"Man, you haven't lived until you've pulled your child out of the woman you love with a Celine Dion song playing in the background."

Mitch held up his palm. "I'm pretty sure I'm okay with foregoing that rite of pa.s.sage."

We all got a good laugh out of that one. I looked around the room. The dog was now licking Jake's face. The bird was shouting obscenities from his cage in the corner. Squeals of laughter from A.J. and Lara could be heard coming from down the hall. Henry was listening to frightening YouTube videos of television jingles playing in slow motion. My best friend, Skylar, was cancer-free, and we were holding the miracle babies we both thought we'd never have. This was life. Life was good and so precious.

The health and well-being of the people I loved most were all that really mattered. Driven by our egos, we spend so much time worrying about the little stuff while letting what's really important pa.s.s us by.

A week after our friends' visit, I was lying in bed when Jake's voice streamed through the baby monitor on my nightstand. He was in the other room changing Kennedy, talking to her as he always did and probably didn't realize that every word that came out of his mouth was being transmitted to me in our bedroom.

"Don't tell her about our little surprise, okay?"

What was he talking about?

"Speaking of surprises, d.a.m.n girl! Momma must have known you were due when she sent me in here. That wasn't very nice of her. How do I always get stuck with these? Huh?"

She must have had a ma.s.sive dump. Whoops.

"Well, you're lucky you're cute. I'm gonna call Popeye, though, and tell him my baby is harboring some of his spinach in her diaper. Call the authorities."

Kennedy cooed.

"Yeah...you think that's funny?"

I covered my mouth in laughter then closed my eyes, listening to the sounds of the diaper crinkling and Jake's smooching her.

"Ow. You like to pull on my lip ring, huh? I know. That's your favorite thing to do."

More smooching.

"All clean."

More smooching.

"I love you to the moon, little alien."

The sound of the door closing in her room prompted me to straighten up in bed to deter from my eavesdropping.

Jake walked in. He was shirtless and smelled so good after his shower. His tanned skin was amazingly smooth. He'd recently added two star tattoos on the right side of his chest. They represented each of our two children, the stars to his moon.

Jake sighed as he joined me under the crisp sheets. "It feels so good to be in bed."

"Long day?"

"Yeah...work was a cl.u.s.ter f.u.c.k. But kissing my little alien goodnight and getting to end the day right here is what gets me through."

We were waiting six weeks per the doctor's suggestion before having s.e.x again. We still had one week to go, and I knew the wait was killing him. Even though I felt ready physically, we'd decided to follow the doctor's orders.

Pressing my a.s.s into him, I encouraged him to spoon me. Exhausted, we both nodded off within minutes.

Sometime in the middle of the night, what seemed like a bad dream woke me up. It wasn't your typical nightmare, though. It was an actual recollection of things I thought had been erased from my memory. I could suddenly clearly remember all of the terrifying moments from the day Kennedy was born: waking up in the ambulance, the fear that I was bleeding to death, the fear that I'd never see Jake or my babies again. Up until tonight, I'd suffered amnesia when it came to the events right after the delivery. I remembered the baby coming out of me then Jake at my hospital bedside in tears, but everything in between had been a blur.

Sweat was pouring off of me. The realization of how close I'd come to possibly dying hit me.

Jake turned on the lamp. "Nina?"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

"No."

"What happened?"

"I remember waking up in the ambulance now. I thought I was dying. The thought of never seeing you again...you know what's crazy? I was thinking about you more than even our children. Somehow, I knew they'd be alright because they'd have you. But I didn't think you'd be okay without me. And I didn't want to leave this Earth without you. Does that make sense? I knew you'd be there for them because you had to be, but I didn't think you'd really be okay."

He held me tight. "You're right."

"This might sound strange, but I feel like we've been together before this life and like we'll be together again. It's as if we're-"

"Truly connected. I know. When they made me stay out of the operating room and I had to wait not knowing whether you were okay, I came to that same conclusion. I felt dead until the doctor came out and told me you were alive."

"That must have been so scary for you."

"Try not to think about that. Just be with me now. We have to trust that even when our time here is over, the powers that led us to each other will bring us together again. In the meantime, don't waste another second worrying about what could have happened that day. Okay?"

"This moment...that's all there ever is."

"I'm glad you remember some of what I've taught you over the years."

I reached over to kiss him on the cheek, but he abruptly turned his face toward me. His mouth devoured my lips in a ravenous kiss. My body melted into his. It had been too long. My hand started to slide down to his crotch.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought we were following the doctor's orders," he said over my lips. "I've been very good, but if you touch me like that, I can't be responsible for what happens next."

"This is what the doctor ordered tonight."

"f.u.c.k. It's been five weeks." He placed his hand firmly on my a.s.s and pulled me into him. "You're not gonna hear any argument from me."

"I know how hard for you this wait has been."

"Hard for you. Yes. You got that s.h.i.t right." He sucked on my bottom lip before slowly releasing it. "Let's not talk anymore."

"Less fighting, more f.u.c.king. See? I remember that, too."

He laughed as he kissed down my neck and said, "That one might just be the wisest thing I ever came up with."

As he started to lift up my nightgown, I snapped, "Turn the lamp off."

"No."

"Yes."

"No way. I want to see every inch of you while we f.u.c.k. Your body is amazing like this. You know how I feel about it." He palmed my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "There's even more of what I love. I want to enjoy it."

"We're not doing it with the lights on."

Ignoring me, he said, "How about I start?"

He got up and slowly took his pants off, kicking them away. His body was rock solid, jacked, and his skin was flawless. Jake only got better with age. Meanwhile, I felt fat, and knew the insecurity would stick with me until every ounce of the baby weight came off.

He still had his underwear on when he kneeled over me. "Like what you see?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Keep your eyes on me, but don't touch me," he said gruffly.

I went along with it.

My eyes travelled from his strong jaw, down the length of chest to his six-pack. A thin happy trail of hair formed a s.e.xy line down the middle of his V muscle.

His voice was low. "What do you want, Nina?"

"I want you to take these off." When I tugged on his underwear, he grabbed my hand and moved it off him.

Giving me a s.e.xy smirk, he slid his tongue across his bottom lip. "No touching."

"Okay."

The tip of his c.o.c.k stuck out from the top of his boxer briefs. He was fully hard.

"So, you want me to take these off, huh?"

"Yes."

"The thing is, you wanted to shut the light off. Then, you won't be able to see me, either. Don't you want to see me?"

My mouth was agape. "Yes."

"I want to see you, too. Let me see you first."

I reluctantly slipped my nightgown over my head but left my nursing bra on.

"Take it off."

I unsnapped it from the front and threw my bra on the ground.

"Good girl. Now, your panties."

I slid my boy shorts down my legs and tossed them aside.

A month and a half felt like an eternity. It was a really long time for us to go without contact. We'd barely touched each other since the baby because it would have been too much of a tease if we weren't going to be able to have s.e.x.

"Do you have any idea how much this body turns me on, Nina? Look at me. Look what you're doing to me." His c.o.c.k stretched the fitted cotton of his boxers to capacity. A wet spot from his arousal dampened the material.

He went on, "When we f.u.c.k, I need to feel every inch of that naked body against me."

The sneaky b.a.s.t.a.r.d still wasn't touching me. This was his way of getting me so hot and bothered that I no longer cared about the way I looked, no longer gave a s.h.i.t about anything but what I needed from him.

His eyes were dilated as he looked down at me and began to jerk himself off hard and slow. This was Jake's modus operandi: denying me for fun until I was practically begging him for it. He got off on it and honestly, so did I. The stimulation of watching him m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e to me was making me so wet and caused my full b.r.e.a.s.t.s to tingle. A little milk leaked out. He swiped some of it before sucking it slowly off his thumb.

What my body looked like was starting to matter less and less. Clearly, from the look on his face, he was very turned on. How he was looking at me was quickly becoming more important than my hang ups about what I looked like.

Jake bent his head back in ecstasy. I couldn't take watching him pleasuring himself anymore. I grabbed his hand and stopped him from stroking his c.o.c.k. Spreading my legs open wide, I begged, "Please."

His mouth spread into a wry smile as he lowered himself and finally entered me. Letting out a throaty moan as he buried himself deep inside, he f.u.c.ked me slowly until he saw he wasn't hurting me. Then, he picked up the pace and eventually our entangled naked bodies were rocking the bed. Our fingers were locked as we stared into each other's eyes until we came together.

We lay awake for a while, our hands still intertwined. I admired the tattoo on my ring finger bearing his name. He had one of my name on his finger, too. The permanent markings were the perfect symbolism for what we were: bound for life.

He took my hand to his mouth and kissed it. "I liked what you said earlier, that we might have known each other before and that we'd be together again someday."

"Yeah." I smiled. "Make sure you keep an eye out for me in the next life, Green."

"Baby, I'd recognize you anywhere."

The moonlight glowed onto Jake's face as he slept through the sound of Kennedy's voice coming in through the monitor. My hardened b.r.e.a.s.t.s tingled as milk trickled out of my nipples with every cry. It was time for her 4 a.m. feeding.

Rubbing my eyes and yawning, I reluctantly lifted myself out of the warm bed and headed down the hall.

"Shh, sweetie, it's okay. I'm here. I'm-" My words abruptly stopped once I noticed it.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

I covered my mouth in surprise before lifting Kennedy to my breast, needing her to stop crying so that I could just marvel at it in peace and quiet.

Just...wow.

Over a dozen pink origami bats hung in rows from a mobile high above her crib. I reached out and lightly touched one of them. The paper that each had been made from was much thicker than the construction kind he used to use.

When had he found the time to do this?

"So, this was the surprise, huh?" I whispered down to her, kissing her little chest that smelled like Dreft baby detergent.