JESS LAY ON a beach towel and let the autumn sun warm her pale skin as she watched Lucas and Lily playing in the famous Bondi surf. Lucas had swapped his snowboard for a surfboard and he was giving Lily her first surfing lesson. She was proving to be a natural, showing Jess once again that nature was just as strong as nurture.
Lucas came out of the water, leaving Lily to practise her surf moves with his youngest brother. He jogged up the beach to Jess and she didn’t bother to pretend she wasn’t checking him out. They’d been in Australia for a month and Lucas was tanned and fit and gorgeous. And all hers. He stood over her, blocking the sun and giving her a very nice view of his sculpted chest and strong thighs. His board shorts dripped water on the sand as he towelled his hair dry, leaving it even more tousled than normal.
She smiled up at him. ‘Lily’s having a great time. She’s picked it up really fast. She must take after her dad.’
‘Your husband,’ he said, as he flopped down onto the sand beside her and kissed her.
They had married in Moose River in February and had just celebrated their three-month anniversary with a second ceremony with Lucas’s family. It had been a whirlwind few months and Jess was exhausted but elated. She wouldn’t change a thing.
‘Happy?’ he asked.
‘Extremely,’ she replied, as she rolled onto her side to look at Lucas. Some days she still couldn’t believe her good fortune. Lucas was back in her life, he’d given her back her family and he’d given her himself too. She was happy and she had everything she needed. She reached out and picked up her husband’s hand. ‘But, in the interest of full disclosure, because I promised no more secrets, there is something I need to tell you.’
‘Is it that you love me?’
‘I do. But that’s not a secret.’
‘I know, I just like to hear you say “I do”.’ Lucas laughed and kissed her fingers. ‘Sorry, go on.’
‘You know how Lily always asks for a baby sister for Christmas? I’ve been thinking …’
‘You think we should make a baby?’ Lucas’s forget-me-not-blue eyes lit up.
Jess shook her head. ‘That wasn’t what I was going to say.’ She smiled as Lucas’s face fell. She knew he was going to love her news. ‘It’s too late for that. We’ve already done it.’
‘What?’
‘I’m pregnant.’
‘You are?’
Jess nodded. ‘The baby is due the week before Christmas. So it looks as though Lily will get her Christmas wish this year. She’s going to have a sibling,’ she said, as she brought Lucas’s hand to her belly.
‘That is fantastic news, JJ. The best.’
‘All those things you missed out on with Lily, I promise you’ll be there for every one of them this time around. Do you think that sounds okay?’
‘I do.’
Jess closed her eyes and smiled as his lips covered hers.
This was the perfect start to the first day of the rest of their lives.