“Are you sure that we’re doing the right thing?” I ask, looking up at the house in front of us.
“Yes, I told you. This is our life, and that means a new house, in a new town, with new people,” he says, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.
“Alright, I’ll go grab Mocha and Martin,” I say, turning away as he carries in the last few boxes.
“Come on, you two,” I say, taking Martin out of his car seat. He giggles as Mocha licks the side of his face.
I set him on the ground, and he runs towards the front door, Mocha following after him as he keeps a close eye on his little person.
“Daddy!” Martin yells, running towards Beckett, who crouches down and catches him when he jumps into his arms.
The two-year-old laughs and giggles as the three of them walk into the house.
I smile thinking about my real dad, the one I never met but someone I still feel like I know. I reach up and grasp the little heart necklace.
Martin Derwin. It’s still crazy to me that all of it transpired the way it did. The way that, without a thought, Beckett let me hyphenate his last name with the one I should have gotten. Then again, he didn’t hesitate when I wanted to name our son after a man I had never met. He’s everything, both of them are.
I grab my backpack and follow after them. I look around the house, and everything is exactly how I imagined it. I set the bag down on the counter and follow the laughter I hear from down the hall.
“Mommy, look! It’s a ‘saur, rawr!” Martin says, picking up one of the dinosaur plushies on his bed.
I sit down on the bed and look around at what has become my life. My three boys and the literal house of my dreams. I have no idea how I got so lucky, and I have no idea how I got here.
“Knock, knock, anyone home?”
“Yeah, we brought pizza!”
“May May! Kay Kay,” Martin yells, jumping off the bed and running down the hall to greet his favorite people in the whole world—his brother and his uncle.
“There he is, how’s my little dude?” Kaden asks, picking him up and giving him a hug. Martins wraps his arms around Kaden’s neck and kisses his cheek.
“I miss Kay Kay.”
“I missed you, too, bud.”
“Stepmom,” Mason teases, pulling me into a hug. I roll my eyes at him but accept the hug regardless.
“May May!” Martin says, trying to wiggle out of Kaden’s arms to get to Mason.
“Ok, ok, calm down,” Kaden says, setting him on the ground as he runs over and runs to Mason.
“Ook,” Martin says, giving Mason’s German Sheppard a big hug. Before getting distracted and darting off down the hall. Mason dismisses Rook, and he takes off after Mocha.
“May May, come here,” Martin says, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the hall to show him his new room. “Kay Kay, you come, too.” Kaden follows after them, leaving Beckett and me in the kitchen.
“We made it,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling myself close to him.
His hands settle on my waist, and he nuzzles his face to my neck, pressing a soft kiss there. “Yeah, we did, baby.”
I tip my head back softly as he gently places soft, barely there kisses on my neck.
“I’m going to have so much fun with you tonight, in our bed, while Martin is asleep,” he whispers, gently nipping at the skin of my neck.
“Don’t say that,” I whisper, my fingers playing with the hair on the base of his neck.
His lips find mine, and he kisses me softly. I’ve missed this, him, all of it. I’ve been traveling a lot the last month withTHE LOST BEAN PROJECT,doing talks and volunteering at big events for shelters around the country.
The two of them have been here getting the house ready since I was able to retire Beckett shortly after I had Martin, after he hit his twenty years, and he’s been a stay-at-home dad ever since.
