Page 134 of CowSex

Koa shoves our squirming daughter at me, and I pull the towel from the back of my chair and wrap her in it, as he scoops up a now screaming Malia and heads right back into the water with her. Flint is still on his shoulders, shouting encouragement at his dad to dunk her. Malia shrieks her protests about getting her hair wet. She’s such a girl.

Despite the snow not inspiring me the way I’d hoped, Malia had. Instead of a winter line, I’d been unstoppable come the spring. Malia’s love of pinks, purples and butterflies, had been combined with the blues and mauves of the flowers that appeared all over the mountains as the weather warmed up.

Kaftans, smocks, long floaty skirts. The whole line reflected how I was feeling, chilled and relaxed, despite being very pregnant.

Koa’s super swimmers had done the job pretty much the very first time we’d had unprotected sex. Flint Koa Carmichael had been born just nine months after we first met, he turned two a week ago. Lani will be one in a month and in just a few weeks’ time, we’ll be adding another little boy to the family.

I’d broken Koa’s tradition of giving his children Hawaiian names, but I’d insisted that my side of the family were recognised with the naming of my first born. Flint was my mum’s single name and my grandparent's surname. I wanted to honour their memory and show thanks for all that they did for me, so called my son Flint. I had no clue what the new baby would be called. This time it was Koa’s choice, and he couldn’t seem to decide.

I look down at Lani, who has instantly fallen asleep. Not really surprised, she’s been in the water for the last two hours.

When I first arrived in Addison, I’d stood at the back doors of the cabin and looked out over the snow-covered landscape at what I thought was a shed off in the distance. It was, in fact, a boathouse. The land that the cabin was built on backed onto a huge freshwater lake and it was my favourite place in the world to spend time.

Once we’d made the decision to make the Cabin our full-time home, Koa had had his team construct a summer house down by the water's edge. It had a kitchen, bathroom, a television and large comfy sofas for when the kids had had enough of the sun or the water, and two bedrooms if anyone needed to sleep. There’s a barbeque out on the veranda and a fire pit beyond that. It’s where we spend most of our summers.

Koa also had a recording studio built beside Kai’s barn conversion. The band have released six singles and an album since I’ve been here. Koa has just returned from a short four-week tour. We don’t lead a rock and roll lifestyle though, far from it.

The band aren’t really well known outside of the U.S, so never travel abroad, and now that we have the studio on site, even when they’re recording, he still comes home to me each night.

Koa passes a giggling Flint off to Kai as Malia swims around them. He starts making his way back to me, and again I blatantly stare, appreciating all that is Koa Carmichael.

He walks right to me, resting his hands on the arms of my sun lounger, he leans forward, getting all up in my grill.

My pregnancy hormones, which Koa refers to as my pregnancy ‘whoremoans’ are once again rampant and I would happily spend all day every having sex. I’m in a perpetual state of horniness, and my husband loves it.

“Like what you see Essex?”

“Always.”

“Wanna slip inside, so I can slip inside?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good, but you’ll have to walk in front of me. I’ve got a boner about the size of Mount Massive happening in my shorts right now.” I instantly look down at our sleeping daughter and frown.

“She’s sleeping and would have no idea what I was talkin’ about even if she could hear me.”

“I know, but still, talking about massive boners around her little ears still feels wrong.”

Malia squeals and Koa turns and looks over his shoulder at his three eldest children when he looks back at me, his eyes appear to be shining with unshed tears, and I watch as he attempts to swallow down whatever it is he’s feeling. His throat moves at a rapid rate as he struggles.

I reach out and touch the side of his face. He still has his beard, but he keeps it trimmed much shorter these days. I love it either way. There’s nothing I don’t love about this man.

“You alright?”

He smiles.

“Do you have any idea how fucking happy you make me?”

“No, tell me.”

He leans right in, lifts Lani’s chubby hand and rests his forehead on mine.

“You’ve given me a life I thought was lost to me, Gracie. You’ve turned this old cabin back into a home, and you’ve filled our lives with love, colour, babies, and so much more.”

“Teamwork babe. We’ve created all of this together.”

Lani stirs, and Koa lifts her from my non-existent lap and lays her on the sun lounger next to me. She’s still wrapped in a towel, but now she’s in the shade, so he places another one over her.