Tired from a long day of travel, Niall excused himself for the night around the same time I tucked Annabel in her crib.
With the apartment blissfully silent, I shut off lights and made a final check of the front door before finding Max in our room, folding tiny pink onesies and socks, and placing them in a basket on the bed. I lay down next to him and watched.
“You’re pretty sexy when you’re domestic,” I told him, running a hand up the back of his thigh.
“If you think this is hot, you should see me change a diaper.”
“I have, actually; why do you think I married you? That and your accent. Oh and your giant penis.”
“Too right,” he said, and bent to kiss me. “And I married you because you’re lovely and smart and sexy as hell. Not to mention the fact that you can take on the world.”
“Taking on the world,” I said, folding a pair of socks. “Guess I’ll be going back to that soon enough.”
Max set the basket aside and kneeled on the floor in front of me. “Are you not ready, Petal?”
I picked up one of Anna’s little T-shirts, one that fit her only weeks ago and was now ready to be packed away. I barely remembered her in that shirt, and she had just outgrown it. What in the world would I miss when I was gone all day? And yet . . .
“I am,” I said honestly. “I’m just having a hard time shutting out that guilty voice over wanting to go back to work.”
“Why on earth would you want to silence it? Let yourself feel all the things, Sara. Then take a step back and realize that you can do whatever you bloody want. You can take over the world and still be the world’s greatest mother and wife. Annabel will grow up seeing you do all the things and know that she can do all things, too, if she chooses.”
Max got up and sat next to me on the bed.
“And I’ve been thinking. I know you want to go back to the club, and I want you to know that I want that, too. I was thinking over something we talked about the other day, how there was a time when it felt like Annabel never slept. But slowly, we got through it?”
I nodded.
“Maybe that will be our new rule. We figure it out as we go.”
“You know, I was thinking the same thing. I’ve been so set on proving that I’m the same—that we are—but we’re not, are we? And we don’t have to be. I love this new life and I love the new you, just as much as the old one. Maybe even more.”
Max leaned in and tilted my chin up to meet him before pressing a slow, lingering kiss to my lips. “I like the sound of that,” he said. “So you’ll go back to work, and we continue to do this.” He kissed each of my cheeks and then motioned between us. “Doing what works best for us. I’m actually looking forward to having her with me more at the office, and Mum—not to mention Will—will be thrilled.”
I pulled Max to lie next to me, and fit my leg between his thighs. “You know, everyone’s asleep.”
“You think you could be quiet with what I’d do to you? I’m insulted,” he said, smiling against my mouth.
“I don’t know. But I’d certainly be willing to try. Maybe you could gag me?”
Max’s eyes widened before he started unbuttoning the top of my dress. “I think we can work something out. In fact—”
As if on cue, Annabel picked that exact moment to start wailing.
“Let’s give her a minute. She might just fall back to sleep.” I told him, tucking my face into his neck. He smelled so good, like the Max I had always known, but a little like Anna, too. He was getting so laid.
Two minutes of crying went by, and I had just extricated myself from Max’s arms to go pick her up, when the apartment fell silent.
We looked at each other, before both of us turned our attention down the hall. “What is that?” Max asked.
I listened, unable to make out the soft humming I could hear from the living room. We both stood and quickly dressed, before we began tiptoeing down the hall.
We turned the corner and Max stopped, quickly enough that I ran into his back. “What is it?” I whispered.
Max moved over the tiniest bit, and there was Niall: tie off and top of his shirt unbuttoned, shoeless and walking back and forth, talking softly to a bright-eyed Annabel.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Max said. “Didn’t take long for her to fall in love with him. Not that I’m surprised, mind you.”
“That’s it, baby girl,” he murmured, kissing her softly on one of her puffy cheeks.
Anna continued to look up at him in awe, and Max and I turned to look at each other.
“Niall’s a natural,” I whispered to Max.
He looked back at his brother, before turning back to me. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”