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“No!” I rush out. “No, it’s okay. Is that us?”
He nods once. “Yeah. I told you I hated painting people, and I do, but Mrs. Johnson insisted that maybe I wouldn’t hate it as much if I drew people that I loved.”
I cover my mouth with the back of my hand and swallow back a sob. Between him and his father, they’re going to kill me. “You can’t just blurt out to people that you love them. You need to give them some warning,” I croak.
Cooper smiles apologetically. “Oops.”
“I didn’t know you loved me.”
Curiosity crosses his features. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“You’ve only known me for a few months.”
“I think that’s long enough. I like having you in our family. You complete it, I think.”
A watery whimper-like sound escapes me. This kid . . . this kid is something special. I rush toward him and pull him into a tight hug, mumbling, “I love you too, Cooper. I’ll be here as long as you guys want me to be.”
“So always,” Adam says, joining us. I look at him and notice how his eyes shine as he watches me hug his son.
“Pretty much,” Cooper agrees.
Adam wraps the both of us up in his embrace, and I close my eyes, content and at peace.
I kiss the top of Cooper’s head. “Always sounds perfect to me.”
EPILOGUE 2
THREE YEARS LATER
ADAM
Nails gently scratch at the patch of hairs above the waistband of my boxers, making me groan. I cover the soft hand with my own, capturing it and bringing it up to my mouth. My lips brush the palm, kissing it.
“It’s early. Go back to sleep,” I rasp.
The smell of cherry blossoms hits me, and I grin despite the exhaustion pulling at my eyelids. Scarlett buries her head in my shoulder, peppering the skin with kisses.
“I can’t. I think I’m too excited.”
Subconsciously, I twirl the cold silver band on her ring finger until I touch the diamond in the centre. “Yeah? Me too. What time are we going to visit your mom?”
“One, after she’s had lunch. They say it’s when she’s most lucid.”
I squeeze her hand and move it to my chest. She hums sleepily, but I know by now there’s no hope of her falling back asleep. Scarlett is the world’s testiest sleeper. It was one of the first things I noticed when I had managed to convince her to move in with me and Cooper two years ago.
Even though I had wanted her to move in pretty much as soon as she could, I knew it wasn’t possible. We all needed time to adjust to the changes in our lives, and she didn’t want to leave her mother until there was no other choice but to seek out assisted-living housing. Supporting her decision was easy, especially when I knew what it meant to her.
It wasn’t until Amelia could no longer safely live in their home without 24/7 care that Scarlett made the decision to get her approved into assisted living. She kept the house for a couple of months, but it was empty and lonely, and as she told me the night before it went up on the market, it just wasn’t a home anymore.
“What do you think she’s going to say to the news?” I ask my fiancée, loving the way that sounds. It’s been three weeks since I asked her to marry me, and I still haven’t gotten used to how much I love using the title whenever possible.
“She loves you as much as she loves me. She’ll be happy. Elated, probably.”
“I don’t think it’s possible for her to love anyone as much as she loves you, but I’ll take it.”
Scarlett pushes up on her elbow and looks at me. Her hair is a mess of curls, and I can’t help but reach out and push them out of her face, letting the silky strands slip between my fingers.
“When is everyone coming over? I’ll need a couple hours to charge my social battery beforehand,” she jokes, although there’s some truth to that.
