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“Because I’m not his wife,” Eva says from behind me.
“What?” Violet looks like a deer caught in the headlights.
“I’m not her husband.” I shake my head and stand in front of her. She looks so upset.
“I am.” My father’s voice suddenly appears. I haven’t seen him in months, but I don’t turn around to greet him. I have to calm Violet down and reassure her.
Violet looks over my shoulder.
“Those two rascals are mine.” I can only imagine my dad is pointing at Hamish and Archie. “As is the blond terror in Eva’s arms and Eva, here, is my wife. And the big lump in front of you, also mine. Eva is Lincoln’s stepmom.”
“Shit,” she says under her breath and then looks up at me. Her face turns a bright-raspberry color.
“Surprise.” I try to lighten the mood, but I’m nervous she might knee me in the balls.
“But you didn’t tell me you loved me today when I told you. You left, and I thought…”
“Oh, not cool,” I hear Hunter, who’s now appeared, say.
“Such a Lincoln thing to do, daft boy.” Fraser joins in.
I arch my neck up to the sky. “Fuck my life,” I whisper under my breath. “Okay, well, now we have an audience.” Hoping she’ll let me, I thread my arm around Violet’s waist and turn us around slightly. It’s then Violet sees my whole family and she gasps.
My father, Eva and her triplet sisters, Eden and Ella, now my aunties, which is still fucking weird in my opinion, their husbands, Hunter and Fraser, along with their seven kids between them.
They all smile at her.
“Violet, look at me.” When she does, she’s chewing the side of her mouth nervously.
“I didn’t tell you I loved you this morning because I was—”
“Stupid.”
“A complete idiot.”
“A dumbass.”
I clench my jaw as my family wipes the floor with me.
I don’t take my eyes off her pretty face. “I’m all of those things.”
I pluck up the courage to tell her, “But I am scared. I’ve never been in love before and I usually mess everything up.” I point to my family. “Case in point, like this now.” I cup her face with both of my hands. “I wanted to say those words to you so badly, but I couldn’t get them out earlier. You scare me and the distance thing scares me too. I don’t want to ever not be with you, but in two weeks’ time, everything changes, and I don’t get the choice to stay. It’s completely out of my hands. I’m the guy who fixes everything but the ocean between us? I can't solve that.” I take a deep breath in. “I love you, Violet, your mom should have called you Susan, West.”
She snorts. “You heard that?”
“I heard that and I wouldn’t change your name for the world because I love it. I love you.” I bend down to kiss her plump lips.
“I love you too, Lincoln, your dad has a crap surname and makes me sound like a color palette if we get married, Black.”
Against her lips, I smile.
“Aw,” all six adults choir together.
“Ew, Lincoln is kissing the crazy girl that speaks funny.” Hamish sticks his tongue out, pretending to be grossed out.
A cacophony of laughter breaks out across my family.
I give Violet another kiss, then take her hand in mine, and when we fully face my family, Hunter is fanning his face. “I feel teary.”
