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ADDISON
(Two months later)
I thinkmy F5 button is broken. And my mouse. And the whole internet.
No amount of refreshing the fucking page is changing the fact I haven’t had a single sale yet.
Granted, my website went live about, uh, crap, three minutes ago now, so there’s probably something to be said about that watched pot never boiling.
With shaky hands I turn to face Thor, his presence protruding into the room before he made a single noise to announce it.
“You ready to go, kitten?” His smile is like a warm blanket on a spring day.
With a nod, I stand up, sit down, then stand up again. “Maybe I should just stay here and make sure the site stays live.”
He moves toward me, shaking his head. Cupping my waist with his hand, he guides me toward the door. “Maybe you should just come out to lunch and celebrate your huge success. You planned, created, and launched a business within eight weeks. You’re super woman. You will achieve your goals with this company, Addison.”
An attempt to deflect tickles the back of my throat, but I swallow it down. “Did you sign the paperwork?”
He nods, a mixture of sadness and contentment on his face. “I did.”
Matthew’s mom mailed Thor paperwork a couple weeks ago to hand over all parental rights to him. He’s been sitting on it ever since. Even Ella couldn’t get him to do what he needed to with it. I guess he needed to come around on his own.
Becoming a father to Matthew overnight was a big deal to him, it would have been a big deal to anyone. But I guess signing documentation, making it all legal, makes it final, real. It’s a big step, one he doesn’t take lightly. If he did, he wouldn’t be the man I fell in love with.
“Is Matthew still excited about the game tonight?” I don’t want to push him to talk about something he doesn’t want to trawl through. He’ll let me know what he’s feeling and thinking when he’s ready.
He nods, a smile bringing a sparkle back to his eyes. “Austin and Kenzie will be here for dinner. I think he’s more excited that he gets to nerd out with Austin over a real life, in the flesh hockey game than anything else.” He holds out his hand for me, when I cross the room and slide mine into his, he tugs me to his chest, wrapping me up in his arms and sniffing my hair like it’s the first time. Every time.
“He’s gone above and beyond to make sure that Matty’s taken care of at the arena. He’s gotten us box seats, he’s making sure Matty has space somewhere quiet for the pregame, and we’re all ready to leave if things go south. He’s also put together a meet and greet experience for him too, if he has the mental spoons by the end of the game.”
He’s still holding stress in his rigid muscles as he talks. We both know that even the best laid plans can fall apart, but he wants this so bad for Matthew that it makes my heart flex.
This man. This fucking man. He invests his whole self into everything he does, and everyone he loves. Stepping back I gaze up at the man who holds my heart.
Matthew and I have been working on something together for the past few days, out of eye and ear shot of Thor. Matthew hasn’t known the details, but he’s enjoyed helping me come up with the scavenger hunt clues. He thinks we’re sending Thor on a hunt for the signed jersey Austin dropped off for him yesterday. He dropped off one for Matthew and I, too. But Thor doesn’t know about it yet.
The truth is, I’ve hidden my paddle in the bedroom. Once Matthew sees Thor find the jersey, Ella can watch him for a hot minute while I follow Thor trying to figure out the last clue.
Ella basically lives with us these days, there was very little point to her buying a house other than to say she has her own place. She’s here more often than not, and in all honesty, I think both of my boys need her around.
She brings a grounding kind of playful chaos to the house that we sorely needed, and she’s freakishly good at reading the room. Knowing when Thor needs sent to Daddy Timeout is a skill I can only dream to possess someday. I’m sure I’ll get there. I will. And I don’t feel shit about the fact I’m not there now. I’m just glad she’s around to help balance out the testosterone in the house.
“I love you, kitten.” Thor sweeps his lips across my forehead in a kiss so tender my ovaries hurt. I don’t know what the turning point was for this commitmentphobe, or when he stopped being afraid of whatever was stopping him from seeing girls more than once and settling down. I don’t know what I did to deserve to be the one he’s picked to share his forever days with, but I can’t wait to make the most of every second.
Epilogue
THOR
I haveno idea what the fuck is going on, but Matty is alive with excitement as he hands me the last clue. “Here you go, Dad.”
It was under the vase of almost dead flowers sitting on the dining room table. I really need to replace those. I learned the hard way that while Addison is a goddess, she is most definitely not the goddess of nature. She kills plants. Like, not maliciously, but for as capable a woman as she is, I’d question her ability to keep even a succulent alive.
Since moving in with Matty and me, she’s damn near killed every plant I owned. It’s almost a fucking talent. So I’ve taken to buying her fresh cut flowers. All she needs to do is change the water out every couple of days, trim the stems, and stay the hell away from my houseplants. It’s working out much better for both of us, and my Zen has returned to a nice warm glow, rather than a constant anxiety about which of my precious girls she was going to kill off next.
When I open the door to the oven, there’s a bag inside. Matty is clapping, smile wide on his face. “Open it!”
I never realized how much he loves games, and I make a mental note to start including more games like this in our lives. Hiding his birthday presents for example.
