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London wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think crap is any better.”
“He’s two.”
“Crap!” Michael slapped his hand off his tray.
I winced. “Sorry.”
London suddenly snorted. And then she started to laugh. Concerned, I let her shake against me until the laughter turned to tears. Pressing her face to my chest, I murmured soothing words and watched Michael’s expression fall.
“Mummy.”
“Mummy’s okay, m’eudail. Mummy’s just tired and needs a break.” And I was determined to give that to her.
We’d never stayed at the Scaris Thistle Hotel, but two weeks later London and I had checked in the night before. Now we were in a room getting a couple’s massage. Forde, of all people, had recommended it. Turned out he was right.
It was bloody amazing.
“Feeling better?” I asked, staring into my wife’s eyes as the massage therapist rubbed oil into my back. London had insisted on lying on her back, so her therapist was massaging her shoulders and her head.
Last night it had taken London some time to relax after we’d left Michael with Mum. Kelly was spending the weekend at Anna’s. Eventually, after a delicious dinner in the outstanding dining room with a spectacular view across the water, I watched London settle. She stopped checking her phone constantly, and we talked like we hadn’t been able to since Michael was born.
It wasn’t that our relationship was suffering since our wee boy came along. We still made time for each other, we were still in sync, and we still had a fantastic physical relationship. But I was worried about my wife and how much pressure she was putting on herself to be a perfect mum.
“Kelly talked to me just before we left,” London murmured as her shoulders slumped with relaxation beneath the masseuse’s ministrations.
“Aye?”
“She … she said some things that made me realize I don’t have to be in her and Michael’s face constantly to be a good mom. And that I can trust other people to love him when I can’t be there.” Tears glimmered in her eyes. “I need to let go a little for his sake as well as mine. He won’t have any resilience if I hover over him constantly.”
“Aye, a ghràidh,” I agreed.
London smiled. “I’m glad we came here.”
I thought of last night and the hours of lovemaking. Some of it had been … energetic, to say the least. Throwing the memories away in case my blood ran south, I nodded. “Me too.”
London licked her lips as if she was nervous. “Ladies, could we have the room for a second?”
Surprised by the request, I pushed up on my elbows as the therapists silently departed the room. “Everything okay?”
My wife sat up slowly, holding the sheet to her naked body. “You know what might help me give Michael the space he needs to grow?”
“What, a ghràidh?”
“Another sibling.”
Since I’d always liked the idea of a big family, I had no objections to that. I grinned, thinking of the fun we’d continue to have trying. “We can start on that whenever you want.”
London nodded slowly as her hand slid down her stomach to her lower belly. “We already did.”
I froze as I thought about last night and how London had taken control of our positions, which wasn’t unusual for us … but every single position was one where there was no weight or pressure on her stomach.
And she’d insisted on lying on her back for a massage.
“You’re pregnant?”
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered. “Only ten weeks, according to Dr. Molly.”
Early days, then.
