by Mia Kayla
"Hey, baby," he whispered.
Tears gushed down my cheeks. Full on. Not stopping. I pushed my head against his shirt, taking in the scent that was my husband, my better half. "Hey," I whispered back.
I realized the few hours with my mother had taken its toll, and I started to sob as I dropped into Kent's arms. My whole body was engulfed in a tide of weariness and emotional overload.
When I lifted my head, he angled Em closer. "I think mama wants a big kiss."
Emily held out her arms and I happily complied. I kissed her long and hard on her chubby cheek. When she giggled, my insides filled with endorphins. "I missed you so much, baby Em." I kissed her other cheek so it wouldn't feel left out.
Kent swiped at my tears with his fingertips. "Stop crying, beautiful."
"I'm sorry. Today was just too much."
He lightly stroked my shoulder then his protective arm pulled me tighter against him. "I know you said you'd be okay coming here by yourself, but I wanted to be here with you. This is a big deal, seeing her after you haven't seen her in a long time."
I wrapped one arm around his hip. "Thank you. Sometimes I think you know what I need before I do. How did you get here so quickly?"
"The Jet." Laughter floated up from his throat.
"I doubt this classifies as company business." I chuckled through tear-filled eyes.
"Pfft it's our company, so anytime we want a ride, it is classified as company business."
He leaned in, concern flooding his vision. "How was it?"
"Weirdly good." I glanced back at the salon and bit my bottom lip. "I didn't know what to expect, but I guess I wasn't expecting it to go so well." I glanced up at him. "I showed her a picture of Em.” My eyes flew to the salon behind me, worried that she would come out and see us.
“You did?” His voice sounded cautious.
I kissed Em's beautiful head of curls. "But I don't think I'm ready for Jamie to meet her."
Who knew what the future held? I didn't want to think too far ahead. Maybe in the distant future, we could have dinners or spend holidays together. I didn't want to get my hopes up. I'd been there one too many times before only to be disappointed.
"Maybe someday." I peered up at Kent. "Baby steps."
"Baby steps." He leaned down and kissed my nose, then we strolled together, his arm around me as I cradled Emily against my hip.
"Did you call a car service?"
He nodded. "I did, but I saw the Limo sitting out here so I told our car to leave."
The Limo was still idling by the curb, waiting for me where I left it. I smiled gently up at him. "Home then?"
Kent shied away, for once looking a little hesitant. "Not exactly."
I lifted an eyebrow. "What do you have up your sleeve, crazy husband of mine?"
"Well, the happiest place on earth is just a hop, skip, and a jump away." A dimple was on full display.
I knew exactly what he was talking about, and I laughed out loud. "Are you serious? Disney?"
He grinned. "I have your ears at the hotel."
"Hotel?"
"Yeah, we better hurry up. We’re having dinner with Mickey at six."
"Mee-mee-mouse," Emily, the little conspirator, agreed.
A dimple appeared on both of Kent's cheeks, and I watched his reaction to see if he was joking. When he didn't bust up laughing a second later, I knew he was dead serious.
I smacked him playfully on the arm. "Kent Plack, don't tell me you reserved the jet, booked us a hotel, bought Disney Park tickets, and scheduled dinner with Mickey...all after I specifically said that I didn't need you here."
"Well..." He grimaced. "Yeah. But in my defense, you said you didn't need me to come with you to see your mom. You never said anything about going to Disney."
He smiled, all teeth, trying for playful. It was the cutest thing and my stomach flipped. All was forgiven.
I tiptoed and kissed his lips in response. "Okay, you win." I pecked him sweetly again. "I love you."
As the limo driver stepped out of the car, seeing us approach, Kent reached for my hand and squeezed. "Uh. And my parents are here."
I turned to him as my eyebrows raised to the open blue sky. "What?" I had no idea that he could surprise me three times in one day, but Kent was full of surprises.
"They kind of begged.” He scrunched his face, seeming a little sheepish. “Even Dad. They said they'd give us time to ourselves, too. They even said they'd be good. They would just tag along. They even went as far to say they wouldn't buy Emily that much stuff. Whatever that means," he chuckled.
I shook my head, thoroughly amused.
"Beth, I just couldn't say no."
"You're absolutely crazy."
"Absolutely." He nuzzled his nose against mine before kissing me sweetly. "Crazy for you."
I drowned in the eyes of the man that consoled me and comforted me, but above all things, he loved me unconditionally.
"That," I said, leaning in closely, "is something I can totally accept.” Then I kissed him once more before climbing into the limo with Emily.
"Off to the happiest place on earth," he joked, ushering me in so he could climb into the seat beside me.
Little did he know that I was already there. My happiest place on earth was anywhere with Kent Plack and baby Em.
The End.
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Also by Mia Kayla
Marry Me For Money
The Scheme
Everything Has Changed
About the Author
Mia Kayla is a New Adult and Contemporary Romance writer who lives in Illinois. She is the wife to the husband of the year and mommy to three unbelievable cute little girls who have multiplied her grey hairs.
In her free time she loves reading romance novels, jamming to boy bands, catching up on celebrity gossip and designing flowers for weddings.
Most of the time, she can be caught on the train with her nose in a book sporting a cheeky grin because the main characters finally get their happily-ever-after at the end.
She loves reading about happy endings but has more fun writing them.
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Acknowledgments
Goodness gracious, this one was a tough one to write. It was hard for me to jump back into Beth and Kent’s head when it has been so long.
But I wanted Beth to have resolution with her mother and I wanted everyone to see Kent as a father. It took him a while, but our man got there!
First and foremost, thanks to my family. My husband is my rock and allows me to write every Friday night while he covers for me at home. I love him like no other.
To Megan Hand—I love that you just get me and you get my characters. You always have a way of pushing me to bring out more emotion in my characters. Thanks for fitting me in to get this done and for being you.
To my beta readers— Amy, Teri, Kristin and Christina. Thank you for your feedback to make this a stronger story. I appreciate you.
To my writer support system—Michelle, Danielle, Elisabeth and Stephanie. Thank you for listening me rant and answering all my 101 questions. #indiechicksrock
To the bloggers—Thanks for promoting my books and pimping me like I’m a Rockstar.
To all my readers—You keeps keep me going and going like the energizer bunny. I write for you.
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