I seriously thought Luke was going to have an aneurysm when it became obvious he wasn’t going to be able to console his hysterical fiancée.
While Emmy raged and Luke begged forgiveness, the rest of us were trying our hardest not to burst out in laughter.
“So…” Brett dragged out, breaking the peaceful silence of the car ride back to his house. I turned from the passenger window to look at him and noticed him tapping a quick rhythm on the steering wheel.
“So…?”
“Uh…well…” He cleared his throat, seeming almost nervous. “I was just wondering…um…”
“Wondering what?” I coaxed, trying to get him spit it out.
“Wondering if you ever planned on having any more kids.”
Well, that wasn’t what I had been expecting. I was silent for several seconds, trying to wrap my head around an answer. Did I ever plan on having any more children? When I was with Lance, that answer was a definitive no. And after I left, my soul focus was Callie and Cameron. More kids wasn’t something I’d really given much thought to, but now that Brett had asked, there were so many different scenarios bouncing around in my head.
Our relationship was still so new, but there was a part of me that felt excited about the thought of having kids with Brett. Unfortunately, for all the excitement, there was still that niggling doubt that things might not work out. My fears that Brett would pull the same Jekyll and Hyde routine that Lance and my father had wasn’t really something I worried about anymore. I knew, soul deep, that Brett was a good man. He could never be the kinds of monsters they were. But what if he grew tired of my hang-ups? What if he decided a ready-made family wasn’t for him? That he wanted to start fresh, have a clean slate with a woman who didn’t carry more baggage than a 747?
“I haven’t really thought about it. It wasn’t something I ever considered after the twins were born,” I answered, turning to stare out the windshield. I didn’t want to see his face if my answer disappointed him.
“That’s cool.” He answered so calmly that my eyes shot back to his, wide in shock.
“Really? Do you not want kids?”
He looked thoughtful for several seconds before answering. “To be honest, I do want kids. It’s just always something I’ve seen happening in my life, you know? Get married, start a family. That’s always been the direction I knew my life would take.”
I wasn’t sure I was following him. Was he trying to tell me our relationship was over if I didn’t want more children?
“But then I met you and the twins, and in the blink of an eye, I had everything I could ever want.”
My head quickly turned on a surprised gasp. “But what about kids of your own?”
He looked over at me for a second, his expression fierce before turning back to the road. “Those kids might not be mine by blood, Kenz, but as far as I’m concerned, they’re mine. I love them like they’re my own. I’d do anything for them. From everything you’ve told me, that ex of yours is a piece of shit. He never did right by them and, if I have to, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to give them all the happiness that he never did. The three of you are my world, baby. Don’t you get that by now? I don’t have a life if y’all aren’t in it. You and those kids are all I’ll ever need to be happy. You’re my family.”
Oh, God, it felt like my heart couldn’t physically contain everything I was feeling at that very moment. Tears rushed down my cheeks as I stared at the man who’d shown me the true meaning of happiness.
“I love you.” My voice came out raspy as I continued to cry.
“I love you, too, beauty. More than fuckin’ life itself. And I know you still have your doubts, but I’m just giving you a heads up. One day, I’m going to ask you to marry me. You’re going to say yes, and we’ll spend the rest of our lives being happy. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna piss you off on the regular, because I’m a guy and that’s just the shit we do, but for every time I piss you off, I’ll bust my ass to make it up to you ten-fold. You’ve got my word on that.”
“Do you have any idea how happy you make me?”
“If it’s anywhere close to how happy you make me, then you are a lucky, lucky woman, baby,” he joked, pulling a heartfelt laugh from my chest.
“I’m not opposed to having more kids,” I whispered happily. “You know, just giving you a heads up on that.”
His face broke out into a bright smile as he kept his focus on the road ahead.
“Good to know, beauty.”