Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
Natalie
We ended up having Eric for much longer than I thought.
Thankfully, Luke had a couple of unrelated warrants for his arrest and was kept in jail much longer than the twenty-four holding period.
So it'd been about a week of having Eric in our care.
It seemed like we were in a natural routine of things.
Spencer and I would make Eric some lunch, we would visit Annette at the hospital, go to school, and then stop at the hospital or go to hockey practice.
Then, on Spencer's game nights, we would go to the game.
Yet tonight was going to be one of the last nights with Eric. Annette was finally getting discharged, and we found an apartment for her to live in. It was in Eric's school district, but it was something she could afford on her own. Now, it was just a matter of her seeing what happened next.
I was making some mac and cheese from a box. Something that I found so disgusting but Eric adored.
Spencer walked downstairs and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. He leaned his head down onto my shoulder.
"You're awfully flirty this evening," I purred as I leaned into his body.
He chuckled as he started to kiss my ear, which only caused me to squirm from the way it tickled. There were days when he seemed to relish torturing me with tickles. He whispered, "That's because you're too hot to handle, and I want to make sure you know that I adore you."
That's when I heard Eric go, "Eww. You guys are so gross."
Spencer turned and said, "When you get older, you will realize kissing isn't so gross."
I buried a laugh into his chest, but it was one of those happy moments, and I couldn't think of anything better than memories like this. The fact that Spence didn't even blink when he found out that I couldn't have kids and wanted to adopt kids was amazing. The two other times that I’d revealed that fact, it basically was the start of the end of those relationships. It was a dealbreaker that sucked since I couldn’t change the fact that I couldn’t have kids.
If anything, I truly thought this was just the start of my happily ever after.
I didn't need a damn ring or an empty promise.
I just needed love from my favorite pest. The person who would defend me to the end of the earth without crossing the line.
Most importantly, he was willing to jump in and be the dad when needed, especially to a kid who wasn't related to him whatsoever.
Spence turned back to me and gave me one more of those panty-melting kisses. It was probably a little too inappropriate of a kiss to do in front of a kid since it had a full tongue, but I didn't care.
Spence pulled back and reached into the kitchen drawer.
At first, I didn't understand what he was trying to get out of there since he wasn't the one who was making dinner.
Then, when he pulled out a ring box, I shook my head.
While I knew he was my forever, it was too soon.
We'd only been dating for a couple months.
I put my hand onto the box and pushed it back. "Spencer Michael Suzuki, do not even think about giving me that ring until it's been at least a year."
He pouted and held onto the box. "But I've known you since we were kids. How much slower do you want to go?"
That was when Eric piped in. "At least look at the ring. I helped him pick it out after visiting my mom at the hospital. I want to know if we did a good job."
I giggled. It was beyond sweet that he incorporated Eric into ring shopping. But I'd noticed that Spencer was always so good about doing something fun or sweet after going to the hospital.
"Fine. I'll take a look at the ring."
Spencer flipped open the box, and there sat a gorgeous princess cut ring with teal sapphires on either side of the round diamond. I smiled.
"It's perfect. But you're going to have to wait to give it to me for real. A year. Got it?"
"Of course, babe." Spencer took my hand and kissed it. He then looked over his shoulder toward Eric. "I told you it was too soon, and when we do it for real, I'll make sure you'll be there for it."
"You better," Eric said as he looked over the island. It was that subtle sign that he was getting hungry. Thankfully, I was stirring the powdered cheese, milk, and butter in the pot.