Summer Days

Chapter 54

Despite how difficult it was to fall asleep, I was surprised that I managed to stay asleep even after Silas and North had both gotten up. It wasn't until I felt the air shift and noticed a faint scent of spring soap in the air that I woke up, bolting upright and blinking as I stared wide eyed at Owen. "Did I make us late?" I blurted in a panic.

He chuckled. "Relax, darling." He said, stepping over to the bed and bending slightly to drop a light kiss on my lips. "Good morning."

I sighed against his lips for a moment before kissing him back. "Good morning." I mumbled, pulling away. I felt my cheeks flush with a faint blush of color as I looked up at him. Seriously. Perfection. My love was always the epitome of perfection and even now, no matter how early it was, on vacation, he was perfectly coiffed and groomed. "It's probably far too early for you to look so perfect." I smiled. "Lighten up, my love. We're on vacation."

"I know." He ran a hand anxiously over his hair. "I tried." He gave me a small smile.

"Well, I suppose it's okay today. I know that Gabriel plans on getting you out of your usual shell on the days we go to theme parks." I said, stretching, oblivious to the way my tank top was riding up and exposing my stomach to him. I looked up at him, finding his eyes locked on my midsection and I blushed. "Sorry." I murmured before tugging it down and shifting to crawl out of bed. I pushed at my hair, moving it away from my face. I had such a bedhead this morning.

Owen caught my hand and tugged me close before he wrapped me up in a tight hug. "No apologies needed, darling." He said, pressing his lips to my forehead in a reassuring kiss. "We're not late, you didn't oversleep and I honestly just came in to wake you up and tell you that breakfast is ready."

"It is?"

He laughed. "Of course, it is. The boys couldn't sleep. Gabriel drove Kota crazy by making him unearth bags from the packed vans because he was worried he'd forgotten something for those theme park outfits. And then Luke woke up, ready to go around 3 am so he started making pancakes. North heard the noises and has been in the kitchen for about 3 hours trying to make sure Luke doesn't go overboard with chocolate chips in the pancakes."

I laughed. "Oh, those boys of ours. Whatever are we going to do with this family?" I asked, resting my head on his chest and hugging him back for a moment. "Someone's invited Erica and Jessica to come over for breakfast, right?"

He smiled and kissed my forehead again. "Of course, Sean went over to fetch them and whatever else needed to make it into the vans." He said. "So, you've got about 20 minutes if you want them to take a bath and get ready."

"I'll hurry." I said. "I'll make someone braid my hair today instead of having it washed. Plenty of time for that when we get to where we're going today."

Owen nodded. "All right then. I'll ward Gabriel off and keep him out of your bathroom." He said.

"Thank you, my love."

"He did however say he already laid clothes out for you in the bathroom" He said when I made my way over to my dresser to grab clothes. "I think that in exchange for not washing your hair, it would be a nice gesture to go with his choice."

"It's always his choice around here." I grumbled but grinned at him. "See you soon then." I said, blowing him a kiss.

He caught it and tucked it into his pocket before I closed myself into the bathroom.

I hurried through my bath, taking advantage of not washing my hair to shave my legs and was soon getting dressed in the shorts and sleeveless top that Meanie had laid out for me. I put on just a touch of lip gloss and waved a mascara wand in the general vicinity of my eyelashes. I know he hated make up on me but sometimes I just thought my features were too pale to stand out. Like my eyebrows. I literally hated my eyebrows because they were like the blondest feature about me.