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“Rude, young lady,” her father muttered, but I caught him trying to hide his grin.
“I’m only being honest, Daddy,” our child said with a roll of her green eyes. “You said it isn’t right to lie.”
“But sometimes the truth can hurt people we love. Look at Gigi. Her heart is all sad now.”
Justice gasped and threw her arms around her grandmother’s waist. “I’m sorry, GiGi. I didn’t mean to make your heart hurt because you’re so old.”
Felicity snorted with laughter and bent to kiss her granddaughter’s head. “It’s fine, Justice. You’re right. It’s only the truth.”
“You might be old, but you’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever set eyes on,” Jet said, kissing his wife.
“Gross. Old people kissing is wrong.”
I covered my face with my hands, trying to hide my expression from my child. It was hard not to laugh at the words that left her mouth on a daily basis. She was so full of sass.
I blamed Garret; he was too blunt around her. And then when Nova and her two kids came to visit, they were just as bad. Especially Wrenley. Good lord, when those two girls were in the same room together, it was hard not to crack up, even when they both needed to be reprimanded for the things they said.
Picking up a mug of the dairy-free hot chocolate, Guzman walked over to where I stood beside the tree. I might not call him “Dad,” but he was very much a part of our family. Justice called him “Papa,” just as she called Jet “Poppy.”
He was there for every milestone in my daughter’s life. I couldn’t make up for what Matias had done to him, or cost him, but with Justice, he got to experience it as he should have been allowed to with me.
“You girls did a beautiful job on the tree,” he commented, inspecting the tree with a loving eye.
“Look, Papa,” Justice said, coming over to show him the new ornament she’d made with his name on it. He already had two, almost completely identical to the new one, but he gushed over it just as he had the others. “I made it last night just for you. This one is for Poppy and GiGi. And this one…” She lifted the egg-shaped ornament from the tree. “This one Daddy and I made this morning for Mommy.”
I glanced down at it, frowning when I realized I hadn’t spotted it earlier. “Very pretty,” I murmured, taking it from her when she offered it to me.
It was one of those plastic easter eggs that came apart, but it had been painted with gold glitter to match many of the other ornaments. Something rattled around inside as I transferred it from one hand to the other, and I lifted my brows as my gaze searched for my husband’s.
He winked but didn’t say anything. Curious, I popped the egg apart and gasped when I saw the diamond band inside.
“What’s this?”
“Surprise!” Justice squealed, bouncing up and down. “Daddy and I picked it out yesterday.”
“Actually, we picked it up yesterday,” her father corrected, coming over to take the ring from the bottom half of the egg. “It’s been fitted to your size.”
Grasping my hand, he lifted it and placed the ring on my finger that already had a solitaire engagement ring and a platinum wedding band. “I know it’s a few days early, but I wanted to give you something special.”
I melted against him. “Every day with you and Justice is special.” From the moment we brought our baby home from the hospital, I’d been living the perfect happily ever after. There were still the occasional moments of worry for Justice and her health, but my life was so perfect now that, at times, I had to pinch my arm to remind myself this was all real.
“Gross, they’re going to kiss,” Justice muttered unhappily. “Papa, can we make more cookies with Maria in the kitchen? Everyone keeps kissing.”
“Papa kisses Maria,” I reminded her.
“Oh yeah,” she sighed. “Fine. I’m going to go read in my room. There’s too many old people kissing down here.”
“Brat,” Garret called after her, but I grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled his head down, taking the kiss I needed.
My fear after having a full hysterectomy was that my sex drive would diminish with it. But I couldn’t keep my hands off my husband. We made love so often that, if it were possible for me to have more babies, the mansion would have been overrun with half a dozen kids.
But all we would ever be blessed with was Justice, which was completely fine for both of us. Only having one child, and with a house full of grandparents who loved spending their time with her, made it easy to sneak away and make love anytime we wanted.
“I have an early present for you too,” I murmured, looking up at the man I loved through my lashes. “But I left it upstairs.”
His green eyes glittered with passion. “It’s only fair if I get mine today.”
“Mm-hmm.”
With a feral-sounding growl, Garret swooped down and grabbed me around the legs, tossing me over his shoulder. “See you old people later,” he called as we left the family room.
