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One year.
It’s been one year since these three tiny miracles came into my life. Since Annie turned everything I thought I knew about myself upside down.
I was happy before, or at least, I thought I was. I had my work, my success, my routines. And then Annie stormed in, bringing color and chaos and more love than I ever thought Ideserved.
Now, I can’t imagine life without her. Without them.
“Dad, did you see that?” Robbie’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts.
I glance over just as he pops up from the water, shaking the droplets from his hair. “You mean the belly flop? Yeah, I saw.”
He grins. “It wasn’t a belly flop.”
“Sure looked like one from here.”
“Did not!”
I smirk, but before I can tease him further, Annie appears beside me, setting a plate down for the burgers coming off the grill. She’s wearing a bright red swimsuit cover-up, her hair pulled into a messy bun, cheeks flushed from the sun.
“You’re antagonizing him again, aren’t you?” she asks, arching a brow.
I shrug. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Annie rolls her eyes and looks over at the triplets, smiling as Hope lets out an excited squeal, waving her arms.
“They have no idea today is special,” she murmurs, watching them.
“They don’t,” I agree, “but one day, they will.”
“Can you believe it’sbeen a year?”
No.
I really can’t.
I reach over, wrapping my fingers around hers, squeezing gently. “It went by so fast.”
She smiles softly, then glances across the patio where Evelyn is doting over Faith, making silly faces while they giggle.
“She’s completely obsessed with them,” Annie muses.
“She always said she wasn’t the grandmotherly type,” I remind her.
Annie grins. “She lied.”
We both glance over at Ellis, who is currently wearing a party hat against his will as Robbie and Grace take turns sticking foam stickers to his arms.
“Even Ellis has softened up,” Annie muses. “And look at Noah. He’s gonna be a natural dad some day. He’s so good with the girls, isn’t he? And Robbie love him, too.”
I smirk. “Give Ellis another hour and he’ll be wearing one of those ridiculous ‘World’s Best Grandpa’ shirts Robbie picked out.”
She laughs, shaking her head. “I’d pay to see that.”
Then I look over at Alan holding Hope, making her giggle with funny faces. No, he's not her grandpa by blood, but he might as well be.
The past year getting to know Alan again and reintroducing him to Robbie has been hard, but this sight right here, it makes everything worth it.
I sense Annie looking at me, and I look back at her, my chest tightening with something deep, something warm.