“I’m in love with you,” I blurted.
His eyes grew dark with a thirst I wanted to quench. “That’s a good thing, baby. Because I’ve been in love with you for a long time.” He kissed me softly, his fingers tangling in my hair. “As for the other stuff? We’ll figure it out. Together.”
I knew then what Sophie had meant, weeks ago. I had heard her but I hadn’t really gotten it.
I could do this on my own if need be. I could carve out my own slice of home and make that journey alone.
Instead I was choosing him. I was choosing us.
By letting him in, the journey would be that much sweeter, and I’d have his hand to hold along the way.
I’d never felt so lucky.
Chapter 25
The sound of quiet movement woke me with a start early the next morning. I looked toward the doorway, finding Max and Emmie standing there hand in hand. The sweet sight of them made me smile despite the circumstances that had brought them there.
“Hi guys, come on in,” I invited as Cal started to stir.
They both walked a few steps into the room, looking hesitant. I quirked my finger at them with a playful smile, trying to make them more comfortable. After a moment they headed toward my side of the bed as Cal sat up, propping his shirtless torso against the headboard. “Are you guys hungry?” I stage-whispered, as though we were sharing a special secret.
Emmie nodded enthusiastically.
I tried to look like I was thinking really hard before I continued, “I was thinking of making mud pies for breakfast—you guys like mud pies, right?”
Emmie pealed into a fit of laughter. “No, Aunt Jilly. We don’t like mud!” She giggled. I pulled her up into the bed and sat her between Cal and me. She burrowed close into my side, hungry for affection. I sensed Max wouldn’t be comfortable on the bed and instead reached over to run my hands through his thick head of hair as he stood there.
“What about caterpillar cakes?” I tried again.
Emmie burst into another fit of laughter as Mason’s babble sounded over the monitor. “I’ll get him,” Cal offered, rising and leaving the room. He was back a moment later with a rosy-cheeked, grinning Mason. He plopped him on the bed and I couldn’t help but feel a moment of wonder at our circumstances. Mere months ago I was a single mother of one. Now I had three kids to care for and no fear of it since I had a man by my side ready to take on the challenge.
Max hesitantly sat on the edge of the bed, grinning at his cousin.
“Okay, so back to breakfast,” I continued. “Pancakes?”
“Yeah, pancakes!” Max exclaimed—the first bit of enthusiasm we’d seen in him. Cal gripped my hand, the progress in a short amount of time not lost on either of us.
“Pancakes it is.” I smiled.
****
“They’re beautiful.” Scarlet smiled, her eyes on Emmie and Max as we sat in the backyard later that afternoon.
“How are they doing?” Sophie asked, concern lighting her brown eyes.
Scarlet, Sophie, and Kat had come by to meet the kids. The whole club had been incredibly supportive, but we didn’t want to overwhelm them. Cal and I wanted to stay close to home, wanting them to feel safe and get comfortable.
“All in all I think they’re doing great. Emmie is opening up a bit. It’s like she needs to soak up any affection she can. I know she hasn’t had enough of it in her life,” I replied sadly. “Max is more reserved, watchful. I don’t think he trusts that this will last. I wish like hell I could promise him it would.”
“What did social services say?” Kat asked, bouncing Wren in her lap.
I grimaced, betraying my anxiety. “We have a home visit scheduled for tomorrow. I’m the next of kin, so that goes a long way, but I wish like hell my divorce was settled. It doesn’t look great the way things are.”
“It’ll work out,” Sophie assured me. “What do you want to happen in the long term?”
I looked over, watching my niece and nephew run with Gracie as Mason and Maddox tried to keep up. “I want them. Of course I do. But not knowing what happened to Janelle is eating at me. Until I really know what happened, taking them from her doesn’t feel right,” I admitted quietly.
Sophie reached over and squeezed my hand briefly. “I get that.”
