CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

London races across the grass in pursuit of the bouncing football. She grabs the ball and tosses it into the air. The ball bounces and she swings her leg, but misses the ball.

It flops onto the ground and she pouts.

"Ops, I missed it."

"Hold the ball when you kick it," Dad instructs.

"Oh." She frowns.

"You'll have more control if you're holding it."

"Hm, okay." She nods.

She brushes her blonde hair over her shoulder and collects the ball. Dad adjust her grip, ensuring her hands are on either side of the rectangle ball.

"Give it your best go, and don't worry about messing up, because it takes lots of practice to be good at something."

Lo nods as Dad races back to his spot on the other side of the lawn. She takes a deep breath and kicks it up.

Blake dives across the grass, nabbing the ball before it can smack her in the head. He passes it to London and she frowns.

"I'm no good at this." She drops the ball and crosses her arms.

"What did Granddad just say to you?"

London stares at the ground and shrugs her shoulders. Blake pokes her arm, then tickles her side which makes her smile.

"It takes practice, and I have practiced."

"Sometimes it takes months, even years, of practice to be really good at something." Blake sighs.

"What if I'm never any good after years of practice?"

"If it's something you're passionate about, you keep practicing."

"Okay." She nods.

"Pick the ball up and try again."

She grabs the ball and glances at Dad. He tugs on a smile and nods his head. London adjusts her grip, angles the ball, then kicks it.

It flies through the air and bounces into my mother's beautiful garden bed. Dad grabs it from the hedging and swiftly kicks it back. London jumps to catch it, but the ball falls through her hands and bounces into her leg.

Blake trails across the grass and nabs a seat beside me. I lean against his arm and kiss his warm, prickly cheek. His green eyes sparkle as he grins.

"You're an amazing father, it's melting my heart." I smile.

"I'm trying." He chuckles.

"Stop it! You are." I poke his side with my elbow.

"Watch me kick this ball," London shouts.

Blake laces his fingers through mine as he turns to London. She holds the ball away from her body as she kicks it. The ball dips through the air and she squeals.

"Well done!" Blake claps the side of his leg.

"I'm so proud of you, baby girl," I cheer.

"With some practice, she could be a football player."

"I'm not sure about that." I laugh.

"She could be if she wanted to." Blake pouts.

"London can be whoever she wants to be, but knowing our beautiful daughter, her life goal is owning a billion unicorns and a house big enough to store them."

He wraps his arm around my waist and sighs.

"Perhaps I can guide her away from that future?"

"There's nothing wrong with her goal, leave her be!"

Blake nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck and sighs.

"At least she doesn't want to do something expensive, like riding horses, but then again, with the amount of unicorns she wants to own, a horse might be cheaper."

"Stuffed toys don't poop, though." I laugh.

"And that's why we're never getting a dog or those evil fur balls that scratch the furniture."

"Hm, we'll see about that." I giggle. "A puppy would be a good addition to the house once our children are old enough for the responsibility."

Blake trails kisses on my neck, then cups my cheek. He strokes his thumb across my soft, warm skin, and sighs.

"I'd give you whatever you want without thinking twice, even if it's an evil fur ball that scratches the couch."

"Don't worry, I'd prefer a puppy over a cat."

"Thank goodness." He grins.

"Can we go inside? My back and my butt are hurting."

"Sure."

Blake stands up and offers his hands. I'm yanked to my feet and we wander inside the house. I lead him into the lounge room and nab a seat on the cushy couch.

"Mm, this feels nice." I sigh.

He yanks on my arm and I flop against his chest. Blake wraps his arms around my waist and slides his hand under my shirt. His fingertips trail over my stomach which send goosebumps trickling over my arms.

"I can't wait to meet her." He kisses my shoulder.

"What do you think about names? I've been thinking, but I have no idea."

"I'm sure my mother would suggest Paris." Blake chuckles.

"Paris is a beautiful name." I nod. "And she was conceived there, but I still don't know."

"Paris could be her middle name. Don't stress about it, I'm sure we'll stumble across the perfect name before she's born."

"What if we don't?"

"We don't have to decide right away." He chuckles.

"I'm worried about time escaping."

Blake grabs my thighs and swirls me to the side. I tilt my head to the side and frown.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you comfortable sorting through Lo and Ivan's things? There should be enough between the pair to lower the list of things we need."

"Yes." I nod.

"I can sort through Ivan's things if you need me to."

"This time around, I can handle it."

"I'm working for the next three weekends, so I can't do much, but I can ask my parents if one of them can help with moving the boxes."

"Kyle might be free, plus I haven't seen him in a while."

"Okay." He nods.

"What should we do with the things we don't need?"

"We can box the remainder of Ivan's things and store them at my parent's house, anything else can be donated to charity."

"Once that storage container is cleared out, we can save some money there."

"Exactly." He nods.

"Should we check on London? I'm worried about them."

Blake snuggles me to his chest and laughs.

"Don't you trust your parents to look after London?"

"Of course I don't." I poke his thigh. "It's them I'm worried about! London's probably convincing my father to buy her another unicorn."

"Hm, you've got a fair point there." He sighs.

"We should rescue them."

"Or we could sit here for a little longer?"

Blake gently tightens his grip around my body and I sigh.

"We could also do that."

He kisses the top of my head and nuzzles his face into my neck. Sometimes it's nice to lay in his arms and enjoy the sound of his heartbeat and the feeling of his arms around me.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. I needed some time to re-charge since writing and life has been so busy these last few months! 😊