Page 36 of The Substitute
“Me, too,” Pam mutters with a laugh.
“That’s my boy,” Christian adds, making us all laugh.
“Surprise, darling,” Pamela crosses over and hugs her son, then kisses his cheek.
“Uh, thank you.” He narrows his eyes at me over his mother’s shoulder, but I just smile at him and rub my hand over my moving belly. Our little girl is active today. “This is a surprise.”
“That’s not the only one,” I reply, but before I can say more, we hear the front door open and the stomping of little feet as our kids come running through the house. “Kids are home.”
“Oh, he beat us here,” my mother says as my parents follow the children inside. “Happy birthday, Derek.”
“Thank you,” he replies, hugging her and then my father.
“It’s your birthday,” Miranda, our youngest, announces with a dance and then launches herself into her father’s arms. “You’re old, but I still love you.”
“How kind,” Derek says and busses her little cheek with a kiss. “Did anyone call you Princess Miranda today?”
“No.” She shrugs and then leans forward to be let down. She’s been wearing her tiara and Belle costume nonstop for a week. I finally had to wash it when she was asleep because she never wants to part with it. “But they will. Eventually. Mikey, let’s go have a tea party.”
My son, so serious at just five years old—just like his father—sighs. “I don’t like tea.”
“Yes, you do,” Miranda says, taking his hand. “Come on. Steve can come, too.”
At the mention of his name, our golden retriever’s head rises from his bed in the corner. His tail thumps twice.
“You’re not putting a stupid tiara on him,” Michael warns his sister. “He’s a man, not a princess.”
“He likes the tiara,” Miranda insists as they hurry from the kitchen and out to their playroom, the dog trailing behind them.
“They’re magical,” Pamela says with a happy sigh and then turns to my parents. “Jeannie, David, let’s have a glass of wine by the fireplace.”
With the kids out of the room and all the parents out of seeing and hearing range, Derek pulls me in for a long, deep kiss.
“You got them all here without me knowing.”
“Yep.” I kiss his chin. “They all love you and wanted to celebrate your birthday.”
“And then be here long enough for the little one to come,” he guesses. “Which is actually rather clever. How are you feeling, love? You’re smiling, but I see the exhaustion on your face. You shouldn’t have done all of this.”
“Hey, I’m okay. Everyone’s helping me—more than I usually like. You know I’m in my element. No one will let me overdo it, especially you.”
“That’s right.” He kisses my forehead, and I lean into him, enjoying how he holds me up so I can relax.
Our life is more incredible than I could have ever dreamed. We have a beautiful home, a gorgeous family, and more love than I probably deserve, but I never take it for granted.
“Did you fire the new assistant?”
He sighs. “Not yet. Maybe on Monday.”
I lean my head back so I can look up at him. “Do you know how much I love you?”
His lips twitch. “Yes. I do. But it doesn’t hold a candle to how deeply I love my wife.”
“Oh, she sounds nice.”
He slaps my ass, then rubs the cheek in a circle as he laughs. God, I freaking love that laugh.
“Come on,” he says after kissing me once more. “Let’s go chat with the family. You need to put your feet up.”