Page 86 of Dirty Money

“Let’s go. And we can stop by and pick up your Aunt Hope too,” Weston said. “Uncle Jimmy might want to come too.”

“He’s only a baby, Dad. Don’t be silly,” Brady said about his six-month-old uncle.

Aulora smiled as Weston got up and put his arm around her. They herded their two kids out of the room to get them to their rooms to get ready to go to the zoo. She felt it every time they touched. That spark that had started it all and continued to keep their fires going.

Becoming a mother was the best thing to happen to her. If it hadn’t been for Weston, she’d never know what love really was. She’d loved her mother and father. And she even loved Clara. But she would’ve never known what it really felt like to love someone you’re a part of.

As they went up the stairs, Bree tripped and hurt her knee. Weston snatched her up and kissed her boo-boo. “Daddy’ll make it better, sweetheart.”

As if the kiss was magic, Bree stopped crying and giggled. The pain all gone, it seemed. Aulora was always surprised by how easy it was to make the kids happy. A kiss on a boo-boo, a piece of candy, a nighttime story, all were easy to give, and all made their children happy.

Aulora realized that being a parent was scary. Fear was always an underlying thing when you have a kid. But fear was already there, anyway. She was afraid something would happen to Weston, her father, her mother, Clara, Hope all before she ever became a mother. It was life, Weston was right about that.

She’d learned that there could be a constant concern for people, but it was overshadowed by this sense of joy that was also constant. A continuous river of joy flowed through her. It hadn’t before. Aulora wondered how she had ever lived without it.

That stream of joy was what made her world turn. Without it, she didn’t know what life would be like. But she had reasons to believe, once you found that little piece of wonderful, it never went away. Hence, Weston’s always upbeat idea of life, even though he’d lost his first precious child.

Aulora respected her husband more than she’d ever admired anyone. He was the best husband and father she’d ever known or knew of. His support was unwavering.

They had their disagreements like anyone else did, but Weston never let them go to bed angry. If they had to argue a little bit longer to work it out, then they did that. If he had to kiss her into seeing things his way, they did that too. He was always there, never giving up.

Aulora wondered what she’d done to deserve such a man. She had to admit to herself that she could be a real downer at times. There was her penchant for seeing the worst in things. None of it stopped Weston from loving her.

On the other side of that coin, Weston wondered at times what his remarkable wife saw in him. She was a brilliant artist. Her work was coveted my many in the art world. And she saw fit to be with him.

He didn’t have an artistic bone in his body. When imagination was needed, he had to confer with Aulora as he couldn’t seem to come up with a thing.

One of his favorite things to do was to sit and listen to his wife as she made up stories she told their children when she was getting them to go to sleep. Stories about fairies and kingdoms that she made up filled their children’s ears and sparked their vivid imaginations.

Weston couldn’t even imagine coming up with the stories she did, nor the ideas for her intricate paintings. She was a genius in his eyes, with both their kids and her imagination and ability to bring it to life.

Aulora had been so worried about becoming a mother. Weston found that hilarious as she was a complete natural at it. Hardly anything bumfuzzled her. She was like the kid-whisperer. She knew why Brady would get cranky or Bree was having a hard time sleeping.

Aulora had a sixth sense, Weston didn’t. She was fantastic in his eyes, yet she didn’t see herself in that light. No matter how many times she was right about the kids or him, she never saw it as a gift. She’d say any mom knows these things, but she was wrong. Weston knew she was a gift to him and their kids and he treated her as such. The couple had finally found their happily ever after and they were going to keep it that way.

The End