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Valentine’s Day.
The thought makes me laugh, but I’m more concerned about our privacy from now on.
Rachel isn’t bothered and wants to know. Needs to know just what I said to her dad to make him suddenly not so crazy about the two of us being together.
“I don’t wanna talk about it, Rachel,” I croon, leaning back and putting an arm around my two favorite people.
Valentine nuzzles into my side, while Rachel hits me in the ribs playfully, demanding to know just what went down yesterday.
“We’ve got a big day ahead of us,” I warn her thoughtfully. “Breakfast in bed, lunch in a rose petal filled bath. Then dinner. But that’s supposed to be a surprise,” I tell her, giving her a wink.
She gasps with excitement, anticipation. But I haven’t even asked her yet.
Not officially.
“You will be my Valentine, won’t you?” I ask her, leaning over to kiss her.
“Maybe,” she says, acting coy and avoiding my lips as she looks up at the ceiling, her arms folded.
“Maybe?” I ask, feigning hurt. “Maybe I was asking my dog!” I retort.
Valentine whines, groaning as he tries to get back to sleep, pulling the covers over himself already.
“Of course I’m your Valentine,” Rachel says softly, kissing me with those sweet lips, looking up at me with those deep blue eyes.
“I’ll be your Valentine today, and every day from now on if you want,” she adds.
“Oh, I want,” I remind her, a hand sliding under the covers and showing her just where and how much of it I want.
She shivers under my touch but gripping my hand she asks me firmly, just one more time.
“Are you gonna tell me or not?”
I sigh loudly, knowing I have to tell her if I’m gonna get my first Valentine’s gift of the day. That sweet surprise between her thighs.
“Alright, alright,” I complain, giving in.
“If you must know, I offered your dad a partnership. In our new firm.”
“A partnership?” she asks, wide-eyed and sitting up, distracting me when her chest spills out over the covers, which I start to busy my hands with.
Slapping me playfully away, she has her twenty questions already lined up, I can feel it.
“You mean, like a business partnership?” she asks, sounding way more excited than her dad was when I suggested it.
“Fifty-fifty, straight down the middle. I’m a little tired of being hunched over plans all day, Rachel. And your dad’s the best there is, he’s what inspired me to even want to be an architect, but don’t tell him I said that,” I tell her, grinning and winking again.
I already told him anyway, and everything I probably should have all those years ago and probably would have. If only he’d stayed long enough.
“But, today’s all about us,” I remind her. “And Valentine, of course. I want us all to have a day with just us, filled with love, romance, and being spoiled rotten. How about it?” I ask her, kissing her nose and hearing Valentine start to snore.
“I’d love that,” she tells me. “But I think Valentine’s already happy with his present, being home again. Claiming his spot on the bed,” she giggles.
“Oh no,” I announce, pretending to get firm. “He’s not sleeping on this bed, no way. It’s a one-off treat, just for today,” I remind them both.
Rachel pouts and Valentine whimpers in his sleep, his feet twitching under the covers.
“Please, can he?” she asks, and I know she’s asking for him.
“Well, maybe only after we’ve… Y’know,” I concede, my best attempt at compromise.
“You’re the best, Conor. I mean that,” she says, getting serious for a second, telling me what I’ll never grow tired of. Not ever.
“I love you, Conor. I love you more than anything,” she whispers, nestling down to snuggle against me, her chest pressing into my side as she starts to draw circles on mine with her fingers.
“I love you, Rachel. And from now on you’re my queen and this is our castle,” I tell her, pinching myself that a man could be so happy in just a few short hours, only two days before I was so unsure of anything to do with finding love. Now I’ve never been more certain of anything in my whole life.
It takes some doing, getting them both to keep still and stay in bed, but I fix a full breakfast that we all enjoy sitting up together in what I used to think was a bed too big for me.
Being a big guy, I need a big bed, but with a dog and a woman, it feels snug. Almost crowded.
Almost.
Clearing the plates and letting Valentine out, I watch him like a hawk until he trots back in sheepishly.
“I’m watching you closely, buddy,” I warn him, still rattled he might run off again. Not even minding when he skulks back up the stairs.
There’s a buzz at the door, but it’s no problem today. I know what it’s for.
