Overflow: The Carpino Series (27 page)

Five
Years Later……

“Baby, you’re gonna wake up the kids,” I say, buried deep in
my wife.  I give her as much of my weight as she can handle, bury my face in
her hair and breathe her in.  She wraps me up tight in her arms and legs and we
lay here connected.  Heaven.  A heaven that I never thought I’d have and a
heaven that gets better every day. 

A squeak from the monitor breaks through my heaven and I
feel Gabby’s arms and legs tense around me and she says, “If you don’t want me
to wake up the kids, you shouldn’t torture me like that.  You know I can’t help
it.”

I pull my head back, but staying close, I grin and say,
“Sugar, you love the torture.  Plus it’s feeding time, I can feel it in your
tits.  I don’t need a baby to tell me that.”

She pretends to glare at me and says, “Okay, know it all. 
I’ve got to clean up so you get to go fetch the baby.”

She says this like she has to get up regularly to get the
baby, which she never does.  I always get up to bring our babies to bed for her
to nurse and always have.  We’re practiced hands at it by now.  I love it,
Gabby close to me, feeding my children.  It makes my world feel right. 

“Okay, babe.  Clean up.  I’ll be right back,” I hear the
squeaks turn into whimpers over the monitor.  But I don’t get up, instead I
press into her one more time, making her face go soft again and say, “Love you,
sugar.”

Her soft face gives me a soft smile as she whispers, “Love
you, too.”

I kiss her soft, finally get up so I can throw on some
shorts and walk through our cabin to go fetch a baby. 

The
Next Day

“Daddy!  Look, it’s a family!” Merri whispers to me in her
excited little girl voice.

“Yeah, sugar,” I whisper back, looking way down at her,
standing on the ridge holding her hand tight.  Her long wavy hair, the color of
mine, blows in the mountain breeze, but it’s her mother’s bright blue eyes that
she shares with her sister that gaze up at me. 

“Wookie!  Wookie!  Wookie!” Olivia squeals very loudly, not
whispering at all because squealing seems to be the only volume she knows,
while bouncing as much as she can hanging over my shoulder where she’s sitting
on my back in the carrier.  The buck, doe and fawn immediately scurry into the
pines at the sounds of our middle child’s excited shrieks.

“Liv!  You scared them off!” Merri admonishes, glaring up at
her little sister.  Meredith, who is four but going on twenty four, is smart,
mature for her age, full of attitude and mothers her little sister constantly. 
This is opposed to her younger sister, Olivia, who at twenty months is already
showing the tendencies of an outgoing, carefree little girl that pushes every
boundary given to her.  Mac, an expert father of three daughters, has already
lectured me given their little girl beauty, that I had better keep a gun close
when the boys start lurking.  But even worse, he’s pegged Olivia, who has a
thick head of dark blond hair just like her mothers, as the one that will turn
me grey and age me beyond my years.  Daughters.  Yeah, seeing as they’re
perfect, I’m gonna have to keep my gun close.

I give Merri’s hand a squeeze while giving her a shake of my
head.  Then I reach around to tickle Liv’s dangling leg on the back her chubby
thigh and say, “That’s okay, Liv.  We’ll look for more on our way back.” 

“Okie-dokie!” Liv squeals again, completely oblivious to her
sister’s mothering. 

I turn, pulling Merri with me so we can make the half mile
trek back to the trailhead.  “We’ve gotta get back and check on your momma. 
Plus you all need to get to bed early tonight, Tony and his family will be here
tomorrow,” I add, thinking that isn’t the only reason they need to get to bed
early. 

“No night night!” Liv yells.

“I think someone needs a nap,” Merri mutters.

I chuckle, reach down to grab Merri under her arms and swing
her up and she lands on my hip giggling loudly, sounding more like a four year
old.  Thus, making her sister laugh hysterically and they start to play over my
shoulder.  Any wildlife in the vicinity is surely scared away now with two
little girl cackles ringing through the mountains.  I grin and double time it
down the trail to get my girls home in a fraction of the time it took us to
hike to the top. 

*****

I blink open my eyes, coming out of my rare afternoon nap. 
I see the beauty that I can’t seem to get used to after all these years, and
gaze at the mountains ranges that are in prefect view off the deck of our
mountain home. But I don’t hear the peaceful sound of the Colorado breeze
rustling through the aspen leaves, what I do hear is the loud banter of my
girls barging through the house to make their way to me.  Lying in one of the
thick cushioned lounges on the deck outside our bedroom door, I feel my little
man start to squirm on my chest where he’s napping in the shade.  Bringing my
hand up to his bottom over his light baby blanket with his knees tucked in
tight, I pat him until he settles.  At two and a half months, he’s used to
sleeping through the chaos and high pitched sounds that can only be produced by
two little girls.  Mia, who was asleep by my feet, jumps down to greet her
kids.

Skipping down the deck to me, Merri starts to describe their
afternoon in full detail, “We saw three deer, Momma!  A whole family! The daddy
had huge antlers and the baby was so small!  We were close enough to see its
spots!  But then Liv screamed like usual and scared them off.  I hiked all the
way there by myself, but daddy carried me back, even though I didn’t ask him
to.  He just picked me up without me asking, but I know I could have made it
the whole way if he would have let me.”

I smile big at my oldest daughter, thinking I know how she
feels.  Even after all these years, her father is still known to pick me up and
put me where he wants me.

“Deers!” Liv screams, as she runs slash toddles up behind
her sister. 

“Sound like you all had a good hike!” I say and snuggle them
one at a time, kissing their soft hair. 

“Okay you two, time to clean up the loft and bunk room
before dinner,” Jude rasps, as he stalks toward us through the slew of outdoor
furniture that now adorns the deck. 

Meredith starts bossing orders, “Come on, Livie.  You need
to help this time.  I’ll tell you what to do.”  With that, she grabs her sister’s
hand and starts to pull her through the house to climb the stairs to the loft
and bunk room upstairs with Mia trailing behind. 

I started decorating our mountain home right away after the
kitchen was finished, but as soon as I found out I was pregnant with Meredith,
I made the decision that we needed to sleep as many kids as possible and an
upstairs bunk room was the prefect solution.  Most of the furniture we have
here are pieces I’ve refinished or painted, but I splurged and ordered two sets
of bunks for one of the bedrooms upstairs.  They’re huge and made of pine logs
with a twin on the top and full on the bottom, allowing us to sleep six kids in
there if needed.  It’s decorated with denim bedding, plaid flannel sheets and
black bear throw pillows.  Perfect for kids of all ages and with my big family,
they’ve been put to good use.  The other bedroom upstairs now has a queen bed
and the sectional in the loft is a sleeper sofa.  Two years ago, we had the
basement finished, adding a family room, another queen sized bedroom and a full
bath.  Now we can host tons of people and do this on a regular basis.  Jude
thinks the home is now finished, but I still manage to squeeze in another piece
of furniture and more accessories into the Suburban every time we make a trip
to the mountains.  He just shakes his head at me and uses his newly found
packing-the-car-for-road-trip-skills he’s acquired through our marriage and
growing family.

“Sugar.  No wonder he doesn’t like to sleep on his back when
you let him nap on his stomach laying on your chest like that all the time,”
Jude chides me.  He leans over to give me a not so quick kiss as he gently
picks Luka up off my chest to cradle him in the crook of his arm and settles
into the lounge beside me.  It shouldn’t surprise me that my bossy husband has
turned into one overprotective father.  I was expecting this when Merri was
born seeing as he was overbearing my entire pregnancy, but his
overprotectiveness has continued with the second and third kids.  I don’t mind
it because I understand it.  Jude knows what it feels like to lose everything,
so I do what I can to put him at ease and give in to his domineering
protectiveness (well, for the most part!). 

“I can’t help it,” I sort of whine.  “He’s getting so big so
fast, before long he’ll be too big to snuggle up and nap on me like that.”  I
look over at my husband, still as hot and amazing as the day we met and he
frisked me for weapons.  But my brow furrows as I exclaim, “Jude, you’re all
sweaty!  I just gave him a bath and now he’s going to be stinky!”

“Boys are stinky, Gabby.  Get used to it,” he replies as he
smiles down at our son, who is now stretching his little baby arms and legs,
trying to blink the sunlight away.  I can’t help but smile, Luka is going to
look exactly like his dad.  His mass of dark hair is starting to wave and his
deep blue baby eyes are already turning dark brown.  I know they will be the
color of melted dark chocolate, just like Jude’s.

Turning my head to the sun, I mutter, “My son won’t stink,
he’s perfect.”

“Gabby,” Jude bosses, so I look back to him.  With his melty
eyes searing into mine, he rasps, “Love you, sugar.”

I reach out to grab his hand, entwining our fingers and say,
“I love you, too, Jude.  More than anything.” 

Not thinking my happy could get any happier, my husband
treats me to his beautiful smile.  And my happy overflows.

The Carpino Series will continue with Tony’s story…

About the Author

Brynne Asher grew up in the Midwest and now lives in
Northern Virginia with her husband, three children and her perfect dog.  When
she isn’t creating pretend people and relationships in her head, she is running
her kids around and doing laundry.  She enjoys cooking, decorating, shopping at
outlet malls, shopping online and is always seeking a good deal.  A perfect day
in “Brynne” world ends in front of an outdoor fire with family, friends, s’mores
and a delicious cocktail!