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“Navy seadog!” Felicia growls, pointing the end of her foam sword in my face. “Time to walk the plank!”
I’m not going to lie, it’s very weird playing the part of law enforcement after my years spent working for the other team. But my daughter’s too cute to argue with, so I’m very committed to my role.
“Curse you, Pirate One-Eye!” I step off the edge of a fallen log, laying down in the grass while flailing my arms above my head. “Oh, God! These waters are infested with sharks!”
Felicia laughs maniacally, copying the cartoon villains she so adores on TV. “Arr! Let that be a lesson for ya, scallywag!”
Arin steps out onto the porch with a giggle, calling out to us. “Dinner’s ready. Come inside and wash up, please.”
“Aww,” Felicia whines. “I still need to get the treasure.”
I lift my head off the ground. “Maybe you can ask Mom to help you find it?”
“Good idea. Mommy, come help!”
Arin laughs, stepping down the front steps of the porch. She keeps a hand on the railing, moving with great care. Her belly is large and swollen, her due date about two weeks away. Felicia quickly takes her mother’s hand and guides her into the trees, not too far away and still within earshot. Felicia gasps at the ground.
“Look at these sticks!” she declares. “They’re like lines on a map.”
“Do you think we should follow them?” Arin asks. “We need to find where X marks the spot.”
“Yeah!” Felicia cheers, tugging Arin along.
All according to plan.
While Arin follows Felicia around on the set path I helped build, I get up, dust myself off, and pull the ring box from my back pocket. I’ve been lying on top of the X the entire time. When my girls round the base of the tree trunk, I’m already on one knee with the ring box open. Inside sits my grandmother’s pearl engagement ring.
Arin beams, her smile brighter than the sun as her eyes gloss over with happy tears. “Oh, you two are so silly,” she says with a sniffle.
“Cuore mio,” I begin. “The first time I laid eyes on you, you were screaming bloody murder into your phone in the middle of the first-class lounge at JFK.”
Her cheeks turn a bright, bashful red. “God, please don’t remind me. It was so embarrassing.”
I chuckle, shaking my head slightly. “I thought you were perfect. Before you, I’d never met a woman more beautiful, more feisty, more brilliant. Fate led us to meeting that day, and it was fate when I found you again. When I’m with you, everything is right with the world. I never want to spend another day without you. Marina, will you do me the honor of officially letting me be Mr. Wilson?”
Arin nods, laughing lightly. “Absolutely.”
Chapter 41
Arin
“Tommy, can you say Dada?Da—da.”
“Mama.”
Dominic sighs, pouting. “Come on, little man. You’re breaking my heart.”
I can’t help but laugh at my husband’s futile attempts to teach our son how to pronounce hisD’s. Tomasso sits in his highchair by the kitchen table, his bib almost completely covered in mashed peaches.
“You’re supposed to put the foodinhis mouth, sweetheart,” I chide.
“It’s harder than it looks,” Dominic insists, scooping up a bit of food at the corner of our son’s mouth. “Come on, bambino. You have to eat every last bite. How else are you going to grow big and strong like yourDa—da?”
“Mama!”
Dominic places a hand over his heart. “What’s it going to take, little man? Want me to pay you? I’ll make it worth your while if you say Dada.”
I roll my eyes, setting my laptop aside. I’ve been busy all morning replying to emails, catching up on all my A-list client orders. “I don’t think a one-year-old understands the concept of currency, sweetheart.”
