34. Madison
The smell of Braydon overwhelms me as I blink my eyes open against the setting sun. Braydon is softly snoring behind me, and his arms are still draped over my waist. I turn slightly and kiss bradyon”s chin. He blinks his eyes open and smiles at me.
“Good morning, sleepy head,” I jokingly say to Braydon.
“How long have we been asleep?” Braydon asks through a yawn.
I motion towards the setting sun outside my living room windows.
“Long enough.”
“But that doesn”t mean we have to get up right now, Cowboy.”
“You”re right.”
I turn in Braydon’s arms, so we are face to face and lay my head on his chest. We lay like this for so long that I almost fell back asleep. Then I hear tiny footsteps pitter-patter upstairs.
“I think she is awake.”
“I am surprised she has slept that long. She never takes that long of a nap.”
“Daddy!” Iris’s little voice yells from somewhere upstairs.
She sounds like she might be crying, probably because she woke up in an unfamiliar place.
“I should probably go get her.”
Braydon expertly climbs over me and heads towards the stairs.
“Iris, sweetheart.” Braydon calls.
I hear Iris’s tiny whimpers and Braydon’s heavy footsteps on the stairs.
“Shh, baby, it”s ok Daddy is right here.”
I don”t even have to see them to know that Braydon has scooped Iris into his strong arms. I am sure she feels just as safe in them as I do.
“Daddy, I”m hungry.”
“Maddie bought pizza for us.”
I sit up on the couch and make room for the two of them. The couch dips under the weight, which causes me to lean towards Braydon and Iris.
“Did you sleep ok, Iris?”
She nods her head against Braydon’s chest.
“Mads bought pineapple pizza.”
Iris perks up at the mention of pizza.
“Braydon, is she going to eat that kind of pizza? I can make her something else.”
“It”s my favorite, Maddie,” Iris answers for Braydon.
“Mine, too.”
Braydon presents Iris with a plate that has two slices of Hawaiian pizza on it. He sets her on the floor in front of him to eat her pizza.
“Maddie, where is your kitty?”
“She is around here somewhere. She is probably hungry, though. Do you want to help me feed her?”
Iris shakes her head enthusiastically.
“Ok, let”s go.”
I grab Iris’s tiny hand and lead her into the kitchen where Layla”s bowl is. I retrieve the food from under the sink and help Iris scoop some into Layla”s bowl.
“You girls want to go for a drive?”
Braydon asks from the entryway into my kitchen.
“Can we listen to music?” Iris asks from the back entryway, where she has apparently found Layla.
“It wouldn”t be a proper drive without it.”
“Boots, what about you?”
Braydon looks at me expectantly.
“Always.”
“I”ll go warm up my truck.”
Braydon disappears around the corner.
“Maddie?’”
Iris looks up at me with serious eyes.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Are you going to be my mommy?”
My heart stops at the question. I don”t know how I somehow thought that this wouldn”t come up. I want more than anything in the world to be there for this little girl who has done nothing but stole my heart since I got back to town. But only if that is what she wants. I kneel down so I am eye to eye with Iris.
“Iris, is that what you want?”
She sways back and forth, seemingly contemplating the question. After a moment she nods.
“Yes, it is!”
A sigh of relief slips past my lips.
“Does that mean that you are going to come live with me and Daddy?”
Now this is a question I was even more unprepared for.
“Well, that”s something that me and your Daddy are going to have to talk about.”
She nods, accepting that answer for now.
“You girls ready to go?”
Braydon calls from my front door.
“You ready?” I ask Iris.
Iris nods and wraps her arms around my neck so I can lift her into my arms.
We drive in Braydon’s warm truck for twenty minutes. The sound of Taylor Swift and Zach Bryan fills the cab. My hand is intertwined with Braydon’s on the console, and Iris is singing and dancing along in the backseat. Every once in a while, Braydon will sing to me. And it is quite possibly one of the sexiest things ever.
”Do you have plans this Saturday?” Braydon asks, breaking the silence.
I pretend to think for a minute, even though I know I don”t have plans.
”I don”t think so. did you have something in mind?”
Braydon looks a little nervous, which makes me curious to know what he has planned.
”Uhm… want to go on a date? maybe somewhere nice. for dinner.”
”I would love too.” I exclaim just as Braydon pulls off the paved road onto a dirt one.
He parks in an open plot. Turning on his brights, he opens the door and disappears into the darkness. The backseat door opens, and he unbuckles Iris. Iris in one hand, he opens my door with my smile spread across his face. He reaches over and the subtle click of my seatbelt unlatching fills the almost quiet truck. The air around us is charged with electricity, and if someone even so much as lit a match it would start a fire. He reaches out his free hand to help me out of his truck. I take it and tiny sparks from where our skin meets sets me aflame. I kiss Iris’s head, just as Braydon reaches into the truck and turns the radio up as far as it will go. “Lady May” by Tyler Childers fills the night.
“Will you dance with me, Boots?”
I nod, unable to form any words. With Iris in one arm, he pulls me into his chest with the other. His hand rests against the small of my back, and I wrap my arms around his waist. Braydon sings along softly in my ear. I lay my head on his chest, and Iris lays her head on his shoulder. Right here in this moment under the stars, it is just the three of us in our own world. I want to live here for the rest of my life. I try to commit everything about this moment to memory. The warmth that radiates off of Braydon. The way his hand feels at the base of my spine. The sound of his voice in my ear. Iris’s tiny fingers twirling a stray piece of my hair. The way Braydon’s belt buckle presses against my stomach. The light from the moon and stars covering us. Braydon’s pine smell mixed with the smell of the outdoors.
“Bray?”
“Yes, Boots?”
“I want to spend the rest of my life making up for those six years that I missed.”
“Yes.”
“What are you saying yes too?” I ask Braydon, a little bit confused.
“I am saying yes to forever. Forever with my two favorite girls. Yes, to all the adventures we will go on. Yes, to waking up every day and being able to kiss you. I’m saying yes to us forever.”