Chapter 30
thirty
. . .
Cage
It was my favorite day of the year, next to the day that I’d made Presley Reynolds my wife. We hadn’t wanted to wait, and we didn’t want anything formal or fancy.
We just wanted forever, and we wanted it right away.
We’d both felt like we’d waited long enough for one another. So, a week after we’d returned to Cottonwood Cove, we’d gotten married on her family’s property, overlooking the water. It was the place I’d first laid eyes on her.
Her mom was horrified by the lack of formality, but it was exactly what we’d both wanted.
My family, her family, and a couple of friends, and we’d made it official.
She’d worn a long white skirt and a pretty white top that fell off her shoulder, with her favorite cowboy boots.
I’d worn a gray dress shirt that she and Gracie had picked out for me with my best dark jeans and boots.
And Gracie wore a matching outfit to Presley’s because she wanted to look just like the bride, which was cute as hell.
Presley had had a tiny ring designed for Gracie, as a promise to be her mom from that moment on. Gracie had asked Presley in return if she could start calling her mama.
I wasn’t a guy who allowed himself to get weepy, but that day, man—seeing my girls love on one another like they had brought me to tears.
Of course, Finn and Hugh never stopped razzing me about it, even if I tried to say a bee had stung me in the eye.
And I didn’t even care.
It would go down as one of the best days of my life.
But today was June 23. The day I’d met Presley and the day my daughter was born. We’d thought about waiting to get married on the same day, but Presley felt strongly that we should keep today about Gracie. She didn’t want anything to take away from that.
So, we celebrated our secret anniversary this morning with my head buried between her beautiful fucking thighs as she cried out my name.
It was a perfect way to start my day.
And now… it was my little girl’s sixth birthday.
It was my wife’s first time getting to celebrate it, so she’d gone batshit crazy and invited the whole damn town to our house.
Everyone from Gracie’s class was there, along with Mrs. Clifton, who I hugged extra tight in thanks for the whole don’t overthink everything talk, which she didn’t even know had been a game changer for me.
Gracie had wanted a rodeo theme, and Presley had transformed our yard into a full rodeo. There were arches with pink and white balloons and some sort of cow print everywhere you looked, a backdrop for photos, cowboy hats for everyone, and cups that read Gracie’s Rodeo Party on them.
It was a little over the top, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
The cake looked more like a wedding cake, with a sparkly cowboy hat sitting on the top tier, and my daughter held on to her mama’s hand as everyone sang to her.
These were the moments that knocked the air out of my lungs.
Not the over-the-top decorations or the fact that my siblings had joined together to buy my daughter a horse, even though Sally had been moved over to our barn and had been officially given to Gracie by her new grandparents.
What little girl needed a second horse?
No, it wasn’t that. Nor was it that Presley and Gracie had ordered some sort of plaid rodeo top for Bob Picklepants, who spent the entire party lying out in the field with all that chaos moving around him, or the weird pink tutu that our giant pig, Maxine, was sporting at the party.
It was seeing Gracie’s hand tucked inside my wife’s hand.
It was seeing the way Presley’s honey-brown eyes watched my daughter do the simplest things, like playing in the garden or painting.
It was catching them during bath time, talking about horses and ravens.
It was Sunday night dinners with everyone I loved most in the world laughing and talking and having a good time.
My father came up to stand beside me as I watched Presley and Gracie pass out slices of cake to everyone.
“You all right? You look a little… unlike yourself,” Dad said.
“This is the new Cage. He’s kinder and gentler,” Hugh said, as he came up behind me and slapped me on the back.
“Nah. I think he’s menstruating again. He gets all quiet and emotional every time his wife and daughter are in the room,” Finn said, and he barked out a laugh and stood beside me.
“Oh, did you get my message that I needed to borrow some of your tampons, you pussy whipped motherfucker?” I hissed.
More laughter.
“You boys have a sick way of being happy,” my father said as he shook his head and made his way toward my mom, who was waving him over to come dance with his granddaughter.
“You do look happy, brother.” Finn bumped me with his shoulder.
“Yeah. I’m pretty fucking happy. You sappy bastards don’t look too bad yourselves.”
“You’ve been a little quiet today.” Finn turned his attention to Hugh. “I see the way you and Lila keep looking at one another with this suspicious smile on your faces.”
“We aren’t going to announce it until Sunday dinner, but I’ll tell you two if you can manage to keep a fucking secret for a few days.”
“He’s clearly talking to you because we know I can keep a secret,” I said. “My nickname growing up wasn’t ‘loose lips Reynolds’.” I smirked at Finn, who found the made-up nickname hilarious.
“What’s going on?” he asked Hugh.
“Lila’s pregnant. We’ve been trying for a while, and she took a test this morning.”
I wrapped an arm around him and shook him a little bit. “Atta boy. Congratulations, brother.”
Finn did the same thing, and we both promised not to say a word until they announced it.
I tipped the can of beer to my lips, and my chest squeezed.
This must be what it feels like to be chronically happy.
Speaking of chronically happy… Georgia came bounding up to us with a scowling Brinkley behind her.
“Who shit in your cornflakes?” I asked Brinkley.
“Oh, I don’t know. I guess injustice shit in my cornflakes,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “That little punk kid over there just tripped me during the potato sack game. I was going for gold, and he stuck his foot out and took me out.”
I glanced over to where she was pointing and laughed so loud they all startled. “That’s Preston. The little shit is always up to no good, but I didn’t think he was smart enough to take you down, Brinks.”
“You do realize we’re talking about a six-year-old, right?” Georgia asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
“I don’t know. I’m pretty good at reading people, and that kid is giving mob boss vibes,” Finn said.
“I agree. I’m fairly certain he’s the kid who stole my goody bag off the table when I was eating.” Hugh shrugged.
“Speaking of rule breakers…” Brinkley narrowed her gaze at Finn. “You’re the only one who hasn’t gotten your final fitting for your tux. My wedding is in two weeks, you slacker.”
For once, she wasn’t giving me shit. Presley had dragged me down to the tailor’s to get my fitting done last week.
“Hey. I’m with child. My mind is all over the place.”
Hugh’s head fell back in laughter. “Your wife is carrying a baby. You can’t keep using that excuse.”
“Really? Well, guys, Hugh and Lila are pregnant. But it’s a big secret.” Finn had a wicked grin on his face.
“You asshole. I was going to tell you guys at dinner on Sunday. No one knows. We just found out this morning.”
Georgia and Brinkley both lunged at the big ole teddy bear and hugged him.
“Well, now I feel guilty,” Georgia said.
“Why?” Brinkley asked.
“I’ve got a bun in the oven, too. We wanted to wait until after your wedding to announce it. So, keep this between us for now.”
“Oh, man, Cage looks like he’s going to start crying again. All these babies are making the big grump weepy.” Finn dodged my hand when I tried to twist his ear off his fucking head.
“It’s the sun shining in my eyes,” I said, and they all burst into laughter.
I looked up to see Presley walking toward me, and her gaze locked with mine.
I was the happiest man in the world, there was no denying it.
And I didn’t care who knew it.
Gracie had gone to Piper’s house for a sleepover, and Presley and I had taken the boat out on the water to watch the sun go down. I couldn’t take my eyes off her wearing this sexy white bikini.
I pulled over at my favorite spot in the cove and tugged my wife to her feet. I picked her up and held her like a baby before I jumped off the side of the boat. She squealed as we flew through the air and plunged into the cool water.
My hands found her waist, and I pulled her up with me as our heads broke through the surface of the water.
“Hey, Mrs. Reynolds,” I said, as she pushed her wet, long hair away from her face.
“Hey yourself, Mr. Reynolds. You’re going to pay for that.”
“You know how much I like it when you’re wet,” I teased, and she nipped at my bottom lip.
“Such a filthy mouth, Cowboy.”
“And you fucking love it.”
“I do.”
“Thanks for marrying me, baby.”
“Thanks for loving me.”
“Always have. Always will.” I moved us a few feet from where the boat was docked until my feet hit the bottom of the ocean floor, and my hands moved to her ass and lifted. Her legs wrapped around my waist.
“Same.” She leaned down to kiss me.
“So, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Okay. Let’s hear it.”
“How do you feel about having more children?” I asked. I’d been thinking about it since the day we’d said our vows. Gracie was asking us daily when we were going to give her a brother or a sister.
“I like the idea. But there’s something I wanted to talk to you about first,” she said, her hand moving to the side of my face as she swiped away the water droplets and smiled at me.
“I’m listening.”
“Well, Gracie is calling me mama now, and…” She looked away for a few seconds before coming back to me, her eyes wet with emotion. “It means so much to me because I love her like she’s mine.”
“She is yours, baby.”
“I want to make it official.” She blinked several times as the tears mixed with the water droplets on her face.
“You want to adopt her?”
“I do. I want her to know that I took the steps to make sure we were a family in every way. And it’s important to me that we start that process before we bring another child into the world. I don’t want her to feel like anything is different for her, you know?”
God damn. The way I loved this woman. It shouldn’t even be possible to love someone this much.
This hard.
This real.
“All right. Let’s get the process started.”
“Just like that?” she asked, the corners of her lips turning up.
“Just like that.”
“Great. I’ve already looked into it, and with her biological mother having signed away her rights, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
“I love that you love her the way that you do.”
“I loved her the first moment I laid eyes on her, if I’m being honest. I felt this connection to her, maybe because she was yours.
She had that little ballet outfit on, and her dark eyes and her rosy cheeks were so sweet.
And then when she started taking riding lessons from me, it just grew stronger.
There’s just something about that little girl. ”
“I couldn’t agree more. She’s a raven like her mother.”
“She is, isn’t she? So maybe we get you a little cowboy or cowgirl next. How does that sound?”
“I’ll take as many as you’re willing to have.”
“I like the sound of that. How about I go off the pill this month, but we start practicing right now?”
My hands moved to push my swim trunks down, and I slid the fabric between her legs to the side and teased her with my tip. “Is this what you want, baby?”
“I want you. All of you. Always.”
I plunged into her with one thrust, and she gasped. “I’m all yours, Presley Reynolds.”
She rode me up and down, slowly at first, and then faster as we found our rhythm. I tugged her head down to mine, seeking her sweet mouth.
I kissed her as she glided up and down my cock like the raven that she was.
Faster.
Harder.
Free.
My hand moved between us, as I could feel how close she was. I pressed against her clit as she exploded around me, and I thrust into her one more time before I followed her right over the edge.
Just like I always would.
This woman owned every inch of me, and I’d spend the rest of my life making sure she knew it.
Once our breathing settled, she placed a hand on each side of my face, and the corners of her lips turned up. “I think we’re going to have lots of fun making babies, Cage Reynolds.”
“Count on it.”
“I’m glad we weathered the storm,” she said. “We came out the other side even stronger, didn’t we?”
“The best part is after the storm. After you realize that you made it. You’re still standing. Your heart’s still beating, and you found your way to one another. That’s exactly what we did.”
“We made it, didn’t we?”
“I’d go through it all over again if it led me to you.”
“And now we have forever together,” she said, as her forehead rested against mine.
“I’m counting on it.”
We stood there wrapped up in one another as the sun disappeared behind the clouds.
There was no doubt in my mind that I was the luckiest man alive.
My raven had found her way home.
And I was going to keep her this time.
Forever.