Chapter 19
I appreciated having date night with Kayne today.
My energy had been low ever since we found out the kids would be moving to Virginia.
I knew there wasn’t really anything we could do to stop it.
Honestly, I felt like I’d played myself getting so close to them, but I’d do it a million times over if I could.
We may not have had our little family for long, but I’d appreciate the memories we’d built with them forever.
The good thing was Stacy and her husband weren’t leaving until right before Christmas, so the kids would remain in Rose Valley Hills until Christmas break.
They’d start fresh in the new year at their new school.
It broke my heart when Pearl told them, and they cried.
They both cried, but Miley really sobbed.
She yelled about losing her mommy and daddy and now losing us too.
I couldn’t imagine how much that hurt. How unfair it felt.
Mateo had shut down emotionally. He only talked to his sister and gave everyone else attitude if he did talk to them.
I knew them staying with family was for the best, but that didn’t make this any easier.
I was so deep in my thoughts I didn’t really pay attention to where we were going until we pulled up in front of a house I’d never seen before.
“Whose house is this?” I asked as Kayne cut the car off.
“If you like it . . . ours. We have three to look at today. I told the realtor what I knew you liked. If none of these fit, you can give her more details.”
I heard his words, but they weren’t completely registering in my brain because they were so unexpected.
“Ours?” was all I could focus on.
Kayne chuckled as he opened his door. “Yes, bae. Ours.”
He got out of the car and walked to my side.
Holding his hand out for mine, Kayne patiently waited with a soft smile.
I placed my hand inside his and allowed him to lead me up the driveway to the front door.
It was a beautiful, traditional, brick home.
From the outside, I could tell it was two stories and newly built.
We walked inside, and I immediately smiled from the foyer at the open concept.
“Okay, so I chose this one because it has a lot of what you said you wanted in a home. And for the price, it’ll be less expensive for us to make changes to this versus trying to have something built from the ground up.”
He looked at me expectantly, but I was still speechless. After a few seconds, I requested, “Show me around.”
The more we walked, the more I was in awe.
This home was almost perfect. It had an open concept and large main rooms with a beautiful kitchen.
The master bedroom and one guest bedroom was downstairs along with a small study.
Three bedrooms were upstairs along with a small stairway that led to a huge bonus room.
The only thing I would have preferred was carpet, and I laughed when Kayne said . . .
“I know you want carpet, so I’ve already started getting estimates to have it added to the bedrooms and the living room and sitting room.”
When we made it to the backyard and I saw the pool and basketball court, I was no longer able to hold back my tears.
“It even has your pool,” he said quietly.
As I wiped my face, I sniggled. “Yeah, it’s perfect, baby. I really do love it. How’s the neighborhood?”
“Family neighborhood with kids that go to RV elementary, middle, and high. It’s safe and quiet, but they do have community events monthly based on their HOA website. They don’t seem annoyingly strict, so that’s a plus.”
“And this can really be our home?” I confirmed, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
“Yep. I can see you in the sunroom every morning and on this patio every night.”
I had no choice but to laugh because I could see that too. “Yeah, you’ll have to drag me from this backyard, especially while it’s warm.”
“This will be ours, so we can do whatever. I can build you a firepit and put some glass windows up so the smoke won’t get in the house.”
“Ooh, I love that idea. I love that the patio is attached to the master bedroom and that we can walk straight out to it. That and the pool is what is selling me on this house.”
“Well, we can look at a few others and then decide. I just need to know you want this with me.”
“Of course I do,” I confirmed, turning in his arms. “I’m shocked you took the initiative, but I shouldn’t be surprised.
You finding houses for us . . . it just shows how willing you are to make sure we have what we want and need.
It shows you’re committed to a future for us.
That makes me love, appreciate, and respect you more. ”
“Thank you, pooh. I appreciate you acknowledging that.”
I sighed as I ran my hands down his chest while he held me close. “Only thing that would make this home perfect was if Miley and Mateo could be here with us.”
“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” he confessed. “I have a way for us to keep them in Rose Valley Hills.”
“What’s that?”
“I talked to your parents about this already. If we get married before they leave, we can try to adopt them. Like I told your parents, I want you to have the wedding of your dreams, so there’s no rush on that. As long as we have the license, we can have our wedding whenever you’d like.”
“Is that even possible? Please, baby. Don’t play with me about this.”
“It is, and I would never,” he assured me with a smile. “I’ve already talked to Pearl about it and she’s cool with it. She knows how much we love and care about the kids. All she wants is for them to be somewhere safe. We can provide that and more.”
“And Sonny?”
“I talked to him yesterday. He’s okay with it as well.
He shared the same sentiments as Pearl, and he also mentioned the kids asking if they could stay with us instead of Stacy or Simon.
He said he told them no because he didn’t think we’d even consider it, but now that he knows we will, it’s a definite option. ”
“Oh my God,” I cried, hugging and holding him close. “I can’t believe it. You mean there’s a chance we can adopt my nuggets?”
Kayne nodded. “We can. I know they would love to stay with us, but I figured we can have an actual conversation with them and ask if this is something they want. If it is, we can get married and then start the process.”
“I would love that, Kayne. More than anything. Being your wife is a dream within itself, but having Miley and Mateo . . . I literally couldn’t ask God for anything else.”
“I feel the same way,” he admitted. “You know we would have gotten here whether the kids were involved or not, right?”
“Oh, of course! But if it has to happen faster so we can get them, I count that as a blessing. I can’t wait to be your wife, pookie.”
He gave me a sexy smile before lowering his lips to mine. It was kind of hard to kiss him with us smiling so much, but I enjoyed trying anyway.