Loving Her (4 page)

I started rocking my
hips as Ty reached into the tub, wetting his hands and running it over my soapy chest. The way they glided over my nipples was utterly delightful. He reached up, getting suds all over my cheeks as he held my face to kiss me passionately. We grinded slowly, absorbing every feeling possible as we came together.

Ty paid no attention to the soap all over me as he kissed down my chin and
onto the nape of my neck. I could feel his teeth biting me as he began to tighten up. I picked up my pace, knowing he was losing control, and wanting to experience it with him. Then it was there, that precise moment where my body shuddered. I cried out, digging my nails into his shoulders. Finally we stilled, taking in the emotions of what we’d just experienced after so much time apart. I was afraid to move an inch, because I felt so good.

Ty placed his lips on my forehead and held them there. “This wasn’t how I pictured tonight going.”

I pulled away and looked right into my husband’s eyes. “The night’s not over, you know.”

He brushed the remains of suds off of my face. “You’re still so beautiful to me. How’d I get so lucky?”

I shrugged, not wanting to feed his ego. “I must have been crazy.”

He let out a deep laugh and shook his head before lifting me off of him, breaking the connection. I gasped, feeling him leaving me empty. My body tingled
, and I reached for him. He smiled and kissed me on the forehead before walking over the towels and turning on the shower. “Pull the plug in the tub and come rinse off. As sexy as you look all lathered up, I can’t have you getting pruney on me.”

I giggled and went to sit down on the edge of the tub to pull the plug, but my ass was too slippery to stay still on the tile
, and I went falling head first into the bath which was filled to the brim. My feet were in the air and everything was so slippery that I couldn’t bring my head above water.

Ty pulled me up, laughing his ass off as water poured out of the top of the tub again. I brought my legs into the tub and shook my head. “Why does this always happen to us?”

He was bent over, chuckling so hard that his eyes were beginning to water. He needed to smile, I got that, but at my expense wasn’t cool.

With the tub draining,
I used the water to rinse my body of the soap while Ty ran into the kid’s bathroom and grabbed all of their towels.

Then we began
soaking up more water and carried the wet pile to the laundry room, all while being naked and Ty still so soapy.

An hour later the bathroom floor was sparkling clean and dry. The grout would take a full day to dry out, but the floor was safe to walk on again.

Once he was cleaned up, we retreated to the couch, feeling exhausted from our romp in the bathroom. It was going to take me at least four loads to clean up the wet towel mess, and I wasn’t looking forward to adding that to the pile of laundry that we had already accumulated.

Still, curling up in Ty’s arms took all my stress away. I didn’t care what was on television as long as he was holding me.

“That was fun,” I said sarcastically.
“I wasn’t going for fun, you know?”

“I know, but it’s definitely unforgettable.”

Ty looked down at me and pulled my chin so that I was looking into his eyes. “Baby, every day with you is unforgettable. This time apart sucks. Being with Iz is the priority, but it’s not easy being away from you. I know we’re good, but it feels like we’re separated sometimes. I get into that big bed at night and you’re not even there. I just want our family back the way it was. We need to be together again.”

“I pray every day that she’ll be home soon.”

“I know. I do too. She’s doing well this week.”

Ty was right. She’d really improved. I could tell that she was restless being stuck in that hospital.

We intertwined our fingers together and he brought them to his lips. “I need my girls under one roof.”

“We will be, I promise.” I hated making such promises that I didn’t know I could keep. As much as Bella seemed to be
improving, I still feared that something could go wrong. My optimism wasn’t what it used to be before our daughter got sick.

What did we have left if there was no hope?

She had to be okay, because neither of us could live without her. That was the brutal truth to it all.

“Would you be mad at me if I asked you to go with me to the hospital and stay with Iz tonight, together? I can bring the air mattress. The nurses won’t mind. It’s not like they come in that much during the night anyway. I just feel like being here isn’t fair to her. Seeing us together would cheer her up.”

I couldn’t hide the smile that came across my face. “It’s the best idea you’ve ever had, Mr. Mitchell.”

“Let’s get changed and pack a cooler. We’ve got a date with a pretty blonde tonight.”

He smacked my ass as I climbed off of the couch. Ty and I didn’t need a hot night together to reconnect. We needed to feel like a family again.

Chapter 5

Tyler

It would have been nice to spend the night in an empty house, but I wouldn’t have been able to sleep
, and I don’t think Miranda could have either. My mom was shocked when we walked into the hospital room before seven and told her to go home for the night. She smiled and understood when she saw the excitement in Izzy’s eyes for having me and Miranda there at the same time.

After she’d left and it was just the three of us, we pulled out the snacks and some fast food we’d smuggled in. The look on Izzy’s face was priceless, but the look in Miranda’s eyes was something completely different. It had been a long tim
e since I’d seen her so happy. She sat on one side of Izzy’s bed while I pulled the chair up to the other side. I hooked the IPad up to the television and we streamed a movie. Miranda had popped two bags of popcorn and even brought the blanket that we always cuddled up with on the couch at home. Seeing our daughter smiling melted my heart. It was the most perfect night that Miranda and I could have had together, especially when she fell asleep holding both of our hands. I didn’t have the heart to get up and blow up the air mattress. Instead, I got as comfortable as I could in the chair and the girls shared the bed. For a little while I sat there watching them sleep, admiring the sight that I’d missed so much.

I don’t know how I was able to get through it in one piece, but one long month, lots of prayers, and several doctor’s later, we were bringing our daughter home. The treatments had worked and she was recovering slowly. Finally we felt like things were going to get back to normal.

We’d been through Hell, and I
’d missed my family; Sunday dinners with everyone together and watching all the cousins growing up, being the best of friends.

We spent the first night cuddled in our king size bed, three ki
ds in the middle, with me and Miranda on the outside edges. Sure, I wanted to be alone with my wife, but  we’d have our time eventually. Right then we needed to feel them close to us, safe and healthy. With Bella needing her rest, my mom offered to come over and give us some time alone, but neither of us were willing to let her out of our sight.

She may have been home, albeit at any time something could have gone wrong. I’d never have forgiven myself if that happened.

I’ll never forget waking up that second day and seeing her smiling at me. “I’m glad I’m home, daddy.”

“You are?” I started tickling her lightly, getting her to giggle.

Realizing that I still needed to be gentle, I stopped and kissed her with my stinky morning breath. It was just like her to come back at me with a wet finger to my inner ear. The Wet Willy felt gross, but I loved that my daughter was a chip off the old block. “Got you back!”

I could hear the boys in the living room and knew it was only going
to be a matter of time before they came in and interrupted my alone time with Iz. I sat up and patted her on the leg. “Listen, kiddo. I know you’re getting older and you feel like you can do a lot yourself, but nothing is more important to me than your life. You need to be careful when you’re outside, especially when you’re alone. I’m going to get you a cell phone, so if you’re ever in trouble you can reach me or your mom. Understand?”

All she heard was that she was getting a cell phone. She hugged me. “Thank you,
daddy.”

I loved that she still called me that. One day soon it would always be dad. I liked
daddy the most because it reminded me that she was my little girl. Imagining that and almost losing her made me instantly upset. We’d come so close to losing her. “I just love you so much, Iz.”

“I’m goin’ to be okay, you know.”

I didn’t want her to see me sad or scared, so I kept the smile on my face. “I know.”

Izzy put her head on my arm and hugged it. “Can I tell you secret?”

“Sure.” I thought it would be something legitimately important; perhaps something between the two of us about a surprise.

“I didn’t miss Jake and Jax that much.”

I started laughing, thinking about how she’d had me and Miranda to herself for a whole month. “Let’s keep that between us, okay?”

She giggled and stood up off the bed. “Okay.”

When I came out of the bedroom, I found Jax and Jake both standing on opposite ends of the couch, holding the remotes to their video game. They were staring at the television as if they’d been put into a trance. “How many times have you been told not to stand on the furniture?” I scared the piss out of them.

At the same time, without looking away from the game they were playing, I watched them plop down on the cushions. They went back to talking to each
other like they hadn’t just gotten yelled at.

Miranda was in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of coffee. I went in, took a sip of hers
, and pulled her into my arms. She kissed me and looked over to see Iz sitting in-between her brothers. “It’s so good to see her here at home. Maybe we can finally start gettin’ back to normal.”

“What’s normal in this house?”

Miranda laughed, but kept looking at the kids. “As normal as it gets.”

Just as I
started to agree, I heard something crash. We fled into the living room and saw that a glass of chocolate milk had been pushed off the table, because Jax was standing up on the couch again. Not only had the glass shattered, but there was chocolate milk all over the floor, furniture and wall. “I told you to get your ass down!”

Miranda grabbed
paper towels and the dustpan, while I chased a scared kid into his room. When I heard his door slamming, I went back out to help clean up the mess. Izzy was bent over, helping her mother pick up the bigger shards. “Go sit down, Iz. I’ll help Mom clean it up.”

She was barefoot, so I picked her up and sat her down on the couch where I knew she wouldn’t cut herself. Jake sat there sucking on his bottom lip, like he did when something was wrong. He turned away when he caught me looking at him.

I grabbed his foot, getting his attention. “You got something you want to say?”

“I didn’t do it.”

I shook my head and kept picking up pieces of glass. Iz sat there watching us, as if I was going to yell at her. I stopped what I was doing and looked over at Miranda, who looked back at me, puzzled. “What?”

“How would you feel about going away for a couple of days? Iz, would you like to see Noah? I think we need to get out of here, the five of us, together.”

“Can we, daddy?” Iz’s face lit right up.

Miranda shook her head and smiled. “I guess I need to call Van and let her know.”

“I’ll call her. Someone’s going to have to make sure there is toilet paper and ketchup stocked.”

Miranda rolled her eyes. “Do I even want to know why we’d need only those two things?”

I really didn’t have a reason, but I did like driving her crazy with nonsense. “It’s a secret.”

“I hate when you have secrets, Ty. They never turn out good.”

I laughed at her comment. Even though she knew me better than anyone else, I still was able to catch her off guard. Of all the people in my life, Miranda was the hardest one to make laugh. I think I annoyed her with my bantering to the point that she’d taught herself how to ignore me.

For the most part, I made it a mission to act extra obnoxious, just to get a r
ise out of her.

After we’d cleaned up the mess, I grabbed my phone and sat
at the table across from Miranda, dialing Van’s number. We’d talked almost every day, and after the whole cancer episode, Colt had finally chilled out about it.

“Good morning, Ty.”

“Oh my God, have you brushed your teeth yet? I can smell your breath through the phone.”

“You’re smelling your own breath. What do you want? I’m not in the mood for you this early
, and since you’re being your normal douche-bag self, I’d imagine you’re not calling because something is wrong.”