“Are the girls okay?”
“Fine. They’ve discovered the old tree house at the bottom of the garden. It’s safe enough for them to play in. I’ll do it up in spring if they’re still interested.” He rubbed his face with the back of his hand. “We should be done by two.”
“In time for football?” Nothing came between Cas and football.
“Of course. What are you looking so woeful about? Is it because you’re going to miss me so much you won’t cope?” His grin was infuriating.
I folded my arms. “Keep telling yourself that.” He was absolutely right though.
“What were you thinking about then?” He came in the room, sitting down next to me, which was a little irritating because he wasn’t the cleanest and I’d just put on clean sheets.
I put my head on his shoulder anyway and leaned into him, relaxing. “I’m probably going to sell the cottage. Seeing the girls in a bigger house this week has made me realise we need somewhere with more space.”
His arm was around me, cheek resting on my head. “You bought your cottage with Joel though.”
“It was our first house but it wasn’t meant to be our last. We wanted another baby after Heidi, maybe two more, and we knewwe’d need somewhere bigger. But it was what we could afford at the time.” I smiled remembering the plans we’d half made because Joel always made sure there was room for either of us to change our minds.
There was a pause, then Cassian spoke.
“Move in here.”
I looked up at him, blinking.
“I’ve been thinking about it for ages,” he continued. “Far longer than I was going to admit because I know it was a bit soon.”
Bubbles of excitement started to cascade in my belly. “You’ve thought about this?”
“Loads. That’s why I got you to choose loads of the furniture.”
“What if we didn’t work out and that furniture reminded you of me?” Sometimes he surprised me.
He grinned, looking younger than he was, and impossible to refuse.
“We were always going to work out. It was inevitable. I knew that as soon as I turned you down when you asked me on that date.” He teased an escaped tendril of hair behind my ear.
“So why did you turn me down then if you knew it was inevitable?”
Another grin. “I was trying to be sensible, but then moving here and meeting you made the molecules of the earth shift, and I started to accept what the universe had thrown my way.”
“I think I would like to move in.” I would tell him some time that I’d been thinking about it anyway, wondering if he would ask. Hoping he would ask. “We don’t have to rush it though.”
He nodded, running his hand up and down my back. “We don’t. Take whatever time you need to give the girls time to get used to the idea. You can rent your cottage rather than sell it.”
“Maybe. I’ll think about it.” The air stilled again. “I should ask you one more thing.”
“If it’s a proposal, that’s meant to be my thing and you might need to wait a few more months for that.”
More flutters in my stomach.
“Kind of. Do you want kids? I mean, me moving in comes with plus two, which you’re well aware of, but do you want more?” My skin tingled as I asked it. This wasn’t make or break. I would like to be pregnant again, and I loved babies. I wanted a different experience though, someone to share those first steps and first words with, and maybe I was just a little bit broody with all the babies that the couples of Puffin Bay were producing.
Cas gave me a curious look, his eyes softening. “I would. If you did. It isn’t a dealbreaker if you didn’t want anymore. You’ve worked fucking hard bringing Heidi up on your own and I wouldn’t blame you if you were done. But you know I’d be a hands on dad.”
Given he’d spent Wednesday evening being drawn on and dressed up like a clown, I couldn’t argue with that one. He’d apparently found it funny, and I’d found scrubbing him clean later on in the shower fun too.
“I know. We can park that idea for a while anyway.” Because Heidi had already been through so much change, having Mia come to live with us, and Cassian entering our lives.
“Yeah, I’ve seen how you look at Elsie and Calla.” He mentioned Ruby and Finn’s baby girl, and Calla, who was Roe and Freya’s daughter. “And I’ve seen how you look at me when I’m holding one of them.”
