*

With my hands tightly secured around the tray containing two cups of coffee, I trudged towards the study room. Once I reached the door, something caught under my feet and I bent my neck, only to find a stuffed toy near my feet. My once cleaned house was now filled with toys sprawled around, perks of having a one-year old child.

Picking the toy up, I put it on a side table and walked inside. My husband Evan Parker was sitting on his desk, his whole focus on the file in his hands. When I placed the tray in front of him, only then he noticed me and his amazing blue eyes peeked from behind the thin-rimmed glasses. No matter how much time passed, seeing him in glasses still leaves me awestruck and giddy.

Smiling at him, I walked behind him and leaned down to rest my chin on his shoulder. "How is your Sunday going?"

"Good, just have some work left." He said.

"Miss me?" I whispered.

He rotated his chair suddenly and I ended up falling on his lap. "Maybe." He said and brushed my hair back with his fingers. "God, you smell nice." He nuzzled his nose in my neck and sighed.

"That's because I had to take a long bath. Luke peed on me." I pouted and he laughed in response.

"Been there." He said and pecked me on my lips.

"Where is he?" He asked.

"I left him with Cara. She is feeding him." I said. His nanny Mary has asked for a leave and without her, the last few days had been really busy. Both of us had our jobs and hiring a nanny was the best decision we ever made. That's what we realized in these last few days.

"Cara is great with Luke. You are raising her well, making her patient and caring like you." He said and stared at me with the loving expression in his eyes.

Evan Parker is a strange man. From the outside, he might look like the hardest, most stubborn man you ever met but if you slowly peel the layers around him, you will find a very loving husband and a very caring father inside. In the last two year, he has made me the happiest person in this world. He gave me a family, he gave me love and he gave me everything else I could ask for. He still is a workaholic but I would never trade my workaholic husband for any other man in the world.

I caressed his jaw with my fingers and observed the changing pattern of his eyes. His beautiful eyes! I still sometimes find sadness in them, especially on certain days. I know he still keeps Eliza's picture hidden in his drawer. I know he misses her sometimes but it didn't make me conscious now. I have understood that a person can fall in love twice and it doesn't mean his love for one person would in any way affect the love for another person.

I was still staring into his eyes when the door to the study room opened with a bang and I jumped out of Evan's lap. "Mama, Luke... He..."

"What happened Cara?" I asked in stressed voice.

"He... He crawled to the kitchen and... He.." She couldn't complete the distance as she looked completely terrified.

Both Evan and I exchanged a look and ran in full speed towards the kitchen. A gasp left our mouths in synchronization when we observed the scene going around.

Luke had his tiny right hand secured around the handle of the cabinet as he stood himself against the counter. Beside him on the floor, the chocolate glaze was spread that I had prepared an hour ago for a dessert I was intending to make.

Luke's blue eyes sparkled with joy as he licked his left hand that was covered with the chocolate. When he found all three of us observing him, he laughed mischievously and his cute giggling voice filled the kitchen.

"I swear I tried to stop him." Cara said beside me, her voice thickened with guilt and grief.

"It's okay, baby. It's not your fault." I patted her head and went towards Luke to pick him in my arms.

Hearing the voice, Kelly also rushed into the kitchen and gasped when she found the kitchen floor all sticky and laced with chocolate.

Requesting her to clean this mess my son had created, I took Luke towards the room with Evan silently following me. "You like chocolate, don't you?" I asked and brushed his brown hair back. He had inherited my light brown hair but he had Evan's eyes, not that I was complaining.

"Co... Co." He said. That was his way of saying chocolate. He spoke this word even before he started saying Mama and Dada.

"Like mother, like son." Evan said and pulled Luke into his arms. "I'll clean him. You go and take some rest."

"It's okay. You are already busy in work." I said and attempted to pull him back but he backed away.

"Family before work. Remember?" He reminded me of the promise he made when Luke was born. I smiled in response and went back to the bed to take a small power nap before it was time for Cara's homework.

..........

After the whole day spent with the kids, both Evan and I were extremely tired so we went straight to the bed once they both were asleep. It was about 3 in the night when his hands tracing my jaw woke me up.

"Hey," I whispered in sleep.

"Hey," he said and kissed me on my lips softly.

"Someone woke up all romantic in the middle of the night." I whispered, still in my sleepy state.

"Well, that's the only time we can talk without any disturbance." He said and kissed me again, more passionately this time. He took my lower lip on between his teeth and sucked hard, causing a shiver to run down my spine.

"Are you sure you wanted to just talk?" I grinned, breaking the kiss for a small moment.

"We deserve a romantic night, just the two of us. In a five-star hotel." He said and trailed his hand under my shirt. I blushed in response and blood rushed into my veins in excitement.

"What about Luke and Cara?" I asked.

"We will ask Mom to babysit." He suggested and the idea sounded good. I myself was starving for some alone time with him.

"Okay." I said. Smiling, he leaned down and kissed me again. Before he could part from me, I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck and urged him to deepen the kiss. Our tongues met with fervour and fought with passion, not letting the other one dominate.

We were engaged in that heated kiss when Luke's giggles filled the room. Pulling our head apart, we both stared at his crib placed in the far end of the bedroom.

His head was peeking out of the linen covers of his crib and he was staring towards our bed, his mouth widened in a grin. If only one could die of embarassment, I would have been dead by now.

Beside me, Evan chucked as well and rotated on the bed to lie straight. He said, "Go, sing him a lullaby." I slapped him for being inappropriate in a room where we had a 1-year old baby sleeping. When his smirk didn't falter, I huffed and walked out of bed, making my way to the small stool beside his crib.

"You Evan Parker should learn how to control your urges in the middle of the night." I remarked while sitting on the stool and pulled Luke into my lap.

"And you, Scarlet Parker should stop looking so sexy in the middle of the night." He replied and pulled the blanket over his head.

Once in my lap, Luke closed his eyes. I rested my hand over his chest and gently rocked him because that's the easiest way to make him sleep.

Soon, two different sounds of snoring filled the room. One that was slightly louder belonged to my husband who was sleeping like a log after ruining my sleep and the second softer one belonged to my cute baby that looked like an angel while sleeping.

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