Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 50(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 76(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 50(@300wpm)
We looked so awkward and hilarious together—me looking like I swallowed a watermelon and him being his usual giant self.
After giving birth to our daughter, Gigi, his protective streak only intensified tenfold. He even child-proofed his studio so Gigi could visit him anytime and play there. No more needles and tattoo guns within easy reach.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, Mau, why did you marry him? You lost a bet or something?” Erika asks, scooping peanut butter from the jar and pointing it at Tyler.
“Respectfully, Er, fuck off,” Tyler responds without taking his eyes off the rows upon rows of colorful nail polish bottles.
Erika laughs and elbows me on the side. “Bye, Mau. See you next weekend. Lanie’s so excited to babysit Gigi that she just bought a new duvet for her.”
“But you’ll call if anything happens, right?” Anxiety claws at me. It’s the first time Tyler and I are heading overseas for a two-week vacation, and part of me feels guilty for leaving Gigi. Though she’ll stay for the weekend at Erika and Lanie’s and the rest at my parents’ house. They, too, are excited to spoil their five-year-old granddaughter.
“Just enjoy your vacation, ‘kay? Let him fuck you into oblivion until you can walk no more.”
“Erika!” I hiss.
Erika smiles at me and waves before heading out. God, that woman has no filter, and I love her to bits.
When I get back to the living room, Gigi is painting Tyler’s nails with hot pink. She’s already done stamping a Powerpuff Girls temporary tattoo on his neck.
“Do you like it, Daddy?”
Tyler pretends to inspect each nail before nodding. “I love it, and it looks prettier than the mauve last week. And this flower thing you painted? Marvelous.”
“That’s not a flower. It’s a fish.”
“Oh. Looks pretty either way. How much for my nails?”
Gigi writes on her whiteboard. “That’ll be a hundred dollars.”
Tyler’s hands fly to his chest, his brows shooting up to his hairline. “I don’t have a hundred dollars.”
“That’s okay. We can ask Mommy.” Gigi turns to me with a smile, two dimples peeking in her cheeks. “Can you let Daddy borrow one hundred dollars for his manicure?”
“How can I ever say no? Of course, sweetheart. Put it on my tab.”
Gigi leans forward and whispers to Tyler in a voice I can hear all the way from here, “She owes me eight hundred dollars already, and she never pays.”
I sit beside Tyler on the sofa and pretend to scan the nail polish bottles. “Well, miss, I saw you use my La Prairie foundation to cover up your dad’s arm tattoos. That bottle costs $250.” I peer at her from under my lashes. “So I’m gonna say we’re even.”
“We will be if you give me two more bottles,” she argues.
Tyler bursts out laughing. “A mini Maura. There won’t be a boring moment in this household.”
I rest my head on his shoulder and slip my fingers through his, smiling at the MAURA tattooed on his hand, one letter for each finger.
“I love you, little fairy. I love you in this life and the next.”
I try to kiss his cheek, but he turns and claims my mouth instead, muffling my response. When he lets me go, I kiss the corner of his lips. “I love you in this life and the next.”
The End