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“Keeping his ass in check is my pleasure, Liam,” she says as she holds her hand up. Just like they’re long lost friends, he gives her the high-five she’s looking for.
Emily and her damn high-fives. It should get old but it doesn’t. I love that she loves them.
It’s fucking adorable.
“No sneaking into her room tonight, Johnny Boy. Keep your stupid self on the couch or mom will kick your ass. You know she will,” Liam snarks as he walks out the front door and shuts it behind him. Of course he had to leave with some smart-ass, older brother type comment. That’s the way it’s always been with us. Best friends and brothers to the end. To be honest, I would expect nothing less from him.
Alone for the first time all day, I take advantage of the quiet moment and pull her into my arms and capture her lips with my own. I kiss her as tenderly as I can, doing my best not to go too far, because unfortunately, Liam is right. I do have to sleep on the couch. Pulling my lips from her kills me, but it must be done. I take her beautiful face in my hands and say, “Thank you so much for coming here and leaving your family on your first Thanksgiving home. I know it’s also your first in Portland since Ireland was born. I hope you know how much it means to me.”
“Jonathan, they’re amazing and I’m really glad Ireland and I got to come and meet them. I still feel bad about the cost of the last minute plane tickets though. It’s way too much and I wish that I could pay you back.”
“Baby, having you here with them is worth every penny. It’s important that you get to know what little bit of family I have left. They’re important to me. You and Ireland are important to me. It means so much to have you all together. Thank you for giving me this.”
“Ah honey, thank you right back. I don’t want to be anywhere else. As long as I have you and my baby girl in there, I’m right where I need to be.”
It’s amazing how far she’s come, and how open she is with her feelings since the shooting. It feels good to know that I was the one that was able to break down her walls. That she trusts me enough to be this open and to tell me how she feels. I will never take for granted how much it means for her to give me that.
She starts to lead me down the hall and we stop outside the guest room. It feels like I am dropping her off at her parent’s front door as I prepare to say goodnight to her. She leans against the wall next to the door and whispers. “Don’t I get a kiss goodnight?”
I lean in and give her a kiss on the cheek and whisper in her ear. “Goodnight, Gracie.” Then I let go of her hand and walk backwards down the hall. She smiles and shakes her head slowly as if she finds me funny. I do catch her bringing her hand to her face where I left my kiss as she opens the bedroom door and closes it behind her.
I swear to God there is nothing better than making that woman smile. Okay, there is one other thing . . . but making her smile is a damn close second.
The next morning, I wake up to sounds in the kitchen. I look at the time on the cable box and it says that it’s only 5:54 in the morning. I can hear Fiona humming away while she prepares the turkey, and can’t be mad for being awake so early. I love the sounds of this house and the people in it.
I throw the blanket back, stretch and yawn myself awake. I take a minute to put the couch back together and then head to the kitchen to see if I can give her a hand. I plan on stealing a cup of coffee while I’m at it.
When I get to the kitchen, I see Robert is up too and pouring himself a cup. When he sees me, he hands me the full cup and then gets another for himself. We both head to the kitchen table and take a seat and a few sips before anybody says anything.
“She’s a pretty great girl, Jonathan,” Robert says quietly so he doesn’t wake the rest of the house. He’s the only real dad I’ve ever known, and my heart swells with pride to hear him say this.
“She is. I can’t believe I found her again,” I reply quietly as well.
“It’s because she’s your soul mate, sweetie. I knew it the moment I laid eyes on the two of you together. It was meant to be,” Fiona says softly from the kitchen counter where she’s stuffing the turkey.
“I know she is. She’s the one. I knew the first moment I laid eyes on her years ago in California. I’ve always known. There was nobody else for me after I met her.”
“What are you gonna do about it, son?” Robert asks.
“Well, she scares easily so I have to be careful. It’s all happened so fast and I don’t want to say too much, but I have some ideas. I love her and I love that little girl of hers. I never knew it could be like this. I know to the rest of the world this is fast, but to me, I feel like I’ve been waiting for years. I don’t want to waste another minute. I want us to be a family, and waiting until I think she’s ready is killing me. If I had my way we’d already be married, but I’m scared to even say the “M” word around her. I just don’t know how she feels about marriage after what she went through with her parents.”
“Well, you need to talk to her and feel out the situation, son. You never know. She might just surprise you,” Robert says with one of his famous winks.
“He’s right. When you meet the one you were meant to be with things change, and ideas you always had about how life should go fall to the wayside. When love takes over, there isn’t a wrong or right timeline. Just go slow enough for her, but not so slow that it kills you. You know her better than anybody. You’ll figure it out,” Fiona says while working her magic on our Thanksgiving Day feast.
“Thank you both. It means a lot to me to have them here with us. I hope you know that.”
“We do, son, and we’re happy to have them both here too. I hope to have them around for a long time to come,” Robert says and warms my heart in a way that only he can.
“After we get our list of stuff done, I was thinking I would take the girls to meet mom. What do you think?”
“Sweetheart, I think that is a beautiful idea. Why don’t you leave Ireland here though? She might still be just a little too young to understand all that. Besides, it will give you and Emily some alone time. We’d be happy to watch Ireland if Emily’s okay with it.”
I get up, walk around the big kitchen island, give Fiona a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without either of you. Liam I could do without, but you two I’ll keep.” I give Fiona a big grin and Robert one of his winks back to him, then head to the bathroom to change and go for a run before the girls are up. It may be November, but the weather here this early in the morning is already around sixty. Perfect weather for a run.
When I get back, I hear the sweet voice of my little Princess coming from the kitchen. She’s sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar chatting Fiona’s ear off while she eats cereal in her pajamas. She is so freaking cute I can hardly stand it. This little girl has taken a hold of my heart and will not let go.
She sees Fiona’s eyes flicker my way. She follows her gaze and spots me and yells, “Jonafon!” She points to the shirt of her pajama’s and says, “Gobble, gobble,” just like her shirt says.
