Page 70 of Unscripted Love
“Me? I’ve been here the shortest amount of time. You have more seniority here than I do,” I argued.
“Gabe, you have a lot more experience, and you have a better temperament for the job. I hate to lose you as a partner, but I’d love to see you take over our department if the captain is elected as mayor.”
“I’m honored, Adrian. I love being out in the field, and I’ve never really given much thought to moving up the ranks. I mean, I’ve taken the appropriate tests so that it could happen, but I never thought it would.” I thought about how much my life had changed in a year and realized maybe a little more change was on the horizon.
“Captain Roman-Wyatt,” Josh said, testing to see how it sounded. “I like it.”
“It does sound kind of snazzy.”
“And think of the names I can call you when you’re bad. Captain Cock Badger!”
“I’m never bad,” I rebutted.
“Oh, you are, but in a very good way.”
“Sally Ann, let’s get our pizza to go,” Adrian said. “The love birds want some alone time.” We hadn’t said anything, but now that he mentioned it…
“Yeah, grab some pizza and get out,” Josh said. “The grandmas have this under control for a few minutes.”
“Few minutes,” I whined. Who was I kidding? By that point, I’d settle for a hand job in the laundry room and a few seconds would be all it took.
It was amazing how quickly our friends cleared out of our house. My mom and Bertie entered the kitchen burping the twins on their shoulders. They looked around the empty kitchen in surprise.
“Where’d everyone go?” Bertie asked. She looked at Josh with narrowed eyes. “Did you fart, Joshy?”
“Mom, seriously?” my husband asked. “Of all the things you could accuse me of doing to clear a room, your first guess was farting?” Bertie just shrugged.
“Oh, I think I know.” My mom’s dark eyes twinkled. “You told them you wanted some alone time while the babies were preoccupied. I reckon no one was getting much action in the hospital suite or while you bunked down with the babies in the hotel rooms on the drive home.”
“Ohhhh,” Bertie said, “they are turning an interesting shade of red. I don’t think I recall Joshy every looking that embarrassed.”
“You boys go on upstairs and get busy. We got the babies covered,” my mom told us.
I thought it was great that our moms were so hip about the fact that we wanted sexy time together, but I doubted either of us would get an erection knowing that our moms were downstairs waiting for us to finish.”
Josh and I looked at each other and exchanged grins. “Nah, we’re good,” we both said at the same time.
“Suit yourself,” Bertie said, “but blue balls can be very painful. Plus you want a healthy prostate for optimal—”
“Not another word, Roberta,” Josh tersely said. I’d never heard him address his mother by her first name. “We’re very familiar with things like blue balls and prostate health. I needyouto stop thinking about them so thatIwon’t think aboutyouthinking about them. I’m at risk of never getting another erection as long as I live.”
“Jeesh, you don’t have to be so testy with me,” she replied petulantly.
As much as we loved our mothers, we lived in pretty tight quarters the past few days. I thought it would be best for a little break. “Why don’t you get a bite to eat while we give the babies their baths?”
I didn’t care that we hadn’t grabbed a bite to eat for ourselves and that my stomach was threatening to eat itself. I wanted a happy husband who’d be able to get it up as soon as our children fell back to sleep.
I took Destiny from my mother and Josh took Dylan from his. Bertie kissed Josh’s cheek then whispered something in his ear.
“I’m sorry too, Mama,” he said softly.
I appreciated their help more than I could express, but I was eager to get into a routine with our angels. Josh and I quickly got into a rhythm together just like we did everything. He washed then I dried and dressed them. Once they were ready for bed, we tucked them in and watched over them for a few minutes as they slept.
I brushed my finger against Dylan’s soft cheek then Destiny’s. “Only your daughter would insist on having her own birthday,” I said.
“No, your son didn’t get with the program. He had to arrive at eleven fifty on New Year’s Eve when the whole world knew they were supposed to be New Year’s babies,” Josh replied. “So impatient like his father.”
“Me? I’m the epitome of patience. Look how much crap I took from you while I waited for you to come around.” Josh smiled sheepishly at me. He had no comeback because he knew it was true. “There are moments in my life when I felt like someone was watching over me, guiding me perhaps. It was never a spiritual feeling like God or a guardian angel; it felt different.”
“Like a big brother watching over you?” Josh asked.
“Yeah, I guess that sums it up right. Is that just wishful thinking that I want Dylan to know that he lives on in our son, or how we named Destiny to honor Bianca and Georgia bringing us together?”
“Who’s to say that they’re not watching us right now?” Josh asked. He tipped his head to the side thoughtfully before he looked up toward the heavens. “Now would be a good time to look away. I’d like to have some alone time with my husband.” Josh looked at me and said, “That is if you want…”
I didn’t let him finish his sentence. I took him to our bedroom and showed him what I wanted. I was better with actions than words anyway.
“O Captain! My Captain!” Josh whispered.