- LILY -I imagined we'd find ourselves in a room with a giant bed and a bunch of rose petals. What we get is even better.Ward and Lou have led us to the spa. I've never been in this part of the house before - considering it didn't exist back when I was here the first time around - and it's so beautiful that I gasp as we step into the atrium. The walls are covered with glass tiles of every shade of blue and arranged in wavy, swirling patterns, giving the impression that we're deep in the sea. Lou and Ward have decorated the entire room with candles, and the dancing light cast by the warm, flickering flames make it seem like the waves are actually moving. There's a small, trickling fountain in the middle of the room, and rose petals float on the surface of the water."Ward's been working all week to get it ready," Lou says. She's beaming.Ward actually looks a little sheepish as he rubs the back of his head."It was close to finished when the place passed to me," he says. "It wasn
BOOK EIGHT: A CUNNINGHAM CHRISTMAS- WARD - December 23rdThe tree is up.The stockings hung.The wreaths placed on every door, the garlands hung across every window.But it's not enough.Over the past month, we've turned this estate into a holiday wonderland. This house is so huge I thought I'd never run out of things to do. But I have. The place is an explosion of tinsel and ribbons. The gardens are covered in twinkling lights. And now I don't know what the fuck to do with myself.Most of my initial restoration projects around the estate are done, so I've settled for any job I can find around here. Replacing the moldings. Resurfacing the tubs. Refinishing the hardwood floors. Anything to keep myself busy.That's why, two days before Christmas, I'm in a guest room at the back of the house with a can of paint. As long as I keep working, as long as I keep pushing this paint roller back and forth across the wall, I won't go crazy. I can keep myself from worrying about what's real
- WARD – December 24thIt begins to snow overnight. There's only a soft dusting on the estate when we wake up on Christmas Eve, but the flakes continue to fall steadily. After lunch, when there are four inches of white powder on the ground, Lou bundles Ramona up in her winter gear and takes her outside for her first real glimpse of one of the season's greatest wonders.Our daughter won't remember it, of course, but that doesn't matter. I can hardly see Ramona's chubby little face beneath the hood of her puffy green jacket, but I can hear her laugh. Lou and Lily are sitting with her right on the ground, and they take turns throwing handfuls of snow into the air over their heads. Ramona squeals in glee as the fluffy white powder rains down over them. As I watch, Lou scoops up a huge heap of snow with her gloved hand and blows on it, sending a cloud of snow at our daughter. Ramona laughs again and flaps her arms.I'm standing on the front steps with Calder, watching this scene. I know
- WARD -I can hardly sit still at dinner.I spent three hours this afternoon setting everything up. It took me a while to run extension cords out to the maze - I definitely didn't think that part all the way through, and I had to "borrow" cords from several of our other light displays - but I finally managed to get the power out to where I needed it. Spelling out "Marry me" was a bigger challenge. I can lay beautiful patterns with bathroom tiles or reconstruct a nineteenth-century window frame, but spelling out words with holiday lights is... well, it's a bitch. Every five minutes I had to stop and untangle the damn things again. Or figure out which of the approximately five hundred bulbs was lose and making the others flicker.I'll be honest - there was definitely a lot of cursing involved.But that's not why I'm so unsettled right now. I'm anxious because by the time I got the lights set up just the way I wanted them, it had started to snow again. And by the time I walked back t
- LOUISA -I have no idea what's gotten into Ward, but he's officially insane.Why the heck would he run out into the snow right now? Without even stopping to put on a coat? The weather is only supposed to get worse.By the time I get to the door, he's out of sight.I run to the coat closet and grab my things. Coat, scarf, gloves, hat. He might be crazy enough to run out into that storm like this, but I'm not. I'm not going to catch my death just because he's lost his mind. Finally, I stuff the baby monitor in my pocket. I hate to leave Ramona upstairs by herself, but something is obviously wrong with Ward. She'll be all right for a few minutes - but if I have to go out of range, then that idiot can deal with his problems on his own.The moment I step outside, the cold hits me in the face like a brick.I'm going to kill him. I tug my scarf up around my chin and march down the stairs, stepping in the impressions left by Ward's boots. I almost slip near the bottom, but I grab the s
BOOK NINE: THEIR WICKED FOREVER- LILY -"What's the occasion?" Calder asks.God, he looks delicious tonight. I might be a little biased, but I'm pretty sure I'm married to the sexiest man in existence. I'm not sure what I like most - those broad shoulders, those dark and devilish eyes, that perfect hint of stubble on his cheeks - but I could eat him up. And that finely cut suit he's wearing definitely completes the picture. I told him he needed to dress up for dinner, but all I can think about is how I want to rip all those clothes right off him. Maybe we should skip dinner. I think I'd much rather push him down on the table and devour him instead.Wow, horny much? Calder has always had a very strong effect on me, but it's particularly distracting tonight. I fight back my more primal urges and slide my hands down the dress I picked out for tonight. It's a gorgeous gown - midnight blue with delicate beading along the low neckline - and this is the first time I've had the chance to
- LILY – Seven Months LaterI'm going to kill Calder for doing this to me.Sure, I knew pregnancy wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park. I always knew there'd be aches and pains and a number of physical surprises - but I wasn't prepared. Not at all.It's like I'm a helpless child - I'm exhausted all the time and sometimes need help doing even the simplest tasks. God, I never thought I'd be looking forward to the day when I could tie my own shoes again. Did Lou have this much trouble when she was pregnant? Or am I just especially bad at this whole baby-growing thing?My hand slides across the wide surface of my belly. It'll be worth it, I know. But I really wish I could speed up the whole pregnancy part and get to the having-a-baby-in-my-arms part. Or, you know, just be able to go two hours without having to pee.The baby shifts inside of me. I've taken to calling him Bubble - it felt weird referring to him as only "the baby," and Calder and I have been in hot debate over what we'
- WARD -I thought I was ready for this - but fuck me, I was wrong.I want to punch something. Just to release some of this energy. Just to do something. Because standing here waiting around for the ceremony to start isn't working. It's almost funny - I mean, I've wanted this forever. I tried to convince Lou to marry me from the moment I found out she was pregnant. I'm not supposed to be nervous now. And I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to find myself aching for a fight right before I marry the woman I love.Is Lou this anxious? Is she fidgety and distracted? Is she wondering why she ever agreed to marry a crazy oaf like me?I've never wanted anything more than this in my entire life - so why am I so damn jumpy?I jerk a hand through my hair. I want to fix something. Grab my toolkit and get hammering on one of my projects. Or grab a sledgehammer and tear through some old drywall. Smash something. But I'm already dressed. Already here. And anyway I'm pretty sure Lou wouldn't apprec