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I rolled my eyes.
Landry seemed to seriously consider it.
“I want a steak,” my father said, sidling up to us.
“I’d love a good Porterhouse,” Hoax said, his arm around the blonde nurse.
It’d been a little over two and a half months since Landry had been shot, and during that month, life had changed a lot for us.
We’d started building our own house in a new subdivision in town, and it was about halfway finished.
Debbie Shultz had been tried and sentenced to a mental health facility where she would remain until she was stable enough to go to prison for ten years for arson.
Debbie’s ex-husband, Mal, had moved two states over with his children so they’d be “away from the crazy” according to him.
Kourt, after finding out all that had gone down with Landry, had understandably been suspicious of Lina’s motives and had set about proving her wrong.
All he’d done was prove her right, especially when he’d snuck into their parents’ place and found a few stray letters that Lina had written to Landry stuffed in her mother’s jewelry box.
It was only a matter of time now until those two were fucking each other.
At first, I’d thought that she and Castiel would possibly get something going, but it quickly became apparent that Castiel and Lina were more of a brother and sister type relationship rather than romantically.
Landry’s parents had made zero attempts at reconciliation with either of the two girls.
Which worked for me. If they never came back, I’d be happy.
Especially since, now that the two crazy people after my woman were gone, we were about to start the next chapter of our life.
We’d also started looking into adoption.
At least, I had.
Landry was scared shitless and wanted nothing at all to do with it.
I, on the other hand, wouldn’t allow her to be ruled by her fears.
Which had been why I’d started to discreetly inquire about adoption loans, because goddamn was it expensive.
I’d succeeded in securing one that was meant for law enforcement families seeking to adopt, and the next step was actually contacting an agency.
I just had to convince my wife to take that step.
“The steak place is open,” Kourt suggested, coming up to stand next to Lina, I suspected, just to annoy her.
“Ohhhh,” Pru groaned. “The rolls from there are divine. And the sweet tea. Oh, and the macaroni. Now I’m starving, and we have to go there.”
Landry snorted and stood up. “You had me at rolls.”
I grinned and pulled her to me, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.
“You okay, baby?”
She nodded at me, looking like she was free of chains for the first time in a long time.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I’m perfect.”
Before I could say another word, she buried her face in my armpit and continued to walk, effectively putting an end to our conversation.
“Y’all don’t mind if my sister comes, do you?” Pru asked. “She’s crazy busy these days, and I like to make sure that she eats.”
“No problem,” Hoax said. “We can swing by and pick…never mind. We’re on my bike.”
“I’ll do it,” Bayou offered.
“I’ll go pick Izzy and the baby up, and then we’ll meet you there,” Rome said as he slapped me on the back.
After returning the slap, he left, and the rest of us followed.
It was then that I realized that life was back to normal for me.
I’d returned to work last week—on regular duty.
My leg, although still healing, was finally showing improvement now that the infection had been controlled. There were still days that it ached, but I could run on it. I could pivot and stretch. Hell, I could even fuck Landry in the shower without dropping her.
In my book, that counted as a win.
“Let’s go eat, babe.” Landry poked me in the side.
I blinked, unsure when I’d stopped.
We were standing at the top of the courthouse steps, and there wasn’t a single person around us anymore. They’d all walked toward their respective bikes and had started off.
I dropped my gaze and turned my head so that I was staring into her eyes.
And I knew that later, I’d broach the subject that she’d been avoiding.
I just hoped that I didn’t hurt her in the process.
Hours later, after a good meal with family and friends, I finally worked up the courage.
And what I got in reply to my question wasn’t the one I was hoping for.
But it was the one that was real.
Which was what I wanted. What we needed.
“I’m just not ready yet, Wade,” she whispered to me later that night when I yet again raised the issue. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready.”
I dropped my mouth to hers, deepening the kiss so that she realized that I wasn’t upset about her insecurities. If we never had kids, that was okay.
As long as I had her, it would be enough.
