Our first child was born two weeks after we moved into the house. We had a boy, and we named him Daniel after Pa. Children numbers two and three (both boys, Owen and Wesley) were born within the next three years.
Jesse and I felt blessed to have a healthy, young family with three strapping Bishop boys.
We didn't plan on having any more.
Child number four came along three-and-a-half years after Wes was born.
This one wasn't planned.
She was an unexpected gift, and we named her Ivy Alice after her grandmothers.
She was five now, and would start school soon.
I put her to bed, marveling at how quickly time just slipped through my fingers.
Jesse had just finished telling the boys 'goodnight', and he came into Ivy's room to kiss his daughter. I was standing next to her bed as he crossed the room. I watched as he leaned over, kissing her. I smiled at the sight of the muscles on the back of his arm and the fact that things like that still made my heart race.
Jesse made a big groan as he leaned over Ivy, and then a smooching sound, causing her to giggle as he kissed her neck. He pulled back to look at her, and she smiled and touched his face, near his eyebrow.
"What happened right here?" she asked.
The scar wasn't very noticeable, but Jesse liked to tease her about how he got it, and Ivy always enjoyed putting off bedtime a little bit longer by pointing it out and asking about it.
"Oh, this thing?" he asked, touching it. "I got this the night your mama and me got married."
(This was an accurate truth so far, but Jesse made a super-serious, dramatic face that Ivy and I both knew was going to be followed by some sort of outrageous lie.)
"Bandits came to our wedding. Dangerous, pirate-type guys with eye patches and swords. They tried to steal my fair bride away from me, so I had no other choice but to get in a swordfight with them. A duel to the death!" Jesse's expression was hilariously serious as he jabbed his hand through the air in a forward motion, pretending and doing a convincing job of being a fencer. "I won, of course, and the bad guys were banished to a faraway land."
"What's banished?" she asked.
"Sent away," he said.
"I'm glad they got banished and you only got this little bitty scar."
"Me too," he said.
"Did you really get it from having a fight at your wedding?" she asked, since she knew the real story and wanted to extend bedtime as much as possible.
"Yes, I did," he said, patting her head one last time. "It happened at our wedding. Only there were no swords, and it was just a regular guy, not a pirate."
"Okay," she said.
I thought she would make another comment, or ask another question about it, but she didn't. She just closed her eyes, looking content with that story.
I leaned over and kissed her one more time before Jesse and I headed out of her room and down the hall.
We peeked in on the boys and reminded them that it was time to quit talking and go to bed. The boys shared one big bedroom, and although Ivy had her own room, half the time she ended up coming into her brothers' room in the middle of the night. We had the trundle bed pulled out for her just in case. We told the boys goodnight, and headed to our room on the other side of the house.
I slid and scooted silently over the wood floors, bumping into Jesse on purpose as we walked. He smiled at me as he put his arm around me.
"I was checking you out," I whispered, still bumping into him as we moved.
"Oh yeah?"
"Uh-huh, I saw the muscles on the back of your arm a minute ago."
I reached across him and ran my fingers over the backside of his arm. I was kind of joking when I went to feel it, and I was surprised by how firm and defined his muscle was back there. I ran my fingers across the ridge of muscle, smiling at him when I noticed he was flexing for me.
"I like your muscles," I said.
And just like that, Jesse stooped in front of me and tossed me over his shoulder. The only reason I didn't let out a shriek of surprise was because I knew the kids would love an excuse to get out of their beds to come check on me. So, I stifled my squeal, holding onto Jesse and giggling silently.
He carried me the remaining feet to our bedroom and tossed me onto the bed, mumbling something about muscles before jumping up there with me.
He was my rock and my caretaker, and yet he pounced onto the bed looking silly and ferocious in an effort to make me laugh, which worked. Four kids later, and Jesse Bishop was still tickling me and making me feel like I was just falling in love.
He leaned over me and kissed my cheek, and all was right with the world.
The End
(till book 3)
Other titles available from Brooke St. James:
Another Shot:
A Modern-Day Ruth and Boaz Story
When Lightning Strikes
Something of a Storm (All in Good Time #1)
Someone Someday (All in Good Time #2)
Finally My Forever (Meant for Me #1)
Finally My Heart's Desire (Meant for Me #2)
Finally My Happy Ending (Meant for Me #3)
Shot by Cupid's Arrow
Dreams of Us
Meet Me in Myrtle Beach (Hunt Family #1)
Kiss Me in Carolina (Hunt Family #2)
California's Calling (Hunt Family #3)
Back to the Beach (Hunt Family #4)
It's About Time (Hunt Family #5)
Loved Bayou (Martin Family #1)
Dear California (Martin Family #2)
My One Regret (Martin Family #3)
Broken and Beautiful (Martin Family #4)
Back to the Bayou (Martin Family #5)
Almost Christmas
JFK to Dublin (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #1)
Not Your Average Joe (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #2)
So Much for Boundaries (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #3)
Suddenly Starstruck (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #4)
Love Stung (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #5)
My American Angel (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #6)
Summer of '65 (Bishop Family #1)
Jesse's Girl (Bishop Family Book 2) Page 14