We both know it won’t just be once, and I smile to myself. That man is going to spoil these children.
I’ll have to keep a close eye on that.
“I think I speak for us all when I say we want this too,” Bailey says. “We want you to be our dad.”
Caleb blinks rapidly as tears well in his eyes.
This is as good for him as it is for them, and for me. He’s the man who should have been the father of all my children.
And now he will be.
Once the children are in bed and I’ve got my husband alone in the living room, I cuddle up to him.
He’s staring at the television as if it’ll grant him some kind of wisdom.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?”
He laughs. “Isn’t that what I’m usually asking you?”
“You were deep in thought when I came back down.”
Caleb sighs. “The sooner we start the adoption process, the better.”
I bite my bottom lip.
Caleb tilts his head. “What’s going on?”
“It’s just … We’ve fended Dad off for the moment. Are you sure you want to adopt? It’s for life.”
He scoffs, as if I’ve just said the dumbest thing ever.
Caleb pounds his chest. “I meant every word I said, Emma. You and me. We’re for life.”
“I thought that maybe once Dad was taken care of …”
“You thought I’d walk away?”
I shrug. “This isn’t the life you’ve lived—I doubt it’s the one you wanted. I get that this isn’t an easy thing to get out of, but?—”
He narrows his eyes. “What on earth makes you think I don’t want this life?”
I swallow hard. “You’re forty-three and never settled down. Why would you?—”
His mouth claims mine in a punishing kiss that makes my toes tingle.
I’m breathless by the time he lets me up to breathe and I stare at him, my cheeks heating up with embarrassment—I’ve clearly got that wrong.
“Do you really have doubts about me?” he asks.
“I … I …”
“I love you. I love those kids—all of them. All these years, I never found anyone I wanted to settle down with. The only exception has been you. It will always be you.”
“Caleb.”
“I’m so mad at you for thinking that this was temporary.”
Tears blur my vision. “I’m such a mess. We’re such a mess.”
