Baby
Four years later…
“I like the pink,” I say. I wouldn’t have expected it to be an option, but I think it fits his vibe.
“Yeah, me too. What do you think?” Liam tilts his head towards his fiancé, but there’s no need for that. I can’t imagine Sebastian ever disagreeing with him.
“I think that you look very pretty in pink, sweetheart.”
“Ugh.” They’re disgusting. All the sap and besotted gazes are making me sick. “You’re in public,” I remind them, but again, there’s no need. They don’t care.
“He is right though.” Liam looks down, smiling at the catalogue in his hand, but it doesn’t hide his blush.
“Pink it is,” Sebastian says with the slightest smile.
I huff a soft laugh. There’s just something funny about a beefy guy covered in a million tattoos saying that. I wonder if he’ll be wearing any pink on the day of the wedding. I know his suit is black, but a pink tie or something like that would be nice.
Friends getting married is always odd. It’s a weird feeling to be jealous of people I’m genuinely happy for. But it’s okay. Logan’s somewhere around here. I know he’ll fix that right up, smother me with all the attention I want.
Plus, he has proposed before. It was… so adorable that I almost said yes.
But we have a plan—sorta like another set of rules.
I want us to be one hundred percent sure on what our life will be like.
And I want us to be the happiest couple there ever was before we take that step.
If he weren’t so great, so good at making me love him more each and every single day, it might have happened sooner.
But either way, I know he’s it for me.
Liam taps my arm, letting me know that he’s done being coddled. “Do you guys wanna get some food with us after this?”
“Oh, we can’t. Gotta go to the adoption place.
” Part of me wishes we hadn’t scheduled this the very same day we got back from visiting his family.
It would have been nice to have gotten a few days to recover before jumping right into things, but I’ll survive.
And Logan’s psyched. I think being with his mom and all the kiddos, the dogs and cats, reinforced his decision that the time is now.
“That’s right! How exciting.”
“Yeah.” I smile on cue. It’s not that he’s wrong. I am excited, but I’m also very nervous. And Logan is beyond pumped. It’s all he’s talked about for the past week. I can see him walking back inside the building and know he’s coming to collect me.
“You guys are still looking through magazines?” He tosses his head back with an exasperated groan, clearly ready to go. Liam tells him that we’re done, and his eyes light up. He practically drags me out the door as I say my goodbyes.
“Logan, I know how to do that.”
“I know.” He fastens my seatbelt anyway. He’s like a kid on his way to a toy store.
“I really hope that you don’t forget I’m the love of your life,” I say, only one teensy, tiny part of me serious. “We’re bringing another mouth to feed into the home, but I’m—”
“My whole world,” he says as he pulls out of his parking space, bringing my hand up to his lips for probably the millionth time. “I’m just happy we’re doing this.”
Looking at him, at all the love on his handsome face, I realize that I am too.
∞∞∞
“Look at this little guy!”
Little is not the right word. That dog is a big ol’ ball of fuzz. Some sort of shepherd with greying fur. He’s the only one who didn’t stand up when we walked into the room. “What’s wrong with him?”
Logan scoffs. “Nothing—he’s perfect!”
“Well,” the lady behind us starts, and I have a feeling she’s signing my fate. “He does have arthritis. And COPD.”
Logan’s face tells me that there’s no way we’re leaving here without this old man.
“How old is he?”
“About ten.”
Logan looks me dead in the eye. “I would die for him.”
I sigh and turn around. “We’ll take him.”
She looks surprised. “Great! You’re gonna love him. Beau is the sweetest.”
“No fucking way—his name is Beau? It was meant to be.” Logan wraps his arms around my waist. “Short for beautiful,” he says right next to my ear.
He’s the corniest.
“I just hope he’s potty trained.”
She promises us that he is, and I’m glad for the reassurance.
I have a feeling that Logan wouldn’t have minded if he weren’t.
The pet adoption process is more extensive than I anticipated.
It’s close to an hour before we’re walking out.
After the initial appointment we’d already had, I thought it’d be simpler this go around.
It makes me wonder what adopting kids is going to be like.
Insane, probably. Like being audited. It’s not even in the works yet, but I’m already so grateful that this man will be there with me when we’re ready for that.
“Thanks for doing this with me. I think we’re both gonna love him.”
“But you can’t love him more than me,” I say, because it’s a rule. He might need the reminder.
“Baby, I can’t imagine living without you.”
“I know.” I smile when he pokes at my rib cage. “You didn’t say what I wanted to hear.” I shrug, but the chin he has resting on my shoulder makes it difficult.
“Hm,” he hums. “I love…” He kisses my neck and I almost tell him that we’re in public, but he still hasn’t said it. “You.”
“Yes, well, duh.”
He laughs, finally releasing his hold on me. “That’s okay, my love. I know you’re obsessed with me. We’re going to get married, get some babies, more dogs.”
“More dogs?”
“Well, Beau is old! We gotta have kiddos and dogs. And like, one cat.”
I sigh. “You’re lucky I do love you.”