“Guilty.”
I looked over at her and she was smiling at Mattie, her fingers trailing over the plumpness of her cheeks, feathering over her small ear, brushing through the hair on her head that I knew felt just like silk.
“Did you hear that Mattie? Every single thing in the world is ok now.”
“I don’t think we could have gotten more beautiful weather,” Tilly said, placing one of her cheesecakes on the picnic table outside. We were busy decorating for Mattie’s party, but I took a very long and hard look at her cheesecake. It had been a while since I’d tasted it and my mind wandered to the last time. I felt the blush come over my face and I turned away from Tilly not wanting her to see me thinking about her son in compromising situations.
“Very true. You never know what the weather’s going to be like on the Oregon Coast.” Usually, Lincoln City in August was a pretty safe bet, but we did luck out with the cloudless blue skies and no wind—which was key. We couldn’t have all our pink and purple princess decorations flying away.
“Birthday girl is up from her nap.” I heard Porter’s voice from behind me as he came from the house. Just his voice was enough to send shivers of desire coursing through me, but when I turned and saw him holding my world in his arms, it was like sex personified. His muscled arms encircling our baby was nearly enough to make my ovaries implode.
“Hey, Sweet Girl,” I said as they walked up to me. She reached her chubby arms for me saying loudly ‘Ama! Ama!’ which was Mattie’s baby version of Momma. Porter was Ada and we didn’t argue with her about it. As he passed her to me, I felt his mouth caress the shell of my ear with a whisper.
“Is that cheesecake?” His words against my ear caused me to moan quietly and then I felt his lips against the sensitive skin of my neck.
“Mmmhmmm.” It was all I could respond with. He gave me a playful yet promising slap on my rear and then picked up the cheesecake and started back towards the house. “Where are you taking that?”
“I’m hiding it in the very back of our refrigerator for later,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at me. I laughed and tried to stop him but got caught up by the cars arriving in the driveway and immediately moved into party-host mode.
Today was one of those days when I really had to steal a moment to take in how lucky and blessed Porter and I were. Mattie was happy and healthy, completely recovered from all her health scares and hadn’t been sick a day since she was released from the hospital so many months ago. Our families continued to be incredibly supportive and really took immense joy in all things Mattie. Our parents couldn’t get enough of her and we always had a plethora of people ready and willing to babysit. Even Megan and Patrick took joys in spending evenings and weekend afternoons with her. They weren’t ready to start their own family yet, but took great pride in being the best aunt and uncle ever.
Kalli came to celebrate and even brought the man who I was convinced was going to make her the happiest person alive—if only she’d let him. He loved her, anyone within ten feet of them could tell, but she was still trying to allow herself to be loved. To me though, she was the best friend I had ever had. I missed her when she was away, but treasured the time she spent with us when she managed to make it to Portland. That was just another reason I wanted her to wake up and see the man in front of her for what he was offering. Perhaps letting herself be happy would bring her closer to being settled, and if I was lucky, she would settle somewhere close to me.
I watched as Joy and Faith chased Mattie around the yard, Brook and Matt chatting with Porter, all of them watching our girls and laughing at their silly games.
“Hey, Ella, sorry I’m late. You know how it goes.”
I turned to see Melody walking towards us, a big purple gift bag with a plume of balloons in her hands.
“Mel! I am so glad you could make it!” Of all the stress and heartache that came from Mattie’s hospitalization, I was so happy that we gained a friend from the whole ordeal. Melody was bright, honest, funny, and sweet. After Mattie was back to her normal self, Melody and I started meeting for coffee every week and eventually she was just as much a staple in our lives as Megan or Kalli. The best part? Mattie loved Mel. They’d formed a bond in the hospital that really touched me. And just as much as Mattie loved Mel, you could tell that Mel loved my baby just as much. All our lives were enriched by her presence.
“Lell! Lell! Oons!” We all laughed as Mattie ran up to Mel and jumped up and down at all the balloons she was holding. She leaned down and tied one on to Mattie’s wrist and then followed suit when the other two girls requested their balloon bracelets as well.
“You’re a big hit with the balloons, Mel,” I said laughing.