Chapter 28: This Is Us
Nico
I picked Allie up the next morning, arriving while Gracie was still eating breakfast. Allie was still upstairs getting ready when I got there, taking extra time with her hair and makeup, according to her mom.
"I'm running a little late, honey!" Allie shouted down the stairs, apparently having heard my voice.
"No rush, Sunshine. I'll keep our princess company, maybe try to work on more song lyrics," I called back to her.
I'd been trying to teach Gracie the lyrics to various songs, many of them from Alex's playlist as he'd requested. She had a good sense of rhythm and a sweet little voice, but her grasp of the actual lyrics wasn't quite there yet. Allie had been teaching her "We Will Rock You", and she was OK on the main chorus, and had the clapping and stomping down. She got a little off-track on the verses though and was convinced that Freddie Mercury was "kicking your cat all over the place" Apparently, that made more sense than "kicking your can" in Gracie's mind.
"Would you like some breakfast, Nico? There are pancakes, or I can make you something else if you'd prefer?"
I smiled at Allie's mom. "No thanks, Colleen. I appreciate it, but I grabbed a muffin and a banana before I left the house thismorning. I will get a cup of coffee though. Where do you keep your mugs?"
She pointed, and I opened the cabinet she indicated, selecting a mug that had a picture of a man on it, with duct tape covering his mouth. It said,"Silence is golden but duct tape is silver". I chuckled. Either it had been a gift from Allie, or she got her love of funny mugs from her parents.
After Gracie finished eating, Colleen took her upstairs for a bath before they left for their outing. They were going to go to Build-a-Bear. I was pretty fucking happy to be missing that little adventure. Once was enough for me.
As soon as they left the room, I nodded toward the patio door. "Uh, Steve, could we talk privately for a minute?"
He looked up from his Kindle in surprise, then grabbed his coffee cup and followed me out to the deck. We sat down, and I shifted nervously in my seat. Shit, if the guys could see me now, they'd never let me live this down. I glanced down at my own cup of coffee, wishing like hell it was a glass of whiskey.
"Everything OK, son?" he asked, his expression was one of curiosity mixed with concern.
I nodded, "Yes, everything's fine. I just wanted you to know how I feel about Allie and Gracie. What my intentions are, I mean."
His eyebrows rose in surprise, and a slight grin lit his face.
"I love Allie. I'm in love with her, and I want to marry her. I want to adopt Gracie, if Allie's OK with that, and I want to have a family with her, more babies I mean, and get a dog, maybe, or a cat even." I said in a rush, feeling my face flush. I was such afucking idiot. That had gone so much smoother in my head when I rehearsed this speech in my shower this morning, and there was nothing in it about goddamned dogs and cats, for fuck's sake.
His smile widened at the end of my verbal spewing, and I got the distinct impression he was trying hard not to laugh at me. Fuck my life.
I took a deep breath, and before he could say anything, I said "Let me try this again. I am totally and completely in love with Allie and consider Gracie to be my daughter already. I would like your blessing to ask Allie to marry me and make her and Gracie mine officially."
Steve laughed outright at that and shook his head at me. "Son, you've got it bad, don't you?" At my rueful nod, he continued, "Colleen and I talked about this already, and we both know how much you love our girls. As long as you give me your word that you will love them and keep them safe in your world, you have our blessing."
I looked him straight in the eye as I responded, "I will love them and protect them until my last breath, you can be sure of that." He offered me his hand, and I shook it gratefully. Shit, now I just had to remember how to breathe.
I noticed movement in the kitchen and looked through the patio door to see Allie filling the tea kettle. I excused myself, and left Steve to drink his coffee and ponder what a fucking idiot his future son-in-law was.
Allie turned to smile at me as I came in, and I walked over to take her in my arms for a quick kiss. I stepped away and looked her over from head to toe. She was dressed in her favorite jeans -they showcased her killer ass, so they were my favorite, too - and a dark green silky looking top that clung to her tits and made my mouth water. Her hair was a tumbled mass of curls that I itched to run my fingers through, and she had on more makeup than usual, especially something on her eyes that made them look even more vibrant green than they normally were.
"You look gorgeous this morning, love."
"Thanks, do you think it's OK for the video? I put on a little more makeup because I didn't want to look washed-out on camera." She looked nervous, and I hated that this was putting her on-edge.
"More than OK, Allie. You take my breath away, but then again, you always do."
She gave me a soft smile and leaned in to kiss me. Before I could pull her close, I heard Steve opening the patio door behind me, so I stepped back.
"Morning, Daddy," Allie said, giving her father a beaming smile.
He walked over and kissed her cheek, "Good morning, kiddo. You look especially nice today. I'd better go up and get myself ready. I was informed by your mother that we're taking Gracie-girl to that damned bear place at the mall," he grumbled good-naturedly.
I snorted a laugh. "Have fun with that," Allie said. He shook his head and went upstairs, muttering to himself about the women in his life.
As soon as he was out of sight, I hauled Allie in my arms and swooped down on her mouth, needing a real kiss frommy favorite girl. I wrapped my hand loosely around her throat, feeling her pulse beating wildly under my palm as I deepened the kiss. I loved holding her like that. It had quickly become my one of my favorite things in the world.
