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I have always been part of a family.
I will always have a family.
And now, I have this other family—a family that’s just starting. A bond between Ransom and myself and between this new little life that I can’t wait to meet.
Holy freaking cheese doodles. This is so, so great.
I realize I’ve been standing here with my thumb on Ransom’s cheek, but he hasn’t moved. Not a muscle. He just let me stand here and touch him like this, on pause, while I collected my thoughts.
Now his big hands reach up and brush across my cheek, gathering moisture that I didn’t realize was spilling from my eyes. “I promise I’ll always be here,” he says, his voice so thick that it’s hard to understand the words. “I promise. Always. I know it’s hard to trust someone you barely know, but trust that, trust my words. You’ve already given me something I had no idea I needed. You and this baby are the greatest gifts in the world, and I swear I would die if I had to in order to protect you both. I know words are cheap, but I’ll show you.”
“No!” I gasp. “Please don’t show me that!”
He laughs—softly and kind of hiccupy, too—a laugh so thick with emotion that I join in, letting out a sound that is just as garbled and shaky. “Don’t worry. I plan to make that a last-ditch measure. But you can trust my promise. No matter what happens between us, I’m here for you. No. Matter. What. Happens. It is intense due to how little we know each other, but—”
I shake my head, sending hair swirling around my face. Some strands get plastered in the wetness on my cheek, and I push away the ticklish strands with another watery laugh. “No buts,” I breathe. “Just promises.”
I fist my hands in his T-shirt and drag myself to him. Our bodies slam together, not forcefully, more like a gentle crush of our hips, our bellies, our legs, our bones, and our chests. Then, he cups my face gently and lowers his forehead to mine.
“Just promises,” he agrees softly. “No one likes buts anyway.”
“I like your butt.”
“I like your butt too.”
We both grin like two starstruck, emotion-addled donkeys because donkeys have the cutest big grins—look it up if you don’t believe me—and we stand there, soaking in the heat of each other, the realness, the closeness, the heartbeats, and the breaths.
And, of course, the magnificent force and weight of those promises.
“It’s okay to not be perfect,” he tells me so very softly and intimately, his words shooting straight to my heart and booming and bouncing off its walls despite the gentle tone of his voice.
“I know. I think I’m learning to be okay with that concept.”
“You know what? For a guy who always strove for perfection because there was no room for error, I’m surprisingly getting used to liking spontaneity.”
“Just no more spontaneous trips. Overnight or otherwise.”
“Mhmm,” he agrees. “No more. I’ll always tell you first.” He lifts my palm to his heart and flattens it there. My body melts in time to the heat of it, to something that is so much more than one of the body’s vital organs. I mean, that one heart is vital to so many more people.
So, so many.
And then, I guess because we’re us, and neither of us cares about being conventional or conforming to what everyone else would consider normal, Ransom cups my butt—the one butt that we can both agree we like…well, and his too—and it’s game on as we go crashing through the door, tearing each other’s clothes off and kissing each other so hard that we probably bruise each other’s lips.
I hope it’s always like this. Less fear, more trust. Less of the past and more here and now. Less sorrow and more joy. And always, always more butts. Maybe a few other parts, too, because those are also on the things we like about each other list.
I realize we both have a lot of say in it, so hope, trust, and promise is a burning beacon in my chest that is always going to stay lit. Freaking. Cheesing. Always.
EPILOGUE
Ransom
After nine months, a whole slew of doctor’s appointments, twelve weeks of birthing classes, and thirty-nine hours of labor, I can say without a doubt that I am the world’s happiest man because I am the world’s proudest new dad.
Maya Avanna Von Rippenstein is the most beautiful girl in the entire universe, aside from her mother, of course. Granny said I could use my real last name on the documents, which is her last name, and both Ayana and I were beyond honored. It’s also a pretty kick-ass—I mean cheese—name. When Ayana becomes my wife, and I hope that’s real soon since we’ve been talking about eloping for a while now, she’s going to take my last name as well. She also thinks it’s a kick cheese name, and she was super excited when I told her that I wanted to share it with her. She also might have cried a little because there was an engagement ring and getting down on one knee involved. Okay, maybe I also shed a few tears.
