This kid.
This bright, brave, beautiful kid is worried she’ll get left behind.
That someone will take her aunt away.
That someone will split her from the only mother she’s ever known.
I slide down to kneel in front of her so we’re eye-level.
“Sweetheart,” I say gently, “look at me.”
She does—nervous, hopeful, guarded.
“You go where we go.It’s that simple.”
Her eyes shine.
“This might not be a typical family,” I continue, voice low, steady, sure, “but it’s our family.And we’re going to be a good one.I promise.”
And fuck—I mean it.
Every word.
Every breath.
Because in this moment—kneeling in front of Bella Bosco in a ridiculous Vegas luxury suite, about to marry the girl I’ve loved since childhood—I know exactly what I want.
A family.
A home.
Adrianna.
Fuck, yes—I want her.
But it’s not just her.
It’s Bella with her sharp mind and big heart.
It’s Mrs.Bosco with her warmth and fierce love.
I want all of them.
I want them to be my family.
Bella’s voice is small when she asks, “Do you mean it?”
I nod without hesitation.
Because yeah.I fucking mean it.
“I’m all in, Bella.”I hold out my hand, palm up.“What about you?I might not always get it right, but I swear to you I’ll work on it until I do.”
She stares at it—thinking, weighing, deciding—then slaps her smaller hand onto mine with surprising force.
“All in,” she says, nodding like she’s sealing a pact with the universe.
I grin like an idiot.
