“Lucy,” he says, pushing my wet hair from my face as I cling to him like a little koala. “In this pool is when I first decided I wanted to spend forever with you. I knew it perfectly then, and I know it perfectly now. You are unique and a little strange at times, and I love that about you. I don’t need more time, but it’s okay if you do. I’ll wait for you until you’re ready, but I just wanted you to know I’ve been crazy about you from day one.”
I sniffle and wipe my eyes. “These aren’t tears,” I say, shaky voice betraying my lie. “It’s just water from the pool dripping off of my lashes.” Cooper wipes away the “water” with his thumbs. I stare into his eyes and feel what I know is crazy but also completely right settle over me. Sometimes life is kooky and happens out of order. Sometimes it’s a rollercoaster and you can either buckle down and hold on or throw your hands up and scream your heart out as you soar around the loop-de-loop. Honestly, I think both reactions are necessary, but for this particular loop, I’m throwing my hands up.
“I love you, Cooper. Let’s get married.”
And I’ll tell you one thing: we will not be assembling any furniture tonight.
Cooper and I got married. Like married, married. Ring-on-my-finger, marriage-certificate, move-all-my-stuff-into-his-house-and-sleep-in-our-bed-every-single-night kind of married. Want to hear something even crazier? We tied the knot the weekend after he proposed in the pool. I’m still shaking my head at it because I know we’re completely loony to have done this. But who cares, right? We’re happy loons, and we knew what we wanted, so we went for it.
Tonight, we’re having a family movie night wearing our matching dino PJ pants (you better believe Cooper has some now), and if everyone wasn’t gagging enough at our whirlwind romance, they definitely will when they see this picture of us in our matching jammies on Instagram.
We’re here on the couch, snuggled up with Levi, because we are waiting to take our long, two-week honeymoon trip to the Caribbean next month. Turns out, the corporate world doesn’t give a crap about your sudden romantic elopement; they still want you to give them a month’s notice before you take a long vacation. Fine. This is better anyway. It’s giving us time to put down some new roots as a family. The strangest thing about all of this, though, is that it doesn’t feel strange to think of Cooper as a part of our family. His long arm is resting across the back of the couch so he can still run a finger across my collarbone while Levi lies between us, and it feels like this is how it was always supposed to be. Natural. Right.
Levi starts snoring with his head in my lap, and Cooper throws his head back with an exaggerated, “FINNNALLYYY.”
“Whoa,” I say, eyes wide as I watch him pop up from the couch and begin scooping Levi into his arms. “Where is this sudden angst coming from?”
“I love this kid to the moon and back, but he takes way too long to fall asleep.” Cooper is hightailing it down the hallway toward Levi’s room. (Cooper had dinosaur wallpaper put up before Levi moved in to surprise him, and I’ve never shed more tears in my life.)
I’m chuckling quietly as I follow behind Cooper and his speed-racer body, just narrowly managing to get Levi’s door open before Cooper rams right through it like the Kool-Aid man. He sets Levi on his bed and tucks him in, creating a little Levi-burrito with the covers, but I feel like I’m watching it all happen on 2x speed. I didn’t even realize Cooper was capable of moving this fast.
Finally, he whips around, grabs my hand, and tugs me out of the room, closing the door behind him then hauling me like a trailer hitched to his truck, bobbing in the wind, as he races us toward our room. I’m laughing so hard I can barely keep up.
“Move those short legs faster, woman!”
“I can’t! They’re not used to exercise. Why are we running?!”
Cooper pulls me into our room and shuts and locks the door behind him. He turns around, an animal who has just caught its prey. He points toward the closed door, stalking toward me in precise movements. “That child could wake up demanding water or comfort after a bad dream at any moment.” It’s adorable how quickly he’s caught on to the parenting life. “And I intend to make complete use of our alone time.”
Not wasting a second, Cooper grabs my hips and tosses me back onto the bed. I’m still laughing even though I know I shouldn’t. He tells me the same thing as he starts kissing my neck. “This is serious. You’re my wife, but that cute, bossy, little guy keeps me from touching you all day. I have to make up for lost time.” His warm calloused hands run up and down my sides, sending a familiar thrill up my spine. His mouth presses against mine, and no sooner am I able to taste his lips than my phone begins buzzing angrily on my bedside table. Cooper’s head sinks onto my shoulder in despair, and he groans. Poor Cooper.
“You’re going to want to answer that, aren’t you?” he says, dismay blanketing his voice.
“Could be an emergency.”
He sighs dramatically and scoots over to sit with his back against the headboard. “Go on. I’ll wait.”
I give him a quick peck on the lips and answer my phone. “Hey—”
“YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!” Jessie cuts me off, voice frantic like she’s just outrun a serial killer.
“Jessie, what’s wrong?! Is it the baby? Are you okay???”
Cooper sits forward, mimicking my concerned expression.
“NO! MY GRANDADDY IS COMING!” She says it so loud I have to hold my phone away from my ear to protect my eardrums.
Once Cooper and I both register her words, we relax. He rolls his eyes and stands, grumbling something inaudible that I imagine is not very kind-spirited toward Jessie. “I’m going to go lock up the house. Tell Jessie I hate her and she’s never allowed to call at night again.”
Jessie heard all of that. “Oh, he sounds grumpy. Did I interrupt sexy times in the James household?”
“Please, never call it that again. And yes, you did. It’s very likely he will hold this against you for the rest of your life.”
“What a pouty little man-baby.” Jessie has no sympathy for men. I wonder if she’s always been this way or if it’s just the residual effects of the man who impregnated her and then left. “But seriously, you’ve got to help me.”
“Because your grandaddy is coming in town? I don’t see the problem. I thought you guys were really close. He raised you, right?”
“Yes, and yes. But that’s exactly why I’m in so much trouble!”