“I know he’s your dad and you need to spend time with him, but do you know that when you go over there, I miss having you around?”
With the pencil still in his hand, he clasps his hands together. “I know Mom does.”
I give him a soft smile. “I do too. I like hanging out with you, and I know he’s always going to be your dad, but I want you to know that no matter what, no matter how many kids your mom and I have, you will always be my first son. I love you just as much as I’m going to love your little brother. Nothing’s going to change that.”
“So I’ll always get to live with you and Mom? You won’t send me away?”
I put my hand on his shoulder and squeeze. “Son, I will always share you with your dad, but I will never let anyone take you away from me and your mom. You’re our son too.”
He stares up at me, obviously taking in everything I’m saying before he finally nods his head. “Okay.”
“Okay? So you’re going to be okay being a big brother?”
He gets a smirk on his face. “Can I pick out the name?” He starts to laugh, and it’s the same laugh he does when I know he’s going to try to do something he shouldn’t. I can just imagine the names he’s going to come up with.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to talk to your mom about that.”
Katie wipes under her eyes and walks into the room. “Did I hear my name?”
Lane looks up at Katie. “Yes. I’m going to pick out names for my little brother.”
She laughs. “Uh, how about you go make a list and we can talk about them.”
He grabs his sketchbook and pencil and turns to go but stops suddenly. He turns to me with a smile. “Thanks, Trey. I love you too.”
My heart stops beating for just a fraction of a second. Lane runs from the room and doesn’t have any idea how much his words mean to me. Man, this parenting thing can be hard.
“You okay?” Katie asks, bumping her hip into me.
I pull her down into my lap. “Yeah, you think I handled that right? I wasn’t sure what to say... I do know I’m going to have a little talk with Craig about filling Lane’s head with ideas.”
Katie puts her hands on my shoulders. “I have something I wanted to tell you.”
I clasp my hands on her lower back. “Okay. You can tell me anything.”
“Yes.”
I shake my head, not understanding. “Yes what?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you. Today, tomorrow, whenever you want to.”
“Today,” I tell her instantly.
She throws her head back and laughs out loud. “I think we have to get a license or something first.”
“I’ll call Aiden. He can get his uncle to help us out... he owns half of Whiskey Run, he can push it through.”
“I need to prepare a little... how about Saturday?”
“Yes,” I tell her. I’ll tell her yes to anything. I’ve only asked her to marry me every week since we found out about the baby. “What changed your mind?”
“I didn’t want you to marry me just because of the baby. I’ve been worried about Lane and how he’d take it... all of it. I wanted to make sure you were doing this for the right reasons, I guess.”
I lean my head toward hers. “I’m marrying you because I love you, I love Lane, and I love this little guy,” I tell her, holding my hand over her rounded belly. “I want us to be together forever.”
“Me too,” she whispers before she fits her mouth over mine. My cock lengthens in my jeans, and I pull her closer.
I break the kiss and breathlessly tell her, “Saturday, you’re mine.”
She cups my cheek. “I’m already yours.”
Epilogue
Emily
I like the job. I do. Aiden and Treyton are both good guys—at least they seem to be. Both Gracie and Katie have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome. It’s Dawson that makes me want to quit at least once a day. If you look up asshole in the dictionary, I would bet money there’s a picture of him next to it.
Thankfully, it’s his night off, and I can work without being on edge the whole night.
Ring. Ring.
I pick up the phone. “Savage Ink. This is Emily.”
“This is Malcolm.”
I silently groan. There’s usually only one reason that Malcolm would be calling. He’s the manager of the Whiskey Whistler. He owns the bar a block down the street, and I’m already wondering if I can just hang up and unhook the phone. “How you doing, Malcolm?”
He growls into the phone. “I’ve been better. Send Aiden or Treyton down here to get Dawson before he destroys the place.”
“They’re both in the middle of tattoos.”
He sighs loudly into the phone. There’s all kinds of noise in the background, and I’m pretty sure one of the voices I hear is Dawson. “Fine. I’ll just call the sheriff.”