Let Love Shine (2 page)

Sometime later, a gentle tapping on the door wakes me from
my sleep. “Someone’s hungry.” Reid stands from the bed and Momma hands Braden
to him. I push up in bed and situate myself so that I’m comfortable. The nap
and the Advil worked wonders for me and moving is becoming a little less
difficult—for now, at least.

“I’ll leave you guys alone. Melanie and I are going to run
to the store and pick you up a few things. We’ll be back soon.” She waves from
the doorway and Reid slides into bed next to me. He puts a pillow on my lap and
helps me get Braden in the right position. When he’s all latched and ready to
go, Reid wraps an arm around my shoulder.

“I love you,” he whispers into my ear as he stares amazed at
his nursing son.

By the time Momma and Melanie make it back from the store,
Reid, Braden and I are in the living room lounging on the couch.

Reid moves to help Momma with the bags and Melanie sits down
next to me. Reaching for the baby, I pass him over into her arms. Staring down
into in his cute-as-a-button face, Melanie smiles and I see tears building in
her eyes. “He’s so beautiful, Maddy. I can’t believe you’re a mommy.” She
reaches over and laces her fingers through mine.

“And you’re an aunt and Godmother too.” I drop that last
piece out there, but it really shouldn’t be a surprise.

“Really?” she gasps and covers her mouth with the hand
that’s not currently cradling Braden to her chest.

“Of course, Melanie. You’re the only sister I’ll ever have
and the only aunt he’ll ever have.” The tears that were building spill over and
down her freckled cheeks.

“Thank you so much, Maddy. I…” Her words disappear behind
her happiness and we sit together chatting about nothing while Momma and Reid
make dinner.

“Thank you for dinner, Momma. It was perfect.” I lean back
in my chair as I finish my last bite of pasta.

“Of course, sweetie. We all know how well you and that
kitchen get along.” I stick my tongue out at her, but she’s right. I can’t cook
to save my life. Standing from the table to clear the dishes, Momma adds, “Now,
there’s plenty of leftovers in the fridge and I’ll stop by tomorrow with a few
more dishes you can put in the freezer.” The woman is seriously sent by God.

After dinner is all cleaned up, Momma and Melanie get ready
to leave. Hugging me tightly, Momma kisses my cheek. “If you need anything at
all, please don’t be afraid to call me.” Looking between Reid and me, she adds,
“No matter what time, understand? I can be here in five minutes if you need
me.”

“Thank you, Momma. We will.” Reid hugs her and Melanie
goodnight and softly closes the door behind them.

We sink down onto the sofa and enjoy the silence that we
know won’t last very long. Looking up at the clock, Reid says, “He’ll probably
want to eat in about a half an hour.” He pulls me to his side and I relax into
his body. Clicking on the television, he starts flipping through the channels
before settling on SportsCenter.

“The apartment feels different now, doesn’t it?” I ask as
he’s lightly tracing circles on my upper arm.  The motion is hypnotically
soothing.

“It does. He makes it feel different. It feels like a home,
now.” Reid plants a soft kiss on the top of my head, and as if he can tell
we’ve just gotten comfortable, Braden starts crying from his room.

Reid stands and helps me up from the couch. “You ready for
this, Mommy?”

“Nope, not a bit, but I’ve got you, so it’s all good.” He
wraps his arm around me and we walk down the short hallway to take care of our
son.

I won’t lie; the night didn’t go perfectly. Tears were
shed—and they weren’t all Braden’s. We may have gotten only about three hours
of sleep, but we survived. It may not have been pretty and God knows it wasn’t
stress-free, but we did it together. And that’s how I’ll always remember it.

“Hey, babe,” I call out as I toss my keys on the sidetable
by the front door. Dropping my messenger bag to the floor, I loosen my tie as I
glance at the pictures next to me. 

The framed smiles of my mom and Shane stand proudly on the
table. After we moved in, Maddy finally decided to go through a few boxes of pictures
that her Aunt Maggie left for her when she died. So now, mixed in with pictures
of our happiest memories—the day Braden was born and the day we were
married—are now pictures of Maddy and her parents from her childhood. Nestled
in between all of the people who are most important to us, stands the jar of
sand from the beach in Montauk. They might not all be with us physically, but
in spirit, our families are still very present in our daily lives.

I hear dishes clattering and the garbage pail being slammed
shut from inside. Hearing her muffled curses makes me laugh. Something is
obviously stressing her out, so I make my way into the kitchen to check it out.
Wrapping my arms around Maddy’s waist from behind, I pull her close to me and
inhale the sweet scent of her hair.

Then, I catch sight of the kitchen.

“Did a tornado blow through here or something?” I kiss the
top of her head and feel her sag against me.

On an exasperated sigh, she huffs, “No, there was no
tornado. Just me thinking I could actually bake our son his first birthday
cake.” That explains the flour dusted across her forehead, which I now notice
as she turns to face me. 

I can’t stifle the chuckle. “You should have known better,
Maddy. You and this kitchen are enemies.” That comment earns me a smack to the
arm.

“Why don’t you just order something from the bakery? You
know, like I suggested a few weeks ago.”

Flopping into a chair, she takes stock of the kitchen. “Yeah,
maybe. But I just want to try one last time. It’s important to me for some
silly reason.”

“Sweets, it’s not a silly reason.” I squat down in front of
her and lift her chin. “You’re an amazing mom. I love that you want to make it
as special as possible.” I pop an innocent kiss to her lips and feel her smile.
“Now, what can I do to help?”

Just as she’s about to tell me what to do, Braden giggles
from his nursery. “Do you think you could take him out to the park or something
for a little bit so I can figure this cake situation out?” she asks hopefully. 

I kiss the tip of her nose. “You got it,” I say as I swipe
my thumb across her cheek where a bit more flour is dusted. Taking one last
glance at the mess spread out across the counters, I think maybe I should place
an order with the bakery just in case.

“Hey, little man.” Braden is sitting in his crib playing
with a stuffed animal, but when he hears my voice, he quickly pulls himself up
using the railings and reaches for me to pick him up. Nuzzling into my chest, I
squeeze him tightly. “What’d you do today, buddy?” His response of bubbles and
coos is all I need to smile and laugh. “Really? Well, it sounds like you’ve had
a rough one. Want to hit the park with me?” He’s only one, but I swear, when he
hears the word park, he looks at me like I just asked a dog to go for a ride in
the car. Wiggling in my arms, I can tell he’s excited about it.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go then.” I grab a few things and make my
way back into the kitchen, where I catch the tail end of Maddy’s phone call.

“Who was that?” Braden reaches for Maddy grunting for her to
hold him.

Reaching for Braden in return, she says, “It was Mel. She’s
coming over to help me.”

“Oh, I see how it is. Daddy’s fine until Mommy’s in the same
room.” Maddy rolls her eyes at me as I hand her Braden. “Does Mel’s ‘help’
involve a bottle of wine like it did last time?” I quirk an eyebrow at her and
she sticks her tongue out at me, but she doesn’t answer.

She starts bopping up and down as she sings some silly song.
Braden’s laughter fills the room. Maddy twirls around with him and his smile is
infectious. So is hers. Maddy, with our baby on her hip, is a sight I’ll never
get tired of. It makes me realize just how far we’ve come and how happy we are.

Sure, we’re exhausted most days, but it’s all worth it. This
past year has definitely been the most trying in my life, but we’ve survived
our first year as parents. I still remember that first night at home. It was
hell—pure and utter torture. I was convinced Braden was possessed by some evil
spirit sent here to keep us awake for days on end. Maddy had a bit of a rough
recovery and was sad most days. Those days were the worst. Momma spent a lot of
time here helping Maddy figure things out. We struggled a lot and fought more
than I care to admit, but we decided anything that happened between the hours
of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. didn’t count. Eventually, Braden learned how to sleep
through the night and we started getting some more sleep too. It’s amazing what
you can accomplish on only four hours of sleep, but parenthood—added to working
or going to school full-time—isn’t for the faint of heart.

This shit is serious work.

Yet, here we are a year later and we couldn’t be happier to
have Braden’s first birthday party tomorrow with our friends and family.
Between prepping for the party, me working overtime, and Maddy finishing her
last summer course, we’ve barely been able to stay awake past eight every
night.

But watching them dance and laugh in front of me makes it
all worth it.

I pull them both into my arms and just hold them for a quick
second before Braden starts shimmying out of Maddy’s arms. He’s caught sight of
his Lightning McQueen racecar on the floor and is reaching for it. Handing him
his car, Maddy puts him in his bouncy seat. The sight of my wife taking care of
our son, talking baby talk and kissing him sweetly should warm my heart.  But
all I can see is her ass right now. Yep, I want her. 

“Get over here.” I pull her back to me once Braden is
situated and brush her hair out of her eyes. “You look beautiful, you know
that?” I trail sweet, soft kisses behind her ear and down her neck.

“Hmmm,” she mumbles and it makes me smile against her skin.

Moving from her neck across to her mouth, I feel her lean
into my lips. This is something else of which I’ll never get tired. Her full,
luscious lips pressed against mine; the taste of her sweet mouth still drives
me crazy. “Well, hello there.” Pulling away from our kiss, Maddy arches her
eyebrows as she presses her hips into my groin. The last motion surprises me
more than a little. To say that our sex life has been different in the last
year is, well, it’s an understatement to say the least.

“What? I’m not allowed to want my wife.” I grab her ass and
push her into my erection a bit more. Our hands roam as the kiss rises in
intensity. I fist a handful of her hair and pull her mouth even closer to mine.
It’s the hottest kiss we’ve had in a while. Just as her hips start to roll into
mine, we’re distracted by a sound, and smell, to which we’ve grown all too
accustomed in the last year.

Before I can even move my hands from her body, Maddy’s
pinching her nose closed. “Not it!” She calls out and laughs.

“Damn, you’re getting quick!” It’s kind of been our thing to
decide who gets to change him. I scowl playfully at her and she just laughs at
me.

“Dude, you’re killing my game.” Braden smiles as I hold him
out in front of me. “Holy crap! What the hell did you feed this kid today?”
Seriously, he’s lethal.

“He ate the same as usual. He’s just a stinky little
monster.” She says the last sentence to Braden in that ridiculous baby talk.
You can talk sweet about it all you want; it’s still poop.

By the time I’m done changing his diaper and changing out of
my work clothes, Melanie and Bryan are walking through the door.

“Hey, little man. Aunt Melly missed you, you little booger.”
She grabs Braden out of my arms and blows a raspberry on his round cheek. 

“What? No love for me?” I shoot her a look of feigned insult
as she shoves a grocery bag, filled with what I’m assuming is cake-making
supplies, into my hands.

“Nope, sorry. You’re not cute enough.” She doesn’t even look
at me as she bounces Braden around laughing with him. I can’t argue with her.
He is pretty adorable.

“Don’t look at me, man.” Shifting all of the bags to one
hand, Bryan extends his hand for me to shake. “Even
I
can’t compete when
Braden’s around.”

Bryan walks into the kitchen to put down a few more bags of
groceries and I can’t help but wonder what the hell kind of cake she plans on
baking.  

Maddy walks up next to me and wraps her arm around my waist.
Stretching up on her toes, she whispers in my ear, “I’ll pay you all the
attention you want later.” She quickly nibbles on my ear lobe and the erection
I had managed to calm is back.

“I’m going to hold you to that, you know.” I run my nose
along hers and kiss her softly. “No passing out on me like last night.”

“It’s a date, baby.” Her eyes are so wide I can see the
golden flecks in her green irises. Maybe she’s as excited about it as she used
to be. 

“Okay, hand him over. You girls go do your thing.” I hand
Melanie back the last bag of groceries and laugh as she pulls out the bottle of
wine I knew she’d have with her. Yeah, because being tipsy is what’s going to
help Maddy cook better.

Maddy and Melanie’s giggles filter back out into the living
room and Bryan looks more than a little afraid to stay behind. I can’t blame
him. Those two together with wine and chocolate—nothing good will come of that.

Slinging the diaper bag over my shoulder and grabbing my car
keys, I clap my hand on Bryan’s shoulder. “Don’t worry; you can come with us.”

“Thanks. You sure they’ll be alright?” he asks as a pan
crashes down to the floor.

“Yeah, they’re good, but we should stop and grab some
take-out just in case.”

With dinner in one hand and an exhausted toddler in the
other, we return home to a living room filled with girlish laughter. Maddy and
Melanie are sitting next to each other on the couch chattering over some
tabloid-like “news” show. They’re so engrossed over what they’re watching, they
barely look up from the screen. I catch bits of the story—something about some
book-turned-movie that’s coming out this winter. They’ve been buzzing over it
for months now—years is more like it. I’ve already been told that I’m on baby
duty that night, but if the pay-off from the movie is half as good as the
pay-off from the book, then I’m more than fine with that.