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“I had a wreck of a day,” I murmured. “You turned it around.”
“Happy to,” he gruffed.
I touched my lips to his throat. “Are you sure this is okay? Us being here with you and Sage?”
He hummed, his fingers slipping through my hair. “I wouldn’t have told you to stay if it wasn’t.”
“We can talk about it more tomorrow,” I reasoned.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” He tilted my chin up with his knuckle. “Are you ready for bed?”
“Yeah. I should probably put some clothes on, though.”
His smile was soft, tender. “Probably.”
We got redressed and tiptoed into the bedroom. Nellie was sound asleep on the air mattress, unaware of anything outside her dreams. Down the hall, Sage was sound asleep too. I curled up in Jake’s bed, my head on his shoulder, his arm around me, holding me close.
He turned so his mouth grazed my temple. “Got all my people under my roof tonight. I’m going to sleep soundly.”
My heart thumped, and I snuggled closer.
“Me too.”
Chapter Thirty-one
Clara
I woke to an empty bedroom and the sound of giggles coming from the living room. Stretching my stiff limbs, I smiled. What a lovely way to wake up.
Once I snagged a pair of Jake’s sweats, I ventured out to the living room, surprised at what I found. Sage was sitting on a chair, and Jake was standing behind her, braiding her hair in two plaits. Nellie was perched on Sage’s lap, facing her, watching Jake’s hands with rapt attention.
“Good morning, everyone.” I walked over to Jake and kissed his arm. “Seems you’ve been hiding a secret talent from me.”
“Morning, sweetness.” Jake leaned over to kiss my head. “I’ve got a line formed. If you want a braid too, you have to get in the back of it.”
I poked my bottom lip out, pretending to pout about waiting. “That’s fair, I guess.”
He chuckled. “No pouting in this house. It’s a rule.”
“Hi, Mommy,” Nellie chirped. “I’m gonna get a braid like Sagie.”
Sage tried to turn toward me, but Jake held her head steady. “Daddy watched a bunch of YouTube videos to teach himself how to do my hair. He’s way better than my mom. He can even do fishtail braids.”
I cocked a brow. “Fishtail, huh? That isn’t in my repertoire.”
“Marina braids my hair,” Nellie said.
“That’s true. I’m utterly inept at anything more complicated than a headband or ponytail.”
Jake leaned into me again. “You never said whether you want a braid too.”
I glanced at Sage, who was trying to nod despite her dad holding her head, then at Nellie, who was copying Sage.
“Well…I’ll feel left out if all the girls are doing it. One braid, please.”
Sage clapped. “Yesss. You guys have to come to my field hockey game so everyone can see us.”
Jake’s movements stilled for less than a heartbeat, but it was long enough for me to notice. Last night, he’d said there wasn’t anything to talk about. Today was a new day, and we absolutely had to discuss how we were going to handle our kids going forward. But we couldn’t have that discussion in front of them, and I got the sense from his hesitation he wasn’t ready for us to play happy family at Sage’s game.
