“Oh, here, let me take him so you two can kiss properly.”
Dani hands Tucker over, and the lady takes our son, making him grin and giggle while I cup Dani’s cheek and kiss her properly.
As her tongue slides against mine, I can’t help grinning against her lips.
We’re engaged!
This woman’s gonna become my wife, and we’re gonna make a home here, settle down, raise a family. I never thought I’d be ready to do that.
But I finally am.
Because of her.
Because of Tuck.
Because it’s time.
CHAPTER 34
ELIZABETH
It’s finally time!
It’s only taken all day to get things organized, but we’re finally ready to surprise the boys with our special Valentine’s dinner.
I doubt we’ll really surprise them. They know something’s going down since we put them on kid detail all afternoon.
They suited up the most energetic kids and went outside to play a game of touch football. It was fun watching them race around the yard, their screams of delight wafting back into the house. I stopped to watch them play at one point, my heart melting as Dom, my big, sweet boy, took extra care with the little ones, making sure they all got a chance to get the ball across the line.
I love his tender heart.
God, please don’t let anyone break it.
All the other kids, who thought the idea of playing outside in the cold was a form of torture, ended up helping us ladies out. Jane folded napkins into heart shapes, Charlotte and Kendall worked with Blake to decorate cookies, and Harley watched over Paris, lying on the floor and making her smile. It was only made more precious by that scare we had this morning.
I’m so incredibly grateful that the girls were found and brought back safely.
“We ready to go?” Sienna asks from behind me. “Where’s Nylah?”
I glance toward the stairwell. “She should be coming down soon. Can you believe that present Carson gave her?”
“Oh my gosh, it’s the sweetest thing.” Blake steps into the conversation. “Who’d have thought Carson had it in him?”
Sienna laughs. “The guy really came through. It’s so incredibly thoughtful. Nylah must be so loved-up right now.”
“Oh, I am.” She appears in the doorway with a relaxed smile, resting her hand on the frame. “The bath was divine, the foot rub made me fall asleep, and when I woke up, he’d left me his laptop and a note telling me to enjoy my movie.” She lets out a delighted groan. “Best, most relaxing afternoon ever!” Shuffling into the kitchen with her cane, she gazes around at all our hard work. “Thank you so much for letting me do that. I feel bad that you’ve done all this work without me. Satch, you should be the one with your feet up. It’s your birthday.”
“Not at all.” I brush my hand through the air and wink. “My birthday’s next weekend. And we were happy to. It’s been fun.”
“Absolutely.” Sienna touch Nylah’s arm. “And after the morning we all had, you deserved a little R and R.”
Blake snorts and bulges her eyes in agreement.
Nylah looks at her. “How are you feeling? You processed it all?”
“Yeah.” Blake nods, her smile turning into a wince. “I’m so grateful it all worked out the way it did. It could have been so much worse. Wily and I sat all the kids down before lunch and gave them a talking-to about leaving the house without asking permission. Hopefully Kenny got what I was trying to say. I’ve got a lot of work to do with that one, but…” She sucks in a breath,nodding as if she’s fortifying her decision. “I’m up for it. I want to be a good mom.”
“Youarea good mom.” Sienna squeezes her shoulder.
