“Close your mouth, Spot.” He was already out, reaching back for Cadence.
“I guess I didn’t realize you lived like this.” I felt insecure, and I didn’t know why. Ducane had always come from money. None of this should’ve surprised me. But it did.
“We live like this now,” he said, pulling me in to kiss my forehead.
“I’m proud of you, Ducane. Really proud.”
“Skye, look at me. All of this is just shit. Wood, glass, and cement. You and her, our future, are the reason I smile now. Not this house, the cars. None of this shit ever meant anything to me.”
I grabbed his hand and let him lead us inside. The home was beautiful, gave just enough bachelor but still felt like it was designed for a family one day. He placed Cadence on her feet and led us to a door with a cursive C on it.
“Oh, Daddy, is it a surprise?”
“Yep. Close your eyes.”
Cadence bounced from leg to leg, braids and beads swinging, squeezing his hand. Watching them together, that same stubborn tilt to both their chins, undid me a little.
He opened the door, and I gasped at the over-the-top princess room.
“Open your eyes, Sugar.”
She screamed when she opened her eyes and rushed in with us right behind her.
“A princess room!”
Purple and pink walls, the exact shades Cadence would’ve picked herself. A canopy bed shaped like a little castle. A reading nook full of cloud pillows and a shelf already stocked with the books she loved. A night-light in the shape of a fat crescent moon. Her name on the wall in gold cursive letters. And more stuffies than she’d ever seen in her life.
Cadence lost her entire mind. She ran in circles, climbed into the castle bed, came back out, hugged the moon, and declared it the best room in the history of rooms before flinging herself face-first into the cloud pillows.
I stood in the doorway and couldn’t get a word out.
He’d built her a room. In his world. Before I’d even agreed to come.
“You good?” Ducane’s voice came low behind me.
“Yeah.” I wiped my face, before Cadence could see. “It’s perfect, Ducane. She’s never gonna want to leave.”
“That’s the idea.” He kissed the side of my head and let it go before I could spiral on what it meant. He led me to our bedroom, and it was just as beautiful as the rest of the home.
As we stepped further in, the lights came on overhead. The chocolate-and-cream color scheme was gorgeous, and the California king was going to be my favorite thing in the house — until he showed me the closet.
“I didn’t forget about you, Spot.”
The closet was full. Clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry, all of it. I jumped into his arms, and a whole hot and heavy make-out session broke out right there among the racks, grinding and kissing like two teenagers who’d just found an empty room.
“I love it all. Thank you.”
He caged me in, arms braced on either side of my head and pressed another agonizingly slow kiss to my lips before finally pulling back.
“Can I take you out tonight? Show you the town.” He asked, touching my hair and then my nose.
“Like a date?”
“Exactly like a date. That’s the secret to a good marriage, wife. Never stop dating.”
I ran my hands over his shoulders and smiled.
“I don’t know if that’s the secret, but I’d love to enjoy a nice dinner with my husband. But what about Cadence?”
