“Hey! I love your sleigh!” I call.
He waves. “Isn’t it great? I found it at an auction last year, and it took me a long time to get her restored and ready to go again.”
Jack calls out to us. “All right, it’s you two lovebirds’ turn on the sleigh.”
Ollie takes my hand and helps me into the sleigh like a gentleman and tucks the blanket in around us, his arm sliding around me.
“Are you warm enough?” he asks, his eyes searching over me.
“Yeah, I am after Violet bought me this heated coat,” I say with a laugh.
He leans in and kisses me softly. “Good.”
“Are you warm enough?” I ask, pulling the blankets over him and fussing over him a bit.
“I am now that you’re here, snuggled in next to me.”
Tucker drives the sleigh, and we settle in, the world feeling hushed as we head off on a sleigh ride. Just snow and trees and the sound of hooves.
Ollie pulls me closer. “I wanted a chance to talk to you.”
“Okay,” I say softly, unsure of where he’s going with this.
He squeezes my hand through my gloves. “I want to make sure you’re okay with all of this. I know it’s all happened so fast. I want to see where your head’s at.”
“It’s been a lot all at once,” I admit.
And that feels like the understatement of the year.
Nothing is the same. Not my job. Not us. Not Owen. Not the shape of my days or the way I wake up in the morning. My life used to be hunger and exhaustion and counting dollars in my head while pretending everything was fine. It was going without so Owen didn’t have to. It was surviving on fumes and telling myself this was just how it was.
Now I’m tired in a different way.
It’s the good kind that comes from doing work that matters and coming home to people who need me and love me. From having stability under my feet instead of quicksand. From Bandit’s muddy paws at the door and Ellie’s soft weight in my arms. From knowing Owen is safe and laughing and growing instead of bracing himself like I did as a teenager.
“My job, us, Owen, Bandit, and Ellie,” I say, smiling a little as I list it out. “Nothing is the same.” I swallow, emotion pressing thick in my chest. “But it’s also been the most amazing time of my life. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Ollie’s gaze stays steady on me, warm and sure. “I wouldn’t either,” he says. “We got here in the most unconventional way, but we’re here. That’s all that matters.”
Something settles in me at that.
Overwhelmed sometimes, sure. Exhausted often. But happy in a way I didn’t know how to imagine before.
And for the first time, I don’t feel like I’m waiting for it all to fall apart.
I nod. “I love you, Ollie.”
He dips his forehead to mine. “I love you so much, Poppy.”
“Are you good with everything? Are we too much...”
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “You and Owen have been my family for a long time. It’s just official now. I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you think we could adopt Owen? Make him officially ours?”
I suck in my breath, hot tears pricking my eyes. “Yes, I think that would mean a lot to him, too.”
“What do you want, Poppy?” he asks quietly, like it’s just between us.
I stare out at the trees sliding past, my breath puffing white in the air.
