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“Dad?” he asked as he tied his little Converse shoes. My heart tripped, and I knew I’d never get tired of hearing that.
“Yeah, son?”
“When my little sister gets here, can I teach her to play Go Fish?” He said it so matter-of-factly, I almost choked on my tongue. It knocked me so much for a loop that I had to sit on the edge of his bed.
“What?”
“Grandma said I’m gonna have a sister one day and I have to teach her stuff. I wanna teach her to ride a skateboard, but she’s gonna be real little for a long time. So I think I’ll teach her to play Go Fish first.”
“Um, sure. Yeah, you can do that.”
Korrie walked into the room, fishing her hair through the last loop of her hairband. “You two about ready? Someone told me we were going to be late.”
She shot me a teasing grin. I stood and approached her, placing a hand over her lower stomach. “Do you have something to tell me?” I asked quietly. She gave me that look. The one that asked if I’d been smoking crack.
“Like what?”
My eyes flickered down to her abdomen. “Like something here?” I pressed gently, and her eyes widened comically.
“Definitely not,” she replied. My heart sank a little. The thought that my boys were tough enough to make it past birth control twice withered.
“Oh,” I said with a sigh, and she laughed. The sound was music to my ears. She’d been so on edge since Trace had been abducted. Even after he was home safe, she hadn’t been herself. It was good to see her lighthearted, especially after that night in her mother’s hotel room.
I brushed a stray strand of hair back out of her face and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips. “You sure you’re doing okay?”
Her expression told me she knew I wasn’t referring to a possible pregnancy. She nodded. “I trust you when you guys say you’re going to take care of the uh, situation.”
“Mom! Dad! Let’s go!” Trace squeezed between us, looking up at the both of us with a twinkle in his dark brown eyes.
“You sure it’s a good idea to take a seven-year-old to a tattoo parlor?” She gave me a droll raise of her eyebrows.
“I’m almost eight!” he piped in with a frown, causing me to chuckle.
“It’ll be fine. No one else will be there this early. Come on, I have other things planned for us too.”
We all said our goodbyes to the few brothers that were already up and about, then climbed in the truck. As I pulled out of the compound and the prospects closed the gate, I chewed on my lip nervously.
“What’s wrong?” she asked warily.
“Nothing, I was just thinking.”
“About?”
“What do you think of looking for a house?” Silence was my answer, so I shot her a quick glance, then returned my attention to the road. She was staring at me, blinking owlishly. In the rearview mirror, I watched my son bebop his dark head as he listened to the music filtering through the speakers and watched out the window.
“Well?” I prompted when she didn’t answer.
“You want that?” she whispered uncertainly, and I took her hand.
“Maybe I should’ve explained how serious it is to get my mark.” I paused as I gathered my words. “You know I love you, right? I mean, I haven’t made a secret of it.”
She nodded, then whispered, “I love you too.”
“You getting my brand—my mark—means you’re it for me. You’re my do or die. My woman. My every-fucking-thing. It tells anyone that if they mess with you, they’re messing with me and every single one of my brothers. You’re my ol’ lady forever.” Not that there was question of it in my mind before, but saying the words and waiting for her reply was nerve-racking. Her continued silence wasn’t helping.
“If you don’t want it, I’ll understand. You don’t have to get it. Shit, I’m fucking this up. I’m not like Voodoo. I’m not great with the caveman shit. He would’ve just said ‘it’s happening’ and moved on.” I was rambling, and I hated it. Sighing deeply, I shot her another glance. “But no matter what you decide, in my mind, you’ll always be mine and I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth to convince you.”
Her fingers squeezed mine. “Is this you proposing?”
