‘A promise,’ Mav replied. ‘A promise to love and cherish Nina for my entire life – just like I love and cherish you.’ He briefly touched his nose to Poppy’s, making her giggle.
And then they both turned to Nina, waiting.
She just nodded.
‘Give me the words, Nina.’
‘Yes. Of course. Yes.’
Mav’s heart soared. Shifting Poppy’s weight, he used both hands to pop the top of the box because of course Nina would say yes without even looking at the ring. ‘It’s small,’ he warned. ‘But it was my grandma’s, and I want you to know …’ He sorted the words in his head, sensitive to Poppy and Shannon. ‘Nobody but my grandma ever wore it.’ He hadn’t ever even considered giving it to Shannon because he had known she would have been disappointed by it. ‘If you want something different—’
‘Don’t.’ Leaning over the bed, Nina kissed him, ending the discussion. ‘I love it.’ She spread her left hand in front of him. ‘Make me that promise, Mav.’
He slipped the ring on her finger and then collapsed onto the bed with equal parts relief and exhaustion.
It was Nina who reached out and brushed her hand over Poppy’s head. ‘How do you feel about me being your stepmom?’ she asked.
‘Can’t you just be my real mom?’ Poppy countered.
Nina looked at him, clearly unsure of how to answer.
‘I think,’ he said cautiously, ‘that anybody would be lucky to have two moms.’
‘Maybe we can come up with a special name instead of “mom”?’ Nina suggested, always kind, always considerate. ‘Like Neens. Or Bonus Mamma?’
Although Shannon hadn’t done much to deserve it in the past, over the last six months she had surprised Mav by calling to speak to Poppy every few days. She had even visited once every month, had paid to stay at the resort so that she could spend a few days close to Poppy. Mav wasn’t sure what had brought about the change, but he appreciated that Shannon was finally trying.
‘I like “Bonus Mamma”,’ Poppy said without hesitation.
Nina grinned. ‘Then you can be my Bonus Baby.’
Poppy sighed happily. ‘This is the bestest day.’
And even as his entire torso throbbed with pain, Mav said, ‘Yeah. Yeah, it is the bestest.’
He patted the side of the bed because he needed to touch Nina, needed to hold her.
Nina eyed the bed sceptically even as she gently climbed up. ‘Do you think it’ll hold us all?’
‘We’ll find out,’ he said in reply.
The bed didn’t so much as creak as Nina’s slight weight settled at his other side.
Unlike Poppy, whose elbows and knees were a hazard, Nina was painstakingly careful not to jostle anything. She curled up on her side next to him and placed her head on his shoulder. ‘Am I hurting you?’
‘No. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.’
Whether it was because it was three in the morning or because of the stress of the night, Poppy was asleep within minutes. Nina lifted her head to look at the five-year-old, and when she saw her eyes closed, her mouth slightly open, she said, ‘She’s out.’
‘Understandably.’
Nina watched as Mav closed his eyes, but because she knew that he was fighting his body’s need to go under, she whispered, ‘Sleep. We’ll be here when you wake up.’
‘I don’t want this moment to end yet,’ he argued tiredly.
‘It won’t end,’ she said. ‘We’ll spin it out over a lifetime, Mav.’
His arm briefly tightened around her. ‘I’m surprisingly happy for a guy who just got shot.’
