“You forgot the princess’s bed.”Danica had Portia’s plush bed with her and set it down next to the cot.Portia grunted her way over, did three circles in the bed, and settled down.
“This is quite the sleepover,” I mused.
“We’re going to stay up late telling stories.”Sam scratched Portia’s ears.“Her favorite isCharlotte’s Web.”
Flora pulled all of our attention when she stood up from her spot in the corner and slowly made her way closer, then she settled down next to Portia and right beside the cot.
I smiled at Danica, and she smiled back.
Leaning over the animals, Danica pressed a kiss to her daughter’s head.“Goodnight, ladies.”
“Goodnight.”Sam pulled a book and a small reading light out from her pillowcase and opened it.
Then I took my woman by the hand, and we left the barn.
“You’re going to keep the stall camera feed up on the tablet all night, right?”she asked, as we entered the house.
“Of course.”
She nodded.
While they didn’t officially live here yet, they spent every night with me.Sam insisted on it.She said she couldn’t be away from the animals.So she rode the bus to the vineyard with her cousins, and once Danica was finished work for the day, they came “home.”
After we finished clearing the dishes, I collapsed onto the couch, and Danica slid in beside me with an exhausted sigh.I draped my arm over her shoulders.“Your daughter is stubborn.”
“Yeah, but in this case, I’m okay with it.I’d rather she were stubborn than a doormat.She’s learning to stand up for herself.It just sucks when it’s to me.”
I snickered.“She is strong because her mother is strong.She fights for what she wants because she learned it from her mother.”
“I wasn’t always like this.”
“We’re all always evolving.I wasn’t always okay with allowing people onto my property, or having the community know my business.But look at me now.”
Her giggle made delightful tingles fill my chest.“Look at you now.A pillar of the community.You should consider running for mayor.”
She was joking, of course.There was no mayor on the island.
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
We both sighed again.
“I’m surprised neither of us has a glass of wine in our hands.”
I sprang up from my seat.“That is a crime.”
Once I had two glasses poured, I brought them back to the couch and handed her one.We sipped in silence, enjoying the rich, cherry and mocha flavors on our tongues.
“Your daughter is also very determined,” I said after a moment.“She has been begging me to ask you something.”
“Yeah?”She yawned.“What’s that?”
“If you will marry me.”
Danica paused mid-sip and gave me some serious side-eye.“And what do you tell her?”
“I told her I’d ask you and see what you said.”
She made sure to swallow her wine before letting her jaw drop open.“Is this you proposing to me?”
