Page 54 of Charmed By the Next-Door Neighbor
Her bottom lip wobbles and I brace myself for the tantrum. But then Claire appears in the doorway, hands on her hips, wearingjeans and one of my old fire department T-shirts that's paint-splattered from when we redid Sophia's room last month.
She's beautiful. More beautiful than the day I married her, and I didn't think that was possible.
"Sophia Grace Holland," Claire says in her mom voice. "What did we talk about?"
Sophia's lip stops wobbling. "Patience."
"That's right. Patience. The party doesn't start for another hour."
"But Mama—"
"No buts. Go play with your blocks and let Daddy finish the cake."
Sophia sighs dramatically, a two-year-old with the attitude of a teenager, and I set her down. She stomps off toward her toy box in the corner of the living room.
Claire comes over and looks at the cake. "Oh honey."
"That bad?"
"It's... unique."
"It's a disaster."
"It's perfect." She kisses my cheek. "Sophia's going to love it."
"Because she's two and doesn't know any better."
"Because her daddy made it for her." Claire steals a fingerful of frosting. "And because it tastes amazing even if it looks like the castle is melting."
I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her close. "I should've just bought one from the bakery."
"But you didn't. You made it yourself because you wanted to." She rests her head on my chest. "That's what matters."
This. This right here. This is what I never thought I'd have.
A wife who loves me. A daughter who looks at me like I hung the moon. A house full of laughter and toys and sticky fingerprints on every surface.
A family.
"What time are your parents getting here?" I ask.
"Any minute now." She pulls back to look at me. "You okay with that?"
"Yeah. I'm okay."
And I am.
It took a while. Those first couple years were rough. Her parents barely spoke to me at our wedding. Showed up, sat in the front row with tight smiles, left early.
But then Sophia came along.
Everything changed when Sophia came along.
Hard to stay mad at your son-in-law when he's holding your granddaughter and she's laughing at him like he's the funniest person in the world.
Her father still gives me shit sometimes. Still makes comments about the age gap, still "jokes" about running background checks. But there's no heat in it anymore. Just the standard father-in-law ribbing that I've learned to take in stride.
And her mother—
