Yeah, I’m never going to be done with this man.
Ten minutes later, Easton is showering again—this time in the bathroom attached to my room—and Tanner wakes up, standing in his crib.I see him through the monitor, so I go get him so he’s changed and happy before his daddy leaves for three days.It’s always a double-edged sword whether we want Tanner to wake up or not.
I peek my head in, and he jumps up and down on his mattress, his pacifier falling out of his mouth.“Hey, you.”
I smile and make my way over.As I get closer, his fists open and close again.
“Mama.”
I freeze mid-stride.
What did he just say?
Where did he even learn that word, let alone to call me it?
“Mama,” he repeats when I reach him.
Tears prick my eyes as I pick him up out of the crib and hug him, kissing the top of his head and inhaling his scent.He lays his head on my shoulder for a moment, then pushes back from me.Both his hands land on my face, and he stares into my eyes.His daddy’s eyes.
“Mama?”he says as if he’s asking it.
I smile and put one hand over his.
I don’t correct him.
I’m not sure I could even if I wanted to.
“Yeah,” I whisper.“Mama.”
And just like that, without planning it, without truly deciding, I have my answer.
I hug this little boy as though he’s my whole world.Something I’ve been outrunning my entire life catches up with me all at once.
I want this.
Not just him.Not just the bookstore or the city or the friends who feel like family.I want all of it.The zoo days and the shared plates and the away game texts and the man currently showering who ran through game-day traffic to make sure I was okay.
I want to be Tanner’s mom.
I want to be Easton’s wife.
Not on paper.Not for a year.Forever.
The thought should terrify me.And it does, but not enough to make me want to run anymore.
ChapterFifty-One
Easton
Iswear good things always happen right when I’m about to leave for an away series.Thankfully this time it’s only three days away, but standing in what is supposed to be Hadley’s room, I can barely contain myself after what I hear.
“Mama.”
He called her mama.I shouldn’t watch through the monitor like some techno Peeping Tom, but it was still on when I came in from taking a shower after the best blow job I’ve ever gotten in my entire life.
I thought it would just be one of those moments I got to see them together that would put a smile on my face.Then Tanner said, “Mama,” and I stopped in my tracks, worried about Hadley’s reaction.
I watch her stop for a second, and he repeats himself, holding his arms out for her.
