“What?” she exclaimed. “The yellow one that just went on the market?”
I grinned. “Yeah, that’s it. Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful from what I’ve seen of it. But…”
“No buts.” I hushed her with a quick kiss. “It’s ours. Four bedrooms, so the girls each get their own room…and there is room enough for an addition to the family if we can fit that in later on.” I hadn’t really thought about having kids of my own, but after holding Mia for the first time it had become a kind of ache in my chest. I wanted my own baby. Layla’s baby.
“That…That sounds really wonderful.” She smiled up at me.
I felt a dopey grin split my face. “Yes it does.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“I guess you won’t eavesdrop anymore, huh?” I brushed another quick kiss over her lips.
“Nope, never again.”
“Good.” I pushed her back against the wall. “Will you marry me, Layla?” I murmured, kissing a path from her ear down her neck. “Will you spend the rest of your life letting me spoil you? Letting me make you happy?”
“I can’t imagine being more happy than I am right now.” She shivered as I sucked on the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met. “But I’m willing to spend the rest of my life letting you try.”
Epilogue
I had thought the end of that stupid tour would never get here!
I was rushing through the house making sure that everything was in order. Determined that the house was going to be just right for when Jesse got home. I hadn’t seen him in two weeks—two incredibly long, agonizing weeks! It might not be a long time for some couples, but for me it was an eternity.
From the day we were married—which had taken place in at a little chapel in Vegas the day after Jesse had proposed—we hadn’t spent a night apart in the more than two years that we have been married, not until this stupid, completely retarded tour came up. Sometimes, I hated that my husband was the big bad ass rock star that everyone was dying to see live!
Lucy came into the house, tossing her backpack on the sofa. “Is he home?” she asked excitedly. “Did I miss it?” Now eight years old, Lucy had changed quite a bit over the last two years. Her hair was kept short with little ringlets framing her beautiful face, and she had shot up a good six inches in the last year alone. Since I had married Jesse, she had blossomed even more into a young woman that I was incredibly proud of.
Jesse had been the one to bring up the topic of adoption, determined that he wanted Lucy to know exactly how much he thought of her as his. Lucy needed to be asked twice, and six months after we had gotten married she had officially become our daughter. It had been weird at first. Lucy didn’t know if she wanted to call us “Mom and Dad” or not. We had let her figure all of that out on her own. It took some time, but after a while she had slipped into calling Jesse “Dad”. She and I were still figuring out if she wanted to call me “Mom”. From time to time she slipped from calling me “Layla” to calling me “Mom”.
I grinned down at her as I fluffed up the pillows on the sofa. “No, baby. He hasn’t gotten home yet.”
“Thank goodness.” She hugged me tight and flopped down on the sofa. “I didn’t even want to go to school today because I was scared I wouldn’t be here when Dad got home.”
“Emmie texted me about an hour ago, so it shouldn’t be too much longer.” I assured her as I continued to straighten up the living room. I loved the house that we had made a home. Actually, it was as perfect as it could get, but I needed to do something to keep busy or I might lose my mind!
“I wish we could have gone with him this time.” Lucy sighed. The last few times Demon’s Wings had gone on their mini tours, Lucy and I had gone with them. This time it hadn’t been possible because Lucy had school. Ever though she was now in a private school, she couldn’t be missing that much school at a time, especially with all the extra work she had from her creative writing classes her teachers had put her in.
“Me too, baby.” I dropped down beside of her on the sofa and pulled her close. For two weeks, it had just been me and her. No going down the beach to see Emmie and Mia whenever the mood struck. It had been kind of lonely for us, but we had gotten through it together.
To distract ourselves, I turned on the flat screen and we settled down to watch one of Lucy’s favorite shows. I tried not to glance at my phone every five minutes to check the time or see if Jesse had texted me, but my eyes were drawn like magnets.