Chapter 21 #2
“Seriously?” she breathed.
“When he’s ready, Finn can start walkin’ down to Draco’s again,” I said, holding her stare. “All right?”
I knew the moment that she understood it. Her eyes closed, and her shoulders slumped in relief as she tipped toward me, landing against my chest.
“You got a big day ahead of you,” I said, bending so I could grip the backs of her thighs. She gave a little hop and wrapped her legs around my hips as I straightened. “Better get you back to bed.”
“Don’t think I could sleep at this point,” she murmured against my neck.
“Who said you were sleepin’?”
She laughed silently as I carried her up the stairs. When I reached the second floor, the hallway was dark except for the light filtering out from beneath Dylan’s door. He still slept with it on.
Inside our room was a little lighter with the rising sun coming in through the windows, and when I set Teddy on her feet, I was able to see the soft expression in her eyes.
“Smooth sailing,” she said, repeating the words I’d said to her on the night we met. “Now, it’s time to get started on a life.”
“Life’s already built, baby,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, it is,” she replied, smiling.
“Will you marry me?” I asked.
Her smile fell as her eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
“I want you to have my name. Want the kids to have my name. If somethin’ happens, I want you to have the protection—”
“I’ll marry you,” she said quickly, cutting me off.
“Yeah?”
“I love you,” she said, her face transforming instantly into a blinding smile.
I grinned back and reached for the hem of her sleep shirt, pulling it off over her head.
“Can we have a big party?” she asked as she backed toward the bed.
“We can have anythin’ you want,” I assured her, reaching for my belt. “I’ll give you anythin’.”
“Awesome.” She dropped her shorts and shifted onto the bed, her eyes still on me. “But no more kids, okay?”
“Oh, fuck no,” I barked in surprise, making her hiss. I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Sorry. No. No more kids.”
“I just think three is enough,” she whispered back as I kicked off my boots and shucked off my jeans.
“Three is plenty.”
“And I want to take the bike and travel,” she continued wistfully. “And we couldn’t really do that with a baby.”
“You tryin’ to convince me or yourself?” I asked, stripping out of my socks, shirt, and boxers.
“You,” she replied. “I’m sure.”
“Good. So am I.” I crawled onto the bed as she backed away, coming to a stop with her head on my pillow. “Now, you done makin’ plans, or you wanna talk some more?”
“I’m not done making plans,” she said, reaching up to cup my cheek. “But we can stop talking.”
“Excellent,” I replied, pressing my mouth between her breasts. “Because we’ve got some celebratin’ to do.”
We celebrated twice before Teddy’s alarm went off and she rolled languidly out of bed. “Can you go make sure the kids are awake?” she asked, stumbling toward the bathroom. “We have to leave in an hour.”
By the time I was up and dressed, Dylan was already in the shower, and Jesse was standing frozen in the center of their room, fully dressed.
“Jess, you good?” I asked.
They turned to look at me with a grimace. “Yeah. Do I look okay?”
They were wearing baggy jeans, a band T-shirt that I didn’t recognize, and classic black checkered Vans. “You look great,” I replied. “I had a pair of those shoes when I was about Finn’s age.”
“Never go out of style,” they replied glumly, looking down at their feet.
“What’s goin’ on?”
“Nothing.” We’d gotten used to the way the words sounded when they spoke past their closed teeth, but it was still pretty garbled, and I wondered if people would give them shit about it at school.
“You nervous about school?” I asked, leaning against the doorframe.
“A little.” They reached up to lightly check their hair.
“Don’t be,” I advised. “Kids are the same everywhere. You’ll find your group, and you’ve got Dylan there if anyone fucks with you.”
“True.”
“Plus, your aunt’s there. If you’re havin’ a hard time, just walk to her office. She’ll write you an excuse.”
“I’m going to tell her you said that,” they replied with a smile.
“Go ahead,” I said, backing out of the room. “She’s got your back.”
Finn was still sound asleep, and I had to stay with him for a few minutes to make sure he actually got his ass out of bed.
When I knew everyone was doing what they were supposed to, I headed downstairs and started some coffee.
Teddy came down first, wearing a pair of work pants and boots, her arms bare in a tight white tank top.
“Coveralls are hot,” she said with a shrug when I looked at her. “I’ll throw a coat on before we go, but I didn’t want to dress too warmly.”
“Good call,” I replied, handing her a mug. “You wanna meet for lunch?”
“Let’s see what my day looks like first,” she replied with a grimace, leaning up to kiss me.
The kids were loud as they came downstairs and filtered into the kitchen, talking over each other as they grabbed breakfast and drinks.
“Should we tell them?” Teddy asked, leaning her head on my shoulder.
“Sure.”
“Hey, guys, we’re getting married,” she said, not even raising her voice above the noise.
It didn’t matter.
The entire kitchen went silent in a second.
“Cool!” Finn said. “Can I be the ring bearer?”
“Or a groomsman,” Teddy replied with a wink.
“Adoption!” Jesse said, throwing their arm in the air. “I want to be adopted.”
“What?” Teddy sputtered, and I choked on my coffee.
Jesse looked at me. “You said I could call you Pop!”
“That’s new,” Teddy murmured, shooting me a look.
“We were busy with other shit,” I reminded her, wheezing.
“So I want to be adopted,” Jesse said. “And I’m going to change my name.”
“Hell yeah,” Dylan said around the food in his mouth. “Harrison for life.”
“Yep,” Jesse agreed. She looked at Teddy. “I’m sorry, Mom, but come on. My name is Jesse James. Look at me. That was a fucked decision.”
“Wasn’t mine,” Teddy said wryly, shrugging. “But I couldn’t change it when you were three.”
“I know. You’re way too cool for that.”
“I want to be a Harrison too,” Finn said, looking at me hopefully.
“Works for me,” I choked out.
“Cool,” Jesse said briskly. “Then it’s decided.” They turned to Dylan. “Come on. We need to go, or we’ll be late.”
Teddy laughed beside me, but I was still stunned.
“Good luck on your first day,” Jess said as they came to hug Teddy and then me. “We’ll see you after school.”
“Have a good day,” Teddy replied.
“Don’t take any shit, Finn,” Jesse ordered him, ruffling his hair as she passed him.
“I’m going to be nice,” Finn argued, twisting in his chair. “So people will like me.”
“Looks like we’re goin’,” Dylan muttered in exasperation, leaving his bowl on the table as he followed Jess out of the room. “Bye! Don’t take any shit at school, Finn!”
“Why do they keep saying that?” Finn asked us in exasperation, his scowl ruined by the milk mustache he was sporting.
“I have no idea,” Teddy answered him, walking over to wipe it away with her thumb. “Go put your shoes on, son. It’s almost time to go.”
She came back to me and kissed me long and wet before pulling away.
“Smooth sailing,” she whispered, her eyes twinkling.
“Go to work so you can come back to me,” I ordered gruffly.
“Love you,” she said as she backed away.
“Love you too, baby.”
I stood there in the kitchen and let the feeling of home soak in. I’d been waiting a hell of a long time. Tipping my head back, I listened to Teddy and Finn getting ready to leave.
The front door opened.
“Love you, Dad!” Finn called.
“Love you too, bud,” I called back, lowering my head back down.
The door closed behind them, and I set my empty mug in the sink.
Throwing on my cut, I turned off all the lights and left for the garage.
It was time to live our lives.