Page 51 of Nothing to This

Though they whimpered and moaned, they went with their father when he picked them up to carry them into the bathroom.She sat up and retrieved the remote control from the nightstand to return the movie to the point it had been at before the hilarity.

She was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed when JD carried the kids back in.

“Momma, sleep with us,” Kye said, reaching for her.

“Momma needs to get up,” JD said, passing Kye to her.

He kept hold of Sky as she got off the bed.She rocked her boy while JD pulled the blankets back and laid Sky down.Kye would be asleep soon, he was exhausted, and she didn’t object when JD took their son to put him in the bed with his sister.

“Daddy!”Sky called.

He bent over the bed to stroke Sky’s hair and kissed her forehead, then Kye’s.“Daddy will come through in a while.You two finish watching the movie.”Stepping back, he put an arm around her.“Mommy and Daddy are going to talk grown-up things for a while.”

Sky was already watching the film.Though Kye seemed a little more discerning in the way he examined his parents, he was too tired to care and finished on a yawn.

JD guided her out of the bedroom, dimming the light and pulling over the door before leading her down the hallway.

“Grown-up things?”she asked.

“You need a glass of wine, and I want to hear more about your pregnancy.”

“Okay, but we have to clean up in the kitchen first.”

“The kids and I planned to stay home in the morning and do the chores.We’ll do that and you can lie in.We’ll take care of it.”

“Please don’t call Anya again,” she said.“I can’t handle beauty that intense before coffee and a shower in the morning.”

“No Anya,” he said, leaving her at the head of the kitchen island, her back to the dining table, to pour a glass of wine.

She appreciated that he elected to drink lemonade and stay sober, being the designated parent.

“Just a quick drink,” she said, when he put the glass in her hand.

His smirk came with a wink.With her crowded in front of him, he went around the table and up the four stairs into the living room that took up the large corner area of the apartment.The curved couch in the middle faced the entertainment unit.Two windowed walls showcased the evening city.

Sitting down, she drank, then put her glass on the coffee table to curl her legs up onto the couch.

Wrapping an arm around them, she set her focus on JD.“Do you miss Gabby?”

Startled by the question, he paused mid-movement before settling on the couch.“Not really… We were together years ago, when we were young.It didn’t work out.I missed her when we broke up back then.That’s when I grieved the relationship.We came across each other again by accident about a year ago.I think it was nostalgia that hooked us up… I guess what they say about never going back is true, because this time around was never quite as… intense as I remember it.She was different, I was different.It just wasn’t the same.”

“Everything’s different when we’re young,” she said.“And every experience we have changes us.”

“Then I guess you better start at the beginning.”

The way he settled deeper into the couch put a smile on her lips.“What are you talking about?”

“Your experiences.I want to know.”

“About the pregnancy?”

“About everything,” he said.“I’m listening, Ry.I want to know everything.”

Though dubious at first, they quickly slipped into easy conversation.The night they’d met, they’d talked.Conversation had flowed; humor and innuendo blended into the discussion all the way through.

She needed a night like that again.One where she could just be a woman and have an adult conversation.JD was there to deliver and for that, she was grateful.Not only was he a great father to her children, but he was becoming her friend.She needed one of those now more than ever.

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