He hated to put the new baby in second place, but he already had the best kid in the world. He didn’t want Hope to feel as though she was being sidelined in favor of someone new.
Over the babyorover Sunny, but he was kind of getting ahead of himself as far as Sunny went. The point still held, though. He needed Hope to know that she was the first, most important person in his life, and she’d always have him.
“I didn’t,” Grant said. “But let’s not test out the theory on the new one, okay?”
Hope rolled her eyes, as though Grant was being a spoilsport. He knew she’d never do anything to hurt anyone, and that she probably wouldn’t have considered testing it anyway.
“I hope it’s a sister,” Hope said. “Boys are gross.”
Sunny chuckled at that.
Which was a relief, since he’d been silent for a while, and was probably starting to feel left out. Grant didn’t want that. He’d invited Sunny down here because he was hoping to make him part of the family, too. He knew what he wanted, though Sunny might have read it as a combination of Christmas cheer and wanting to get into his pants again.
Grantdefinitelywanted to get into Sunny’s pants again, but more importantly, he wanted him to stay a part of his life.
Become a bigger part, even.
Julia was moving on. She’d gotten remarried, and now she was having a baby. Hope seemed to be coping just fine with all of that.
So it was really just Grant’s own fear getting between him and asking for what he really wanted.
“Boys are definitely gross,” Sunny said, glancing up at Grant. “Some of them make up for it, though.”
Hope--who’d insisted on sitting beside Sunny--wrinkled her nose. “You’re okay,” she said.
“Hey,” Grant objected. “What about me? And Joon?”
Hope looked at him like he was an idiot, which was an expression she was perfecting. Her teenage years were coming up fast.
“You don’t count,” she said. “You’re my dads.”
Grant laughed at that. Of course they didn’t count.
Hope liked Sunny, though. That felt like a good sign.
He was surrounded by people he loved, and they all liked each other, too. What more could he ask for?
Well, aside from knowing exactly what he and Sunny were to each other right now. Everything was happening so fast, and they’d barely had time to talk today.
It’d have to wait until later now, but Grant was surer than ever that he was ready for this. Ready to move on with his life, welcome someone else in it, do his best to make them want to stay.
Sunny was one of the best things that had ever happened to him. He felt the same amount of joy when he thought of being near Sunny as he did over the new baby.
That was huge. He was as excited to have Sunny in his life as he was to have another kid, which he’d also secretly wanted and been afraid he could never have.
This was the perfect arrangement, and now he wanted someone to share it with.
Hopefully, Sunny would feel the same way.
