"I love you too," she said. "I love you and I want to be with you, even if I have no idea what comes next."
I closed my arms around her torso, held her tight to me. "You just told me what comes next."
She inched her hands up my chest and over my shoulders until she could rake her fingers through my beard. "Only if you want the same things."
I was ready to scoop her up and get the hell out of here. Take her home, take her to bed. The dark smudges under her eyes told me she'd slept about as well as I had these past few days and I needed to fix that.
"I'll tell you what happens now," I said, pivoting her in my arms and steering her toward the door. "I'm taking you home. That's what it is, Jas, it's home to you. What you decide to do with this place is entirely secondary and that choice is not going to occupy space in your mind anymore. Keep it, sell it—doesn't matter because we live next door and you don't need to worry about finances."
"I don't like the idea of relying on someone in that way," she said. "My entire life has been a series of rebellions against that sort of thing."
"Believe me, I've noticed and I understand. But I don't worry about money and I won't, especially now that I've agreed to partner with Magnolia and—"
"You did? What? When did that happen?"
"A few days ago—no, wait—it was yesterday. Jesus, this week has been a fucking blur." When we reached the entryway, I picked up her bag and motioned to her shoes. "Yesterday afternoon, right before she went into labor."
Jasper pressed her palms to her cheeks. "Oh my god! The babies—they're here?"
"They arrived last night. The first weighed in at five pounds even, the second at a little over four and a half. Magnolia is doing well but don't ask her about names because they haven't decided yet."
"Oh my god," she whispered, her hands still on her cheeks. "That's wonderful. It's just wonderful. And you're going to do it, you're going through with the partnership. I'm so happy you came to a decision and—oh, wait just a minute."
She hadn't put her shoes on yet and that was driving me crazy so I dropped the bag, kneeled down, and did it for her. "No, I won't wait even a minute. We're going home. We can visit the babies later."
"No, that's not what I meant. I was trying to say I don't want to be a kept woman, regardless of your new business arrangement."
"That's tough shit because it's how it's going to be. Maybe then you'll be able to figure out what to do with your life when you don't have to worry about survival."
She gave me an arched eyebrow and a pouty mouth. As if I could resist any bit of that. Not today, not ever. So, I grabbed her ass and kissed her hard.
"What was that for?" she asked.
I shook my head while I closed the door behind us. "I don't need a reason."
"I see we're being extra imperious today."
I hooked my arm around her waist and led her down the walkway. That same old cat shot out from near the rosebushes and mewed at us as we walked by. "I'm not finished telling you how this is going to go."
With a full, husky laugh, Jasper said, "I can't wait to hear the rest of this."
"You are going to belong to me and I am going to belong to you," I said, the words thick as they caught in my throat. "You're going to rely on me even when it's really fucking uncomfortable for you. Even when you want to prove you can do anything and everything by yourself, you're going to lean on me because that's what we do. Got it?"
"And what about you? Are you going to be honest and up front about the things you want even when it's really fucking uncomfortable for you?"
"Yeah," I said, setting her things down to pull the house keys from my pocket when we reached the front door. "I am."
As I pushed the door open, she said, "That's not going to be easy."
"You think any of this is going to be easy? It's not, Jas. It's not. It's going to be hard every day and we're going to have to work at it but there is no one in the world I'd rather fight with over crockpots and rotaries—"
"Traffic circles."
"—and all the other random bullshit we argue about than you. No one in the fucking world. When you're ready, I'm going to marry you the way you deserve to be married and—"
"What does that even mean?" she asked with a huffy little laugh that meant she didn't enjoy this topic.
"It means you're getting a ring that will definitely have some Elvish writing on the inside and an over the top proposal that I promise won't involve a single Hobbit. We're going to eat a ton of cake samples and agonize over stupid shit like seating arrangements. My mother is going to throw you a big-ass bridal shower and she's going to live for the single purpose of making our day everything you've ever wanted. My sister will adopt you into her circle of no-bullshit, boss-lady friends and they'll throw you a filthy bachelorette party that will test all of my tolerance of such things. And when our day comes around, I'm going to wake up beside you and love you so hard that you walk down that aisle on shaky legs. I'm gonna love you like that on the good days and the bad days and all the ones in between. And I'm never, ever moving to Northern Ireland without you."
