Dom waves, letting me know he has eyes on him, and I pay for the gelato. Even with Magnus gone, I can’t relax where my family’s concerned. Rose says that’s just being aparent. Maybe it is and I wonder if it’ll get easier as he gets older.
Walking back to the picnic blanket, I smile as I think about still looking out for the kid when he’s forty. I hand everyone their cones, a smile still playing on my lips. “You never said our son was a pistachio guy.”
Rose raises an eyebrow at my pistachio. “What can I say? He’s like his father.” She licks at her strawberry cream. “Nutty.”
Angelos looks between us, completely unimpressed. “Grown-ups are weird.”
“Correction,” Dom says, tucking into his double chocolate. “They’reweird. I’m cool.”
“Bruh, nobody says cool anymore,” Angelos shoots back.
Rose laughs softly, and the sound is a balm to every wound I’ve ever had.
As she savours her scoop, I lean closer to her ear. “What kind of ice cream guy do you think Dom is, then?”
She pretends to ponder, tapping her chin dramatically. “Hmm. Hazelnut. Smooth. A little nutty, but dependable.”
Dom splutters on his cone. “I’ll take smooth.”
I nudge her knee with mine. “And me? Pistachio still?”
Her gaze softens, her thumb brushing along my wrist where it rests on my knee.
“No,” she says, quiet and sure. “You’re more than that now.”
I raise a brow. “Yeah?”
She leans in, her lips ghosting the shell of my ear.
“You’re the whole flippin’ sundae.”
My breath catches in my chest. I press a kiss to her cheek. I want to bottle this moment. I want to anchor us here and never move. This is what freedom tastes like. Sweet as gelato, warm as the sun on my face.
She sighs against me, so soft I almost miss it. "You know… Idon't need to fly anymore. I only ever loved it because it made me feel free."
I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, my voice low. "And now?"
She smiles up at me, eyes shimmering. "I feel free with you."
My chest cracks wide open as I smile down at Rose, like a bird who’s found her wings. My little bird, my flower. “You don’t need to work anymore. I’ll support you, but whatever happened to your dream of teaching?”
She traces idle circles on my wrist. "I never got my degree, with everything that happened.”
I hook my finger under her chin, lifting her gaze to mine. "If you want to go back to school, I’ll support you. Whatever you need."
Her smile wobbles, a little broken, a lot beautiful. "I just need you."
I kiss her, slow and deep, a vow in every breath.
Dom and Angelos start arguing over football stats again, Dom trying to educate him about United, but I don’t care. I have everything I need right here.
I’ve come to accept there’ll be many more City games in my future. With a silent chuckle, I let them work it out, my son giving Dom all the stats while I reach into my jacket pocket and pull out the book I bought for Rose. “I got you something.”
“Let me guess. A rose?”
“Not today. I got you a new book.”
Her face lights up as I hand it to her.
