When I look into Everton’s eyes, there is amusement there, but there’s also something else—curiosity. What I don’t see in hisgaze is judgement. I didn’t realize how afraid I was of my fears being brushed aside until this moment.
I swallow hard and wait as he studies my face.
“Why do babies freak you out?” His tone is even and open without any of the wariness I was expecting.
“They’re so small and fragile,” I whisper. “They can’t talk. Hell, they can’t even hold up their own heads. The thought of someone so small needing so much from me is terrifying. I don’t think I want to have a baby.” I look into his eyes and hope I don’t lose him because of my confession. “I just thought you should know. I probably should have said something before we got in too deep again.”
“Hey,” his voice is gentle, like he’s talking to a feral animal. He’s not entirely wrong in his approach considering the way I’m feeling right now. His hand cups my cheek and holds my gaze. “I’m okay with it if you don’t want to get pregnant and give birth to a baby. I know you’ll be an amazing mom to Rian. You already are,” he assures me with his crooked boyhood grin which always makes my heart flutter.
“I’ll probably fuck up,” I try and deflect.
Everton chuckles and nods slowly. “You probably will,” he agrees. “I know I’ve fucked up, and I know I will again. We’re out here living life for the first time too and sometimes we don’t have all the information. We certainly don’t have all the experience to pull on to help with the decisions in front of us. That doesn’t make you a bad parent, it makes you human.”
“You’d really be okay with no more babies?” I breathe out the question, scared of the answer. “You always talked about a big family before.”
He shrugs a shoulder, his gaze steady. “I want the family I’m destined to have. If that means I have you and Rian, then I’m more than okay with it. But there are other ways we can grow our family.”
I blink at him a few times, a little surprised at the implication in his words. A little ember of something like hope flares in my chest.
“Would you consider becoming a foster parent?” He studies my face while pointing out, “We could help kids who need it and be clear about not wanting newborns placed with us.”
When my eyes fill with tears this time there’s no way I can stop them from flowing. But Everton is right there to wipe them away with a soft smile on his face.
“You would do that? You would want to open up your heart, house, and family to kids you don’t even know? Kids who aren’t ours? Kids we might have to give back?” My voice cracks with the weight of the possibility my man has just laid at my feet.
“I’ll do anything for you,” he murmurs the words softly, but they land in the middle of my chest like a sledgehammer. “I love you.”
“I love you,” I breathe out and let the love this man gives to me wash over me.
“The hardest part would be watching kids we pour love into leave, but at the same time what a gift that would be.” When I look at him curiously and he explains, “If they come to us because they need a safe place to land, but then can be reunited with their family, it’s a beautiful thing. We’d get to be a small part of them finding their way back to each other. That’s amazing.”
My tears flow a little harder and Everton’s whiskey-colored eyes soften as he looks at me. “And maybe,” he whispers, “we’ll find the children who are meant to be a part of our family permanently.”
“Isn’t there a lot of red tape with being a foster parent?” I’m almost afraid to find joy in what my man is laying out before me. Isn’t it too good to be true?
“The club can help with that,” he says cryptically which says more than enough.
“Okay,” I breathe out, “I think that sounds perfect.”
Everton’s smile is huge as he pulls me even tighter against his body. “You have so much love to give, Tiny Dancer. We can change the lives of kids who need it, who need a little hope and a lot of safety. It would be my greatest honor to walk that path with you.”
My hands frame his faced and my thumbs slide back and forth over the stubble on his jawline. “You’re a good man, Everton Connors.”
The place where fear has lived for so long cracks open. The fear of not being enough, of not being able to make my dreams come true. The fear of never finding love like the one I left behind. The fear of not having a family because I couldn’t see a way around what has terrified me for years. The fear of not knowing what comes next.
I know what comes next now.
I’m going to open Tiny Dancer Studio. I’m going to teach Rian how to dance and we’ll figure out what it means to love each other. I’m going to love Everton with everything I am for the rest of my life.
“You make me a good man, Brielle,” his voice is thick with emotion.
I shake my head because I know it’s him. It’s all him.
He kisses me softly and with all the love he feels for me. I can taste it on his tongue and feel it in the way his fingers glide over my skin. There’s no fear as I sink into the sensation.
“We’ll figure it out,” he vows. “We’ll figure everything out.”
“I know.”
