It’s all a little too cutesy for me, but it is the festive season.
“How’s the campaign going?” Grayson asks.
Now I have to chuckle. “Easy. Not much to challenge, as Pete Smythe only hands out cookies. It’s my parents who take this way more seriously than me. I let them do it because they’re retired and need some entertainment.”
Rosie touches my chest affectionately. “Carter is going to ensure we have a new bench right over there.” She points down the street.
“Someone knows what to do with power,” her father jokes.
Her mom touches Rosie’s stomach. “We’re getting closer. Have you thought more about your birth plan?”
“I’ve just been doing my yoga to ensure I stay flexible, and my breathing is strong. I will skip all of those baby classes. I want natural, with candles and music. Maybe in a bathtub. I’ll be sure to drink a lot of raspberry tea the weeks before. I should probably make my oil blend to put on my pulse points.” Rosie lists everything as if it’s a shopping list for the store.
Grayson and I share a look because we have no clue what Rosie just rattled off, but it’s definitely her and all of her quirks.
I hug her from the side. “I’ll just show up.”
“Good plan,” Grayson concurs.
“I’m excited for the baby shower, even if due to a certain mother, we’ve had to move the party to your friend’s.” Brooke shoots me her disapproval.
I hold my hands up in surrender. “What? She might be my mom, but it doesn’t mean I can control her.”
“Fine. But please warn your mother dearest that I’m handling the desserts. She doesn’t seem to grasp that.”
Rosie and I just look at one another and try not to laugh.
“Enough of that. How are you two doing?” Grayson asks.
Rosie plays with her mitten. “You know…” Her voice squeaks. “It goes. Oh my goodness, is there fresh popcorn over there? And Gracie is here. We need to go say hi.” She quickly detours the conversation before she rushes off, dragging her mother with her.
That’s an unfair move because now I’m stuck with Grayson alone. I smile warily at him.
“Oh, look at that. You and me.” He seems pleased with this.
“So it seems.” I’m sensing a man-to-man conversation coming my way.
He crosses his arms. “Carter, soon you’re going to be a father. Rosie is my firstborn. She came into my life when I wasn’t expecting it, a bright light bringing Brooke and me even closer after years apart. I’ve been in your shoes. The difference is that you two were married, and Rosie is a free spirit who needs re-assurance and follows her own path until she finds the end. You realize that, right?” His tone is fragile because he’s talking about his daughter.
“Grayson, that’s why I’m being patient. Throwing her over my shoulder and insisting we get married again because we’re going to be parents isn’t the way to do it. I’m not going to force her hand in marriage.”
“You’re right. You should only marry if it’s something right. Still…” He lifts a shoulder. “I would be lying if I said that I don’t want to see you both as husband and wife again.”
I bite inside my cheek, trying to prevent the slip of my lips to display how this is a serious moment, but so help me, I want to grin. “Is this when you tell me that I have your approval?”
“Well, you sure as hell didn’t ask me last time. But yeah, it’s something like that.”
“Thanks, but I already married her once without your approval, so I’m good.”
He grimaces at me, maybe half appreciative of that comment.
With Brooke and Rosie appearing again, Grayson and I give one another a nod in understanding.
“What were you two talking about?” Rosie is curious, and her eyes skate between her father and me with a bag of popcorn in her hand.
“Oh, nothing,” he lies. “Just wondering if he needed help with the baby’s room. Painting or something like that. Your uncles are making a crib for you. I was wondering what color, but Carter wouldn’t budge on the boy-girl issue.”
Rosie smiles proudly to all of us. “He’s keeping to his word and not giving a peep of a clue.”
