“If I weren’t already in love with you, that, right there, would’ve done it for me.” She smiled.
“What? What did you just say?”
I needed clarification that I wasn’t dreaming. Did she really just say what I’d been dreaming about for years?
Her smile was electrifying. “You saw me. I’m so in love with you, doodle. I was just scared. I was scared that you’d think I was too much to handle and you would want an out. I was scared that you’d want someone who could hear and someone who didn’t need accommodations to get through life. The amount of love I have for you is so scary, but I refuse to give it up. I don’t want to lose you, Kaia.”
So I hadn’t misunderstood. She really loved me back. If ever there was a moment to jump up and down on a couch, that would’ve been the perfect opportunity.
I smiled, wiping a few tears that had escaped. I had just been given the greatest gift in the world. “Oh, baby. I’m not going anywhere. I choose you through it all. In this life, the next one, and any other one we could live, I’ll choose you every single time.”
I pulled her in close, not caring if she got tears and snot all over me. I was sure I didn’t look any better. I was a mess, but I was her mess. I feltlike I was floating on a cloud. She loved me. She finally loved me back. There were no words to express how I felt in that moment.
She started kissing me, hard and sloppy, and I accepted it all. I wouldn’t waste another second of our time together. Knowing she loved me back was the greatest feeling in the world. Nothing compared to it. I felt like since I had her love, I could accomplish anything in life.
I held her tightly, not wanting to let her go, not wanting to create any space between us. Tears pooled at where our lips met, and I couldn’t tell who they were from. I took a step back and realized it was both of us.
She looked at me with the softest expression I’d ever seen from her, the love evident in her gaze. “And I choose you. I’ve chosen you since that first day we met. I just hadn’t realized exactly how much. I need you to know, Kaia, that I’m terrified of the future, but I’m more scared of a future that doesn’t include you and me. But no matter what, I’m not going anywhere either. It’s you and me now, baby.”
I smiled. That sounded like exactly what I wanted. “You and me, baby.”
Chapter Forty-Two
DAISY
Two months later
“Baby, why did I just get a text from Drea to enjoy my day off?”The confused look on Kaia’s face was utterly adorable, and I had to kiss it away.
I brought her closer, kissing her forehead, nose, chin, and cheeks before landing on her lips. I pulled back and smiled mischievously. “Happy birthday, baby. The whole day is yours and we are spending it together, doing whatever you want.”
“Really? The whole day doing whatever I want? What if I want to go skydiving or take a spontaneous trip out of the country?”
I gave her a look. I knew my Kaia too well to think she’d ever want to do any of that. The trip idea would be spontaneous followed by weeks of planning and packing. Man, I loved this woman.
“Do youwantto do those things, darling?”
She made a face and shook her head. “Definitely not. Honestly, I’d rather stay in the house with you and Duke. Maybe pig out all day and snuggle on the couch and read, or do something together. As long as I’m with you, I’ll be perfectly content.”
“That sounds like a wonderful way to start the last year in your twenties. But we have to go big for your thirties next year. Maybe a trip somewhere? Just the two of us? Or you can invite your friends if you’d like.”
She nodded excitedly. “Yes, a trip sounds amazing. I’ll start thinking of ideas now.”
I laughed because of course she would start planning a year in advance. I knew my woman.
We lay in bed, fooling around a little bit longer, before Duke wanted to say happy birthday to Kaia, too, and let me know my attention was required outside. We pouted but dutifully got up together to take our fur child to do his business.
After Duke was finished, I forced Kaia to snuggle up on the couch with her favorite blanket while I made her breakfast. I added snickerdoodle cookies on the side for a little morning sweet treat. I also added a bowl of cut up pineapple because she’d been really into eating it lately. I stole a few pieces for myself and rolled my eyes at how juicy and good it tasted.
“Thank you, babe. It smells incredible.”
I smiled. “You’re very welcome. I love you, Kaia. Happy birthday.” I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
While she ate her breakfast and scrolled social media, I checked up on some work emails. After breakfast, the rest of the day was hers, so I wanted to knock out as many work-related things as I could.
I tapped her shoulder when I saw she was looking at her phone for a long time. “Are you done with breakfast?”
She nodded. “Yes. I finished a while ago, but I saw you were working, so I didn’t want to disturb you. I’ve just been watching funny baby videos.”
