia go, while only half dressed, and helps his wife settle down into the chair, nuzzling her neck and whispering something to her before fully letting her go. Emma’s face heats and she nudges him lightly in the ribs, eyes locked for an intense moment before he goes back to retrieving his child, and back to covering her up.

I look away from what was obviously another private moment between the love birds, with a pang of envy. Again, pushing Arrick out of my head.

“I have no idea where she gets this urge to be a naturist.” Emma smiles at me as the housekeeper appears with a tray of iced tea and fruit juice for the kids. Emma thanks her gently and nods for me to take one.

“She’s Jake’s kid. I think the urge to be naked stems from being a Carrero.” I giggle, reaching for a glass and taking a long drink. I can’t even say that’s not true for Arry. He is topless with just shorts for both training and fights, he likes to be that way when he goes anywhere hot and has no qualms about walking around at home in the same. He’s always been as comfy with his body as his brother, and obviously Mia too. Not that I can blame him, he certainly has a body worthy of ogling and his tattoo sleeve and upper chest artwork only enhance what is already hot eye candy.

See, this is why it was easy to fall for him.

“Hmm.” Emma agrees, watching Jake bending over the top of Lucah as he fishes more sand out of his mouth, which he is still spitting up. It is obvious she is checking out his ass more than checking on his parenting skills, and I shake my head with a smile. “Or a child that likes to eat all forms of dirt.” Emma smiles and giggles before taking a drink herself and settling back down.

“Not long before you have a third with an equally weird fetish, huh?” I nod at her bulging expanse of belly as Emma sighs.

“I have four weeks to go, four more long torturous weeks before I get to hold this little bundle.” She smooths her stomach, leaning back her head on the pillow and closes her eyes against the sun.

“Do you know the sex?” I enquire, stretching out my legs to sun them in my denim cut-offs. Feeling lighter when she’s around, more able to try at carefree.

I’m back to dressing like a pre-teen, in baggy tops and shorts. Somehow my current fragile frame of mind has made me revert to comfort and casual. All my revealing and tight clubbing clothes were put out for the trash man this morning, in another emotional bout of gutting out the past. I have tried to remove Arrick’s lecture from my head about dressing like a hooker and told myself I’m not doing it for him.

Not entirely.

“No, Jake likes the surprise, but deep down I think this is another girl. I just have a feeling and I wasn’t wrong with the other two.” Emma takes another sip of her drink and lifts a shielding hand over her eyes as she watches her husband kick a ball around with Mia, trying to make sure she keeps her clothes on this time. I squint there way for a second, smiling at the picture they make, and turn my attention back to Emma.

“Names?” I roll onto my stomach, enjoying the heat on the back of my legs and regarding Emma carefully.

“Jake picked the last two, so this one’s all mine. I kind of like the name Ava, something just tells me this is a little Ava. It has a romantic sound to it.” Emma beams down at her bump, which is now moving slightly, smoothing her hands over and going back to her earlier resting position.

“I like it, it’s pretty. A pretty name for another pretty child. Your kids are always beautiful, Emma.” I genuinely mean it; both her children are gorgeous.

“Pretty kids come from pretty men.” Emma beams back out at Jake, I roll my eyes, but I can’t argue. The Carreros definitely own the market in good DNA. Even Giovanni, in his fifties, is still a handsome man, and Sylvana, Jake’s mother, is a beauty to behold. I don’t think I have met a single Carrero relative, at any of their family parties, that wasn’t above a seven on the attractive scale.

“I don’t know if I ever want kids.” I shrug, turning to watch Mia squealing with delight as her father hangs her by the ankles and spins her around at an alarming rate. Emma doesn’t even blink at it. Lucah is quite happy to follow in his little Ferrari and beeps his horn behind them.

“I used to say the same thing, but then Mia happened, and well, it changed everything.” Emma watches me for a moment. “You’re only twenty, Sophs, so young still, and so much ahead of you before you need to decide if you want kids.”

“I don’t have any happy memories of childhood, and with my track record of douchebag men, I would never inflict that on an innocent baby.” I pick up some stems of grass, abandoning my sewing lesson, and avoid Emma’s gaze.

“Sophs.” Emma breathes sympathetically, but I only shake my head.

“I’m over it ... I don’t want to go back there.... What we having for dinner?” I deflect quickly, seeing Emma back down and relieved that she hasn’t been pushing me the last few days. It’s like she senses that I just need a little time to act normally, and not focus my life on this ‘thing’.

“Whatever Maria makes. She’s been a godsend in the kitchen lately. I’m just too tired to do much anymore, except count down the days to a bumpless existence.”

“Oh, and how I look forward to having my bumpless sexy wife back, so I can maneuver her into ...” Jake cuts in and is halted with me slapping his leg in disgust.

“Aww noooo. NO, NO, NO.” Jake only laughs and flops down on the grass beside me, tugging my hair like a child.

“Stop traumatizing the children.” Emma chides, and I wrinkle up my nose at him.

“You’re vile ... I don’t know why I ever thought you were charming.” I screw my face up at him.

“I am charming, and sexy, and hot, and pretty much a lothario in the bedroom.” He winks at his wife, who can only shake her head at him. “See, she can’t even deny any of the above.” Jake rolls on his back, propping his hands behind his head, and then crumples with an ‘oooft’ noise as Lucah launches himself on top of Jake’s abdomen.

“That’s what you get!” I laugh as he sits up to recover and hauls his son into a cuddle, kissing him on top of the head and scooping him into man muscles that make Lucah seem tiny.

“Dadda, kisses.” Lucah smiles sweetly and is met with what he desires in the form of daddy kisses all over his face before Jake then pretends to eat him, roaring like a dinosaur, and making the kid scream and wriggle to be free, through hysterical giggling.

“You’re next!” Jake warns me as I roll out of reach from poky fingers and jabs. Mia comes and sits on my lower back gently and lifts my ponytail up with such tender dainty little hands. She pulls my face to the side, so I feel her little soft wispy breath, those wide innocent blue eyes so endearingly close to mine, with a serious look on her little beautiful face. She just melts me to goo so effortlessly. My angelic little princess.

“Be my horsey.” She smiles down at the side of my face, before almost killing me by bouncing down hard on my spine.