looking up at his face.
“We have to go,” he said. “It will be nice to have more family. I’m really happy for you Chaz.”
I kissed him. “I know.”
I kissed him again and it grew into a heavy make out session. We made love on the couch and afterwards, cuddled some more.
I loved our lazy Sunday mornings. Alex yawned and stretched and then swung his legs out of bed.
“Coffee coming up,” he said, pulling on his boxers.
I loved the five o’clock shadow on his jaw and the untidy mop of hair on his head, giving him a sinful look. Not that I could manage to make love again after being at it most of the night. As he left to make coffee, I thought about a baby again.
When Alex returned carrying two mugs of coffee, I brought it up. “I’m thinking about what we talked about. Having a baby.”
He handed me my coffee and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ve been thinking about it too. It would be nice to start our family but I worry it might be too much for you. Work and a baby.”
I laughed. It was just like Alex to over worry about me. “Millions of women do it all the time. They hold down jobs and raise families.”
He grinned. “You’re right. I’m good if you are.”
“Should I throw away my contraceptives?”
He nodded and raised his mug and I clinked mine with his. “To having loads of fun making babies.”
I laughed. “Why am I not surprised that you’re more interested in the process rather than the end result?”
“Because you’re so sexy and trying to make a baby is going to be a lot of fun,” he said. “I can’t wait to meet your sister today.”
“You’ll love her.”
After breakfast, Alex and I freshened up and left the house for a morning hike. It was a nice way to get in some exercise and also enjoy the outdoors. By the time we returned home two hours later, we were sweaty and tired, with enough time to shower and head out to Cleveland.
I paid little attention to the landscape as we drove. My mind had switched to Helen’s family. I couldn’t wait to meet my niece. We got into Cleveland at one thirty and drove to the suburbs where Helen and her family lived.
My first assessment of Helen had been right. They were pretty comfortable, judging from the huge beautiful house that we pulled up to. As soon as we got out of the car and were walking on the porch, the door burst open and she ran out to meet us.
I laughed at the enthusiasm of her hug. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “I’ve been nagging everyone, worrying that you won’t come.” She turned to Alex. “And you must be my brother-in-law.” In the warm way I’d started to recognize as a Helen way, she pulled Alex into a hug.
He hugged her back, clearly pleased with the reception. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, looking from Helen to me. “You don’t need a DNA test. You’re obviously sisters.”
“Yes, I’ve been boasting to everyone that I have a sister. Come on in.”
I wondered who everyone was. I hadn’t bothered to ask who would be there when she invited us. All I’d cared about was meeting my niece and brother-in-law.
We entered a foyer and then walked through an open plan living room, an industrial sized kitchen with equipment that made me want to grab an apron and start cooking and then finally stepped out to a garden that stretched as far as the eye could see.
“Gorgeous,” Alex said.
I was relieved to see that there were less than fifteen people.
Alex
I flipped burgers on the grill and kept an eye on Charlotte, but she looked like she was having a lot of fun. She was standing with Helen and her parents. Helen leaned towards Charlotte’s ear and said something that made my wife throw her head back and laugh.
Seeing her like that warmed my heart. Her new found family were awesome people and Helen’s parents had threatened to make Charlotte their daughter as they’d always wanted to have two children. Charlotte was glowing from the love showered on her.
Then there was her adorable niece Kacy, who was jumping on a small bouncy castle with a paternal cousin. Helen’s husband was a lawyer as well and a pretty easy guy. They were a good warm bunch and I felt lucky that we had found them.
“They look so alike,” Ed