I hugged him to me because holy shit. This kid was so self-aware and intelligent for his age. How many adults wouldn’t have put that connection together? And yet this four-year-old could see it all.
“You wanna know what I think?” I asked, and Payton nodded against my shoulder, his forehead bumping into my neck. “I think family is two things. First you’ve got the people you’re related to, right? Like Daddy and Nana.”
“And Auntie Win. And Grampa before he went to heaven.”
“That’s right. But the other kind of family is the people you know and love and treat like family. The people you claim as yours and take care of.”
Payton’s head shot up again and he was wearing a big smile. “Like you!”
He was going to kill me and I had to choke back emotion. “Like me. And Mrs. Jenn.”
“And Mr. Mike and Auntie Demi and Uncle Luke and Hawk and—”
“All right,” I chuckled, cutting him off before he could list everyone on the ranch. “See, you get it because you’re super smart and have a super big heart. So yeah, I think you can call her Mimi if you want, and I think Nana will be glad you’ve got a Nanaanda Mimi.”
I mentally crossed my fingers on the last thing. From everything Mal had told me about his mom, I thought so. But some people could get weird about titles.
“Okay!” Payton did a little happy dance on the counter and I whisked him off to hug him tightly before I set him down.
“Good. Now go get dressed so we can get up to the house. Do you need help?”
He shook his head fast. “I can do it.”
And he raced off.
When I dropped Payton off with Mom, he entered the house full of energy and called out, “Mimi! I’m here!” Mom had gasped, and her eyes filled with tears as she scooped him up into a hug so tight he squirmed. Then she set about getting him breakfast. I left them to it and went back to Mal in bed.
He was sitting up when I entered the bedroom, but the way he was squinting told me he hadn’t been awake for long. He grinned when he saw me, all sleepy and soft and I didn’t even try to stifle the moan that escaped. That fast, Mal’s attention perked up, and he licked his lips.
“Where’s my child?” he asked, shifting on the bed.
“Already with his Mimi,” I said, pulling my shirt off.
Mal blinked. “What?”
I laughed and gave him the quickest rundown possible of our conversation as I got out of the rest of my clothes, tossing them haphazardly on the floor. By the time I yanked off my boxers, I could tell Mal was having trouble focusing on the story.
“Are you listening?” I asked, putting a knee on the bed.
“Y-yes. I mean, kinda.” Mal squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Hang on. Okay. Yes. Good job with the parenting and how great is it that he sees your mom that way?”
“Pretty dang great,” I teased, though I did mean it. I loved that Payton was integrating himself with my family. “Pretty soon he’ll be calling Dad Papa, too.”
“I’m sure. I love what you said about families too. It’s so important—” Mal opened his eyes and his words died, because I was right there in front of him now. Very naked, hard, and within kissing distance. “Hello.”
“Hello, my love.” I kissed him hard and fast, controlling it so that I could get him flat on his back. Not that Mal wasn’t willing and eager. He went where I guided him. When I had him underneath me, I broke the kiss to bite his neck, then collarbone.
“You keep—ughn! You keep calling me that.” Mal’s voice came out as a whine.
“You are,” I murmured, then sucked on his skin. He writhed and clenched my shoulders in a tight grip. I nosed up his throat and then looked him dead in the eye. “You are my love. I love you, Malachi. I am so in love with you.”
Everything in him softened. I saw it first in his eyes, the emotion brimming there. But his muscles relaxed and any tension in him fled. He sniffled once and he pressed a hand against my heart.
“I love you too,” he said, the sincerity and awe apparent in his tone.
I attacked. There was no other word for it. He’d said the words I so desperately wanted to hear and that translated to demanding and eager touches on my part. I had to have him. Had to have all his skin pressing against mine. I wanted to fucking crawl inside him and live there.
Since that wasn’t possible, I did the next best thing. I kissed him everywhere, touched every part of him I could reach. I showed him with my lips and teeth and fingers exactly how I felt. And Mal gasped and moaned and whimpered, filling the room with a symphony of sound that filled my heart and fueled mydesire. I’d never been this frantic before, not even our first time together.
