Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake (A Brush with Love, #2)(95)
Evie had a single tuft of bright orange hair that sat at the front of her head, refusing to ever lie flat and making her parents giggle every time they looked at her, their precious baby learning early how to giggle along too. Every time little Evie gave them a gummy smile, it was like a supernova went off in their chests.
Ryan and Mary were endless help in those first few months, making the drive into the city on weekends and random days to help with cooking or diaper duty, Ryan going out of his way to check in with Lizzie, not just on what she may need from the store but also how she was feeling.
When Evie turned twelve weeks old, Lizzie decided that a party was in order.
Entrusting most party planning details to Mary and the cake to Bernadette, the new back patio of the bakery was transformed into a soft little oasis of pastels and baby animals. Rake’s parents flew in from Australia, immediately enamored with their granddaughter, bewitched by every coo and gurgle.
Harper, Thu, Indira, and Mary threw themselves into aunt roles with fierce determination, all trying to outdo the other in spoiling sweet Evie.
“She’s too cute to be real,” Harper said, bouncing Evie lightly in her arms and eliciting a smile. “How do you not sit there and stare at her all day every day?”
“It’s hard not to,” Lizzie said, glancing at Rake, who stood across the patio sharing a beer with Dan, Ryan, and his father.
Some nights after putting Evie down, she and Rake would spend hours sitting in front of the crib, holding hands and watching her sleep, grinning like lovesick fools.
“Why do I have the urge to gnaw on her cheeks?” Thu asked with an alarmed look as she stroked a finger over Evie’s downy skin.
“It’s cute aggression,” Indira chimed in, making funny faces at Evie. “It’s the brain’s defense against the overwhelming onslaught of positive feelings.”
“I’m begging you to go on a monthlong vacation so I can babysit,” Mary said, making Lizzie giggle as she took a bite of lemon bar.
“Have the totally platonic coparent roommates discussed entering totally platonic holy matrimony?” Thu asked, taking Evie from Harper and rubbing circles around the baby’s back.
Lizzie glanced at Rake again, happiness spearing through her as he felt her gaze and met her eyes, giving her a tender smile that warmed the center of her chest.
It felt borderline subversive to allow herself to be loved as fiercely as Rake loved her, like she was breaking every rule life had set for her, only to discover the most delicious reward for her defiance. It was diving headfirst into something that terrified her.
But loving Rake was nothing but pleasure. Soft and sweet. Strong and mighty. Their love was whispered sighs and booming laughs. It was the astonishing pink of a perfect sunset and the inky black of a night sky. It was everything.
“We’ve talked about it, but no,” Lizzie said, still holding Rake’s eyes as she spoke. “It’s not something we need to do, and we have our hands full enough with sweet little Evie here and her constant pooping and peeing.”
Rake and Lizzie knew they belonged to each other in every way that mattered, and for them, that was enough.
* * *
AS THE DAY wore on, the warm spring afternoon morphed into a cool evening, and Rake held Evie closer to his chest, tucking blankets around her. His daughter yawned, her mouth forming a perfect little O before she nuzzled closer to him, and Rake thought his heart might crack in two with all the love he felt.
He thanked Mary, Bernadette, and Bernadette’s wife, Annie, for their help in the party, then saw his parents into a Lyft to their hotel, with promises of breakfast bright and early the next morning. Peter and Leanne wanted to suck up every second they could with Evie.
Rake held Lizzie’s hand as they walked home, paying close attention as she pointed out her love of a piece of bright graffiti or the way the gnarled roots of a small tree made her think of fairy homes.
“That latticework reminds me of the design you did on the pies for the holiday party,” Rake said, pointing at a cast-iron fence.
Lizzie beamed at him. “I can’t believe you noticed. That’s how I came up with the idea,” she said.
The booming bakery and Rake’s savings and freelance work had kept them afloat, and after a few months of searching, Rake had secured a job he loved at a midscale marketing firm that worked with local businesses to enhance their brand and customer reach. It felt good to work with small-business owners, helping them succeed in the city he now felt was home.
When they got back to the apartment, Rake put his perfect daughter in her crib and pulled Lizzie to their bed.
Lizzie giggled, an effervescent, sparkly type of laugh as they touched and kissed, making love slowly and quietly, soft flames of pleasure igniting between them.
“Let’s have five more,” Rake said in the aftermath, gently tracing his fingertips across Lizzie’s soft and lovely body.
“You want more kids?” she said, playing with his hair.
“I want a swarm of them,” he replied.
“That’s good,” she said, a mischievous grin breaking across her lips. She leaned closer to whisper, “Because I have a surprise for you.”
Rake froze, his eyes moving at a glacial pace to stare in horror at her stomach. Yes, he wanted more children. But in like, ten years. When maybe he’d gotten at least three full nights of sleep. He gulped.