“I love that it’s close to Flyboys,” he admitted, thinking of bonfires and hanging out with his friends as he followed her inside. Setting down his bag, he looked around and realized that she was being very careful with setting up their home or decorating it.
“I know it’s plain, but I’ve been focusing on one room at a time,” Mary volunteered, as if she could read his mind.
“This is gorgeous.”
“It’s a little older, but…”
“It’s got character and I love it, Mary. This is perfect for us.”
“I thought so,” she replied, seeming to preen under his praise. “A little at a time, I keep telling myself, so that way I don’t feel overwhelmed or worn out.”
“Exactly.”
“The bathroom is finished,” she smiled, pulling him towards a hallway. “Let me show you. It’s a bit feminine, but I sure didn’t want to re-tile a bathroom at five months pregnant – nor did I want to pay someone to do it. The tile was in great condition and…”
“Oh Mary,” Jax whispered, stunned, his eyes widening as he took in the first room she showed him. “This is beautiful and… so perfect.”
The bathroom was large, with pink tile halfway up the walls and a pink bathtub, but the feminine tiles were countered with unexpected swaths of black. The cabinet was painted black with brass handles, and the wall above the tile was wallpapered black, but had so many flowers on it that it wasn’t overwhelmingly dark.
The mirror above the sink had been replaced with a massive one framed in carved wood painted in brass tones. There were black finger towels lovingly stitched with flowers, and it was all so bold, colorful, and retro that he couldn’t help but admire how her eyes saw the room.
“Wait till you see the baby’s room…” she smiled proudly, tugging on his hand, and he followed helplessly, marveling at his wife all over again.
As she opened the door to a bedroom at the end of the hallway… he certainly wasn’t expecting any of this – and was at a complete loss for words.
The baby’s room was immaculate.
There was a focus wall in the distance where a crib sat, that had been painted a deep blue and flecked with what looked like glitter, with tiny hand-painted stars in a few places. He could see a starship and vapor trails had also been painted… and a few planets varying in size. There were four painted canvases lined up horizontally on the opposite wall in yellow, red, blue, and green, each with a white starship painted on them.
The light fixture above them had tiny glass globes hanging down in varying colors reminding him of the solar system… and the circular rug on the floor that looked like a nebula tied it all together. There was a rocking chair in the corner, with several different fuzzy colored puffballs that he realized were Tribbles from the television show they both loved.
He turned to her in disbelief and wonder.
“Mary…” he breathed, stunned.
“I know,” she hissed excitedly, grabbing both of his hands. “Isn’t it beautiful? I finished it last week, and I’m so stupidly thrilled with it.”
“You should send photos of this to a baby magazine or somebody, because this is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. Are you sure you aren’t an interior designer or something?”
She laughed nervously and shook her head.
“No, I just have a very specific view of what I wanted our baby’s room to look like.”
“And ours?” Jax asked openly, marveling at his wife and how her mind worked, wondering what she could have done for their space. He saw her smile widen as she tugged at his hand, walking backwards towards another doorway.
He couldn’t help how his heart started to beat rapidly in anticipation, and knowing he was about to be alone with her in the one place he’d dreamed of for months now. Just seeing her there before him, beckoning him forward like some temptress with that beautiful womanly form swollen with his child, was creating all sorts of chaos in him.
“M-Mary…” he stammered, knowing he was probably going to disgrace himself or disappoint her with his reaction, because in that moment? They could have been sleeping on a flattened cardboard box for all he cared. It was that throaty, confident, sexy laugh that nearly unmanned him as she opened the bedroom door at the same moment, revealing their bedchamber.
The bed was pushed against the wall, but instead of having one headboard? Both adjoining walls had a padded dark gray headboard along each side, hidden behind sheers that hung suspended from the ceiling in a pale green shade, and were pulled back with gold tassels.
The walls were painted a flat gray, and little touches of green and gold were everywhere. There was even a massive canvas that looked to be about four foot tall between the bedroom door and where a bathroom or closet door lay. The canvas was also a deep grey, but it was the distinctly feminine form painted in green with a gold bikini outfit and skirt that shocked him.
“Is that… what I think it is?”
“An Orien girl from the television show… Do you like it? I wasn’t sure she was pretty enough, but every time I added more paint to her, then I didn’t like another spot on the painting and well…”
“You painted that?” he gaped, shocked. “Mary, this is… incredible.”