Chapter 24

24

Tyrion

I t was Saturday, and my weekend of catering to my girls was still underway. After the mini party last night, we were all exhausted. We ended up sleeping way longer than expected today. I woke up around nine, and both Evenie and Summer Rose were still knocked out. My baby had found her way into the guest room and was cuddled up with her mother. Both of their mouths were wide open, and both of them were snoring.

I chuckled to myself as I snapped a picture of them before closing the door. I made my way into the kitchen to start breakfast. After deciding on a spread of bacon, grits, eggs, and French toast, I gathered my ingredients to start cooking. Breakfast was almost done when Evenie moseyed her way into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” I said, stirring the grits.

“Good morning.”

She made her way over to the coffee and popped a pod in. After grabbing a mug and creamer, she placed it on the counter and came to me, wrapping her arms around me from behind. She rested her head against my back and took a deep breath. I had to smile to myself because I missed this shit. This used to be her signature move while I was cooking.

Turning the burner down, I turned my body so that we were facing each other and wrapped my arms around her.

“Did you sleep good?” I asked.

“Mm hmm. Your daughter snores like a man.”

“So does her mother.”

She laughed and playfully slapped my chest. “Shut up.”

I grinned as I pulled her hair from the pineapple she had it in. Her curls fell down her back. I ran my fingers through them and began massaging her scalp. Her head dropped back, and her eyes closed as a soft moan left her lips. I took full advantage of her position and leaned in to kiss her. She smiled against my lips as she returned the kiss.

The intimate act quickly turned lustful as I backed her up against the kitchen island. Picking her up, I placed her on the countertop and stood between her legs. It took everything in me not to try and cop a feel. My body craved her. My hands wanted to touch and caress her curves. My lips were dying to taste the hard nipples rubbing against my chest or what I was sure was wetness between her thick thighs.

“You fucking me up right now, Ev,” I whispered honestly. “I want you so damn bad, baby.”

I had to step away and adjust my dick in my joggers. After washing my hands, I went back to the stove.

“I have a surprise for you today,” I said.

“Another surprise?”

“Well, more like a project.”

She gave a light squeal, knowing what that meant. “Where is it!”

I chuckled. “It’s out back.”

She hopped down from the counter and sprinted toward the back door. I laughed as I took the pot of grits off the burner and set it aside before following her. On the back porch was a pretty dated dresser. Evenie loved to upcycle furniture. It used to be a little side hustle of hers when she first started working at Curated Realm . Every weekend, she had me at a yard sale or thrift store, looking for furniture. She’d repurposed many of the pieces in our home during our renovation. Her eyes twinkled with excitement as she stared at it. I could see the wheels turning in her head.

“What do you think?” I asked. “Summer helped me pick this piece out.”

“I love it. I’m thinking charcoal with gold hardware. Oooo! I could do gold stencil design on the doors. This would be the perfect entryway piece. Just a few simple decorations, like a lamp or a plant. Maybe a few books… oh! We can put a mirror above it.”

She started rambling, and it made me smile. Simple things made her happy, and I was happy to do them.

“How about we eat first? Then we’ll shower, and I’ll take you to Hobby Lobby to get everything you need?”

“Thank you, baby.” She came to me and gently grabbed my face and pulled it to hers for the sweetest kiss. “This makes me happy.”

“That’s all I want.”

We headed back inside where I plated our breakfast, while Evenie went to wake Summer up. Baby girl joined us at the table with sleep still in her pretty eyes.

“You partied too hard last night?” I asked with a chuckle.

She let out a giggle. “I had too much fun, Daddy.”

“I bet you did. When I checked on you this morning, you and your mama were in there calling the hogs.”

“I don’t snore!”

“You most certainly do. You’ve slept in my bed, princess. You snore right in my ear.”

I mimicked her snoring, and it made her laugh.

“You snore too, Daddy.”

“He absolutely does.” Evenie agreed. “I’ve been awakened from my sleep many nights by it. And don’t let you be sick. Your daddy is the biggest baby when he’s sick, Summer.”

I smirked. “I just liked your mommy taking care of me.”

“Ooooo, Daddy, you be faking!”

I pinched my fingers together. “Just a little.”

Evenie playfully slapped my arm, causing me to laugh. With the shenanigans out of the way, we finally settled into our meal. It was nice to have a family meal void of the tension that had been between me and Evenie for the last couple of weeks. I was beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, what waited for us on the other side was nothing but sunshine and blue skies.

What should have been a quick trip to the store turned into an hour and a half stay. I was quickly learning that I couldn’t take my wife and child to this place together. Summer ended up finding a ton of pink things for her room, and of course, being the sucker that I was, I bought them. Evenie found everything she needed to repurpose the dresser and more.

Even though she wasn’t living at the house full time, she still found little things to enhance the space, so I bought that too. It was her home, and when she was ready to come back, it would be waiting for her. Currently, we were outside, prepping the dresser before we could do anything to it. I’d shown Summer how to take off the hardware, and Evenie was about to show her how to strip it.

“Why do we need to sand it down?” Summer asked, looking around at the tools.

Evenie took her hand and rubbed it across the wood. “Do you feel how rough that is? It’s important to remove the old finish so the new paint will stick. The last thing you want is paint something only to have it start chipping later. Now, we could use sandpaper, but I prefer the electric sander. It just cuts down on time. You always want to sand in the direction of the wood grain.”

She demonstrated for a few seconds, then motioned for Summer to try. Baby girl pulled down her goggles and took the sander.

“Like this?”

Evenie smiled. “That’s perfect, baby. Look at you being a natural! Once we finish sanding, we’ll wipe it down with a tack cloth. That helps remove all the dust. You never want dust in the paint. It leaves a grainy look and feel and that’s just not cute. Once it’s all dusted, we’ll do a coat of primer.”

“What’s primer?”

“It’s like giving the dresser a blank white canvas. It creates a smooth, even surface and helps the paint stick better.” Evenie grabbed the paint can. “This is chalk paint. It’s the best paint for furniture. You ready to get started?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

While they worked on sanding the body of the dresser, I decided to sand the drawers. My babies were having too much fun. I could tell Evenie loved sharing something she loved with our daughter. Summer was like her in so many ways. When she got old enough to tell me what she liked and didn’t like as far as decorating her room, I saw her mother in her more and more. The day she decided she wanted a pink bedroom, she came to me with a hand drawn picture of what she wanted it to look like.

There was glitter all over the damn place from her making her glitter wall on the diagram. She gave me an entire presentation and explained her vision. All I could do was smile because that was very much Evenie coming out of her.

We got all the sanding done, then Evenie showed Summer how to use the spray gun to apply the primer. I was glad I decided to put on old clothes because my wife thought it was funny to use me as target practice.

“You just point and sweep. Like this.”

She pointed the spray gun at me and sprayed a coat of white paint across the front of my sweats. Summer found that funny.

“Really, baby?” I said, looking down. “Don’t let me get ahold of that thing. Payback is a mutha.”

Evenie giggled. “Okay, okay.”

She did the first layer and allowed Summer to do the second. While I was minding my business and priming the drawers, she came up and sprayed me a second time before taking off running through the backyard. I dropped what I was working on to chase her. Her cute little squeals echoed throughout the yard.

I finally caught her and snatched her up, tossing her over my shoulder.

“Daddy!” she screamed, trying to tickle her way free.

“I’m gonna drop you.”

“You better not drop my baby!” Evenie yelled.

“You come here, ’cause I know you put her up to that.”

She laughed as she took off running too. I placed Summer on her feet, and she started chasing her mother, while I chased both of them. There we were in our backyard, running around like children. I finally caught Evenie when she grew tired. She screamed as I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder, smacking her thick ass in the process.

“You can’t outrun me, woman. You forgot I ran track?”

“Tyrion, put me down. I’m too heavy.”

I smacked her ass again. “I’m built for this, baby.”

“You better stop slapping my ass like that,” she said, low enough for only me to hear.

I grinned as I moved her into position to cradle her in my arms. “Or what?”

She blushed as she scrambled out of my arms. “I don’t know yet. But don’t test me.”

She cupped my chin and kissed me. Summer watched with the biggest grin on her face. Every time her mother and I kissed, it was like it did her all the good in the world. She’d confessed that she loved seeing us together. She said it made her feel like we were a real family. I knew she longed for that. It was one of the reasons I’d even been open to dating after Evenie.

Of course, she had a real family with our loved ones, but it was different with having two loving parents. She deserved that, and now that Evenie was back, it was my mission to give her the family she wanted with the person we both wanted it with.