Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 121576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
* * *
I held Marley against my chest as I rocked her in the chair.
She’d fallen asleep on the ride home and could’ve easily been laid down, but I needed to hold her. And while Nathan and the kids cued up a movie, I’d brought Marley upstairs and sat with her in her room. I spoke softly to her as I smelled her sweet, lavender-scented skin and felt the soft curls around her face. I told her how much I loved her.
I imagined getting to do this every day, and the thought filled me with incredible happiness, when I was already so full of it. My heart overflowed.
“Hey.” Nathan spoke softly from the doorway.
“Hi,” I whispered.
“You’ve been up here awhile.” He leaned his shoulder against the frame. “Are you ever going to put her down?”
“Probably not.” I smiled at him. “But I guess since I get to do this tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that…”
“Forever,” he said.
All of this, our family—forever.
I stood with Marley and laid her in her crib, covering her up with the blanket. Then I walked over to Nathan. “That sounds like an amazing life.”
“What does?”
“Forever with you and her. With all of us.”
He smiled in the moonlight.
I gripped his shirt and kissed him. “Did you finish the movie?”
It wouldn’t surprise me if they had. I really had been up here awhile.
With his hand on my back, Nathan began to lead me down the hallway toward the bedroom. “They fell asleep before it ended. And you know your kids…heavy sleepers.” He looked at me with his brow raised suggestively.
Flashbacks from our first night together entered my mind. This hallway. This exact same conversation. We could talk or do anything, and I knew when we stepped inside the bedroom, we wouldn’t talk.
“Our kids, you mean,” I corrected.
Nathan stopped walking when we’d nearly reached the door.
I did the same, spinning around to face him. “What? What is it?”
Was he surprised I’d said that? He shouldn’t be. I’d already called Oliver his.
Nathan stared at me intently. “You asked me weeks ago if I wanted more kids and I didn’t know the answer to that. I know it now.”
My heart began to race.
“Would you have more kids with me?” he asked.
“Yes.” My answer was instant.
Nathan smiled and stepped closer. “Would you move in with me?”
“Yes. Absolutely.” I was grinning now as I reached for him, taking his hand. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? If we have more kids—”
“Would you marry me?”
I stopped grinning, and my breath caught.
“Yes. I would marry you,” I said steadily. “But—”
“But?” Nathan’s arms circled my waist. He wore the most perfect smirk. “That might be the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“It’s a good ‘but.’” I held on to his neck, smiling. God, I am so in love with this man. “I would love to marry you, but it’s not up to me…and even though I think the kids would be more than okay with it, I would need to talk to them about it first. It affects them in a very big way.”
His eyes crinkled as he studied me. He stepped back, taking my hand. “Come on.”
Nathan led me back down the hallway.
“Um, I’m confused.” I laughed quietly as we passed Marley’s bedroom. “Where are we going?” I whispered. “I thought, you know…kids. Asleep…” I held on to Nathan’s arm as we descended the stairs.
He flicked on the lights, pulling me through the kitchen and into the family room. He didn’t explain his actions.
The TV was still on. I peered at the couch when we got in front of it and at Oliver and Olivia fast asleep at either end.
Nathan released my hand and dropped to his knee. He gently woke the kids, rubbing their shoulders until they roused.
Oliver blinked awake first and stretched his arms.
Olivia sat up in a daze. Her braids were messy. “Huh?” She squinted at me. “We’re not leaving, are we? I thought we were staying the night.”
I looked at Nathan instead of answering. I had no idea what was going on.
“No, you’re not leaving,” he said, guiding Oliver to a sitting position. He reached for their glasses, which had been discarded on the end table, and handed them over.
The kids both yawned and pushed the frames up their noses.
“You can go back to sleep in a minute. Your mom wanted to know what we talked about earlier while she was upstairs. Can you guys tell her?”
My gaze jumped from Nathan to the kids. What? Oliver and Olivia looked at each other with matching grins.
“Mom, you’re gonna marry Nate,” Oliver said. “I mean, if you want to. Then we can get our last names changed to Bell. All of us. We really wanna do that.”
“Nate said we could. You just gotta say yes.” Olivia held her hands in front of her face like she was praying. “Please say yes! Please!”