Page 60 of Surrender

She nodded. “You can do the girl voices. Mr. Mitchell sounds funny as a girl.”

I giggled. “I bet he does.”

“Alright now,” Jacob said, placing her on her feet. “Go grab your book so we can get started.”

“Okay!”

He led me over to the big rug. Children began crowding around to greet him. Most of them shoved their selected books into his hands in hopes that he’d read theirs first. When they started getting loud, he did a simple hand gesture to calm them down.

“Alright, kids. Take a seat.”

They eagerly found a spot on the floor and patiently waited.

“I know I haven’t been here in a few weeks, and I’ve really missed you guys. I want to introduce you all to someone very special to me.” He grabbed my hand and kissed it. “The reason I haven’t been here is because I got married, and I wanted to spend time with my new wife.”

The kids gasped.

One of them yelled, “You got married!”

They started clapping, and it warmed my heart. I could tell they loved him and were genuinely excited for him.

“Thank you, thank you,” Jacob said, calling for them to settle down again. “Allow me to introduce her. This is Kachelle Mitchell, formally Lewis. Can you all give her a warm welcome?”

“Hi, Mrs. Mitchell!”

I smiled and waved. “Hello. Thank you for letting me join your book club today. I look forward to seeing what you all have for us to read.”

“Who wants to go first?”

Several tiny hands went up.

“Would you do the honors?” he asked me.

“Sure.” I surveyed the rug. “You with the pink Hello Kitty shirt.”

“That’s Shia,” he said as she climbed to her feet and brought him her book.

“Do you remember all of their names?”

“Every single one. Thank you, Shia.”

She slapped him a high five, then reclaimed her seat. The book she chose was Beauty and the Beast. Jacob opened the book, and we began reading, make that acting, the book out.

The kids were having the time of their lives watching us. At one point, I thought the librarian was going to put us out, but she simply looked on with a smile. We ended up reading at least six books, and the kids enjoyed each one.

We pulled a few of them in with us to act the stories out. The whole experience made me fall deeper in love with my husband. If this was a preview of him with our babies, I just knew he would be a great daddy.

As he said goodbye to each of them, I watched him with pride.

“You’re a lucky woman,” one of the mothers told me. “These kids live for these Saturdays. He’s always so loving and patient with them. And he always treats them to lunch afterward. Most people do pizza, but he always does the local food trucks.”

I smiled. “He really loves what he does.”

She nodded. “I don’t know you, but you’re a good fit for him. I can tell he enjoyed having you hear today. I hope you come back next time.”

“I will. And if your kid ever needs a dentist, come over to Superhero Smiles. I’m the owner.”

“Really? I was just looking for a new office for my daughter, too. I’ll definitely be making an appointment. If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go plug you in with the other parents. We love to support our own.”