Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Tatum’s kept the baby on a strict eating and feeding schedule, which means she couldn’t come pick me up. But that’s okay because Easton and Finn can spend some time bonding while we drive to their beach house.
Once Easton parks, I dart out like I’m on fire and rush inside. Tatum waits for me in the foyer and quickly wraps me in a tight hug.
“Oh my God!” I squeal. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“Shh, she’s sleeping,” she whispers.
“Oh, come on, let’s wake her up.”
“Oakley, no. You never wake a sleeping baby.”
I pout with my arms on my hips. “She wants to meet her aunt.”
“She will in an hour.”
I scoff. “Fine. I’ll introduce you to my boyfriend, I suppose.”
She laughs as Easton and Finn walk in with our luggage. “Oops, sorry. I forgot to grab my bag.”
Easton smirks as if he knows better than to say anything. “Finn, meet my sister, Tatum.”
Tatum immediately gives him a hug. Finn looks at me over her head, and I snicker. “I told her you gave the best bear hugs and she wanted to see for herself.”
“I’m right here.” Easton playfully clears his throat.
“Aw, feeling left out? I gave you a hug earlier!” I exclaim, then open my arms. “Do you want another?”
Tatum chuckles, releasing her hold on Finn. “It’s really nice to see you in person. From the times we’ve talked and everything I’ve heard about you, it’s like I already know you.”
“Same,” Finn agrees.
The past six months have been wild. While finding my new normal living with Finn, I worked with Jessa a lot to build my social media presence. I started painting during live streams and let strangers on the internet ask questions about my techniques. On top of that, Jessa helped me make a professional-looking website where I can show off my pieces. There’s also a tab with my contact information so people can easily reach out to me. Everything she’s done has been a game changer for my career, and I don’t think I could’ve done it without her help. Instead of feeling this overwhelming stress about finding new clients, I now have a waiting list.
Between all of that, I’ve been keeping up with my sister and their surrogate since she was due a couple of months ago. I’ve never cried so hard in my life when they FaceTimed me and I saw my niece for the very first time.
“Are you hungry? I can make us something,” Tatum offers.
“I’m giving it thirty minutes before I go in there and steal her,” I say. “But yes, I could eat.”
Easton pats my back. “Sit tight. I’ll go check and see if she’s still snoozing.”
I can hardly stand the wait and am ready to climb the stairs two at a time to see her. This baby will be glued to my arms for the next five days.
“Grilled cheese with pickles, is that still your favorite?” Tatum asks as she looks in the fridge.
“Yeah, when I was nine.” I laugh, and Finn makes a face. “Sounds delicious.”
Ten minutes later, Easton walks downstairs, and I nearly scream in excitement.
“She’s still sleepy,” he tells me.
My eyes well up as soon as he places her in my arms. “Oh my gosh,” I whisper, rubbing her soft cheek. “Magnolia Rayne, you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Finn stands next to me with his hand on my shoulder. “She’s precious.”
“Did you know I named her?” I beam with pride as I tell Finn the whole story of how it came about.
“But we call her Maggie for short,” Easton says.
“No, we don’t,” I argue. “She looks like a Magnolia.”
“She does,” Tatum agrees. “But Maggie is cute, too.”
“Sweet Magnolia, you better come to me with all your boy problems, okay? When your dad’s embarrassing you or won’t give you money, you call your Auntie Oakley.”
Easton shoots me a glare at the mention of boyfriends, and I laugh. Then I glance over at Tatum.
“So when are you having the next one?”
Five days pass by way too fast, and I’m in tears when we have to say goodbye. It won’t be easy for them to travel for a while, so I promised we’d visit again as soon as we can.
“Would joining the mile-high club put you in a better mood?” Finn whispers in my ear as we board the plane.
I burst out laughing, and the other passengers stare at me in annoyance.
“Don’t offer something you can’t deliver.”
He smacks my ass as I slide into our row of seats.
“Would this be a good time to have the future talk?” he asks once we’re in the sky.
“Seriously? You want to have this conversation right now?” I smirk.
It’s not like we haven’t discussed what we eventually want, but we’ve only been together for six months so it’s not a subject I’ve rushed to bring up.