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“What’s up?” Ava asked. She’d come in a little behind Hunter, having a bit of recovery yet from her injury, but her grin split her face. “Did you find your sweatshirt?”
“I didn’t.”
“And I didn’t find a leaking sink, either.” Max folded his arms in front of his chest and gave their son a stern look. “I think it’s about time the two of you told us what’s going on here.”
The kids shared a look. Ava fidgeted as she looked down at the floor. “Hunter and I talked after you guys told us you weren’t staying together, and we didn’t think it was right. I mean, you’re fated. Everyone knows it, and I think everyone can see it.”
Hunter scratched the back of his neck. “We thought that maybe if you saw the cake and thought about it a little, you’d change your minds.”
Sarah sighed. “Guys, I know it all seems simple to you, but these things can’t be forced. You can’t always make things work just because you want them to.” It was a lesson Sarah felt she’d certainly learned herself. It wasn’t until she and Max were able to step back a bit from their relationship and see it from a different angle that they’d truly figured it out. Trying to force themselves to be what they were ‘supposed’ to be hadn’t been the right way to approach it.
“But we really do want it to work out,” Ava pleaded. “I mean, the packhouse is nice and all, but I think you’d have a much better chance at a relationship if we were all in one house together. You know?”
“And just think about how much I’ll be able to help Ava when school starts up. I can give her a tour of the high school, and I can even drop her off in the mornings,” Hunter added.
Damn. They were making this hard.
Max was holding out better than Sarah was. “Manipulating us isn’t the right way to go about it.”
“I know, and we’re sorry, but—wait.” Ava pointed at Sarah’s neck. “What is that? Is that what I think it is?”
Sarah knew she was caught, and she laughed as her daughter stepped forward and tugged at the collar of her shirt. “Yes, okay? It’s exactly what you think it is!”
“Yes!” Hunter threw his fists in the air. “I knew it! You tried to trick us!”
“Only because you tried to trick us,” Max pointed out. “I’m glad you wanted us to be together, but you could’ve just let us know how you felt.”
Ava was screaming and jumping up and down. “Well, now you know! And so do we! This is great! I can’t believe it!”
“Does this mean you’re going to move in with us?” Hunter asked.
Max put his arm around Sarah’s waist. “It does.”
“Grandma!” Ava went running down the hallway. “Mom and Dad are moving in together!”
The joy that filled Sarah’s heart overflowed at hearing Ava refer to Max as her father. He was, and she’d never had any reason to feel otherwise, but it solidified everything she’d ever wanted.
“What the hell is going on in here?” Rex asked as he came in. “I was working in my den, but I can’t even hear myself think over all this screaming.”
“It’s Dad! And Mom!” Hunter tripped over his own tongue, trying to get it out. “They’re back together.”
If she thought she was touched before, it was nothing compared to hearing Hunter call her Mom. They’d all been carefully avoiding such things, but now there was no reason. She pulled Hunter into a hug. It caught him off guard for a second, but then he hugged her back.
“I’m not surprised.” Rex clapped Max on the shoulder. “Is that what this cake is all about?”
Max laughed. “I guess it is.”
Ava came back into the kitchen, dragging Joan along behind her. “Come and see!”
Joan laughed. “I can see, sweet girl. I can see. We’ve had a lot of reasons to celebrate lately, and I’m more than happy to do it all over again. Now let’s cut that cake!”
Sarah opened a cabinet to get a stack of dessert plates. She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist, and she leaned back against him.
“I think it’s safe to say that everyone approves.” Max’s voice was a deep rumble near her ear.
She set the plates on the counter as she listened to the others in the room carrying on. “Were you worried?”
“No.” He kissed her temple and then let go of her so he could pick up the plates. “I was much more worried they’d be upset with me if we weren’t together, actually.”
