Josh and I quietly made our way back to the living room. We gathered our clothes and headed to our bedroom. We walked in, and I shut the door before we both busted out laughing. I fell onto the bed and held my stomach as I laughed my ass off.
“I opened my eyes, and there she was, just sitting on the floor and looking up at me!”
Josh was chortling so hard that he could hardly breathe. “Oh my gosh. These two kids are going to be a damn handful. What are we going to do about her sleepwalking?”
I sat up and took a deep breath as I wiped my tears away. “I guess we’ll have to get a little alarm on her door, like the doctor suggested. I really think it has to do with the separate bedrooms.”
“I agree. It seems like this all started after we talked to them about it.”
I let out a sigh and turned to him. “Baby, I’m exhausted.”
He pulled my towel off and gently laid me back on the bed. He kissed me so gently and tenderly that I instantly relaxed. We both crawled under the covers as Josh pulled me up against him.
“You know, I wouldn’t trade any of it, not a damn thing.”
I smiled and thought about how we had already made some wonderful memories in just one day. “I wouldn’t either.”
I listened as Josh’s breathing slowed, and he drifted off to sleep. It didn’t take long before I closed my eyes and dreamed of chasing butterflies.
Heather handed me a beer as she sat down next to me. We watched as Will and Libby played with the new puppy.
“Not even two days, Josh.”
“What? They needed a puppy.”
Heather laughed. “They did not need a puppy this soon. Now, we have two three-year-olds and a ten-week-old chocolate lab.”
I chuckled as I watched Boo chase after Libby. “I still can’t believe Will let Libby name the puppy.”
“I know. He has such a sweet and tender heart when it comes to Libby.”
“I feel sorry for any boy who falls in love with her. He will not only have to deal with me, but he’ll also have to deal with her brother.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes and took our surroundings all in. The rest of the gang was planning on coming over for dinner tonight. They’d planned to bring all the side dishes, and we were going to grill up hamburgers and hot dogs.
“Just having everyone right down the road is going to be so nice. I do feel bad for Brad and Amanda though,” I said.
I waited for Heather to respond. When she didn’t, I glanced over to her. I quickly got up and fell down onto my knees in front of her. She was sitting there, crying.
“Baby, what’s wrong? Heather?”
I looked behind me to see where she was staring. Will and Libby were sitting on the ground with Boo, so I knew they were okay.
I turned back to Heather and placed my hands on her face. “Heather? Baby, please tell me why you’re upset.”
She shook her head and smiled. “I’m not upset. I’m happy.”
I frowned as I tilted my head, and I used my finger to make her look at me. “You’re crying because you’re happy?”
She smiled big and nodded her head. She glanced up and over my shoulder, and then she looked back into my eyes. “I feel them here with us.”
“Your parents?”
“Yes.” She let out a sob and glanced back out into the distance.
When I turned again to see what she was looking at, I saw it. “Oh, wow,” I whispered. “He is huge.”
I stood up and looked at the buck that was standing there, looking in our direction. He had to be at least a twelve point.