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He fidgeted with his pencil and avoided my gaze for a while. “You aren’t…?”
“Never.” It was wrong to make a promise like that to a child unless you were going to keep it. But I was definitely going to keep it. “I love your mother very much, and I will treat her right. And I also love you…” The words flew out of my mouth so easily. I’d become attached to this young boy so easily because his joy was infectious.
“I love you too, Carter.” He looked up at me again.
Instantly, my eyes began to water. I wondered if this was how my father felt about me, if his heart skipped a beat when I said things like that. “So…it’s okay if I marry your mom?”
“That means we would live here with you?” he asked. “Like…forever?”
“Yeah.”
“That sounds good to me. My mom seems happy here. She smiles a lot.”
I knew I wasn’t the reason for that. Luca didn’t understand that he was the source of all her joy. I made her happy to a certain extent, but Luca would always be everything to her. I would always come in second—which was fine with me. “Yeah, she does.”
“So, that means you’re my dad now?”
“Uh, if you want me to be. You can keep calling me Carter. But if you ever wanna call me Dad…you can.”
“Cool.” He picked up his pencil again. As if a serious conversation had never happened, he went back to his homework.
Talking to kids was a lot easier than talking to adults sometimes.
I stopped by my parents’ place in the evening. Now that I’d straightened things out with Mia, I was ready to tell my parents the news. My father already knew, but at least now he was getting the news delivered the way he wanted.
My mother opened the door, both happy and surprised to see me standing there. “Hey, son.” She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. “Are Mia and Luca with you?”
“No. Just me.” I stepped inside and hugged my father, who was already smiling like he knew exactly why I was there.
“Everything alright?” Mom asked.
“Yeah. More than fine.” I placed my hands in my pockets before I looked my mom in the eye and told her about Mia. “I asked Mia to marry me. She said yes.” I couldn’t keep the grin off my face, couldn’t hide the thrill of happiness it gave me. She was so happy with the ring I gave her, happy with the life I offered her.
Father smiled. “Wow, that’s really great news. Congratulations, Carter.”
Mom took a second longer to react, but that was because her response was a million times bigger. “Oh my god, that’s so great!” She cupped her mouth with her palms and screamed into her hands before she jumped into my arms. “That makes me so happy, Carter. Mia is absolutely lovely, and so is her son.”
“Yes, they both are.”
Mom cupped my face and kissed my cheek before she stepped back. “It’s been such an exciting week for the Barsettis. We’re so lucky.”
I definitely felt like the luckiest man in the world. “Thanks for being so understanding about this. I know most parents wouldn’t be too thrilled about her past…but you guys raised me to be better than that.”
Mom smiled. “We raised you to be an incredible man…just like your father.” She moved into his side and fit under his arm as Father wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “We couldn’t be happier.”
“Since tomorrow is Vanessa’s wedding, I thought we would keep this to ourselves.” I didn’t want to spoil her day with my engagement, not that she would care about anything else besides Griffin.
“Carter, no one is gonna care,” Mom said. “We’re all family. If Mia and Luca are part of our family, then they need to be treated that way. Don’t make her hide her ring. That would be wrong.”
Since they thought it was okay, I decided I would be honest about it. “Looks like Carmen is the last one, then.”
“Oh, don’t worry about her,” Mom said. “She can have any guy she wants. She’s just taking her time finding him.”
Father continued to wear his smile, but it faltered slightly. “Or, she could move back in here and just live with her parents forever…”
Mom hit him playfully. “Carmen is a grown woman. You need to get it over it, Cane.”
“Not possible,” Father said. “Look how long it took Crow.”
“And you better have learned from his mistakes.” Mom left his side and came back to me. “Why didn’t you bring her over here with Luca?”
“I wanted to talk to you alone first,” I said. “Give you some warning.”
“Warning?” she asked, bewildered. “This is the greatest thing ever to have happened to you, Carter. There’s nothing better than having a family. Money and ambition are important, but only for so long. Eventually, those things don’t matter…only the people you love. I’m excited to see Mia, my new daughter…and my new grandson.”
