Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
RYAN
I was worried about how Karla would feel about moving in with Jones. She knew that we’d be moving out of her gigi’s house eventually, but it was supposed to be for a place of our own. Now we were suddenly moving in with someone else.
I really shouldn’t have worried at all. She was already excited to hear that she’d get to stay with her papa every night now if she wanted to, but the deal was metaphorically sealed when she learned we’d be able to keep Lily’s mini-me.
Karla probably didn’t even care where we lived as long as she was able to stay with her new puppy.
Taking this chance, I also talked to her about my relationship with Jones. She already thought of him as her papa, but I wasn’t sure if she understood that he and I were together. Her mom had remained single to raise Karla, so this was the first time she was seeing her parent be with someone else.
I told her I loved Jones just like how Imani’s parents loved each other. She asked if that meant we were going to be a family like they were, and when I told her yes, I’d never seen her smile bigger. And that was that.
Jones’ friends helped spread the word about the other two puppies who needed a new home, and within a few hours, we found two families who were eager to adopt them once they were weaned off Lily.
Best of all, they were friends of friends who lived in town, so it wasn’t like we’d never see these puppies again. All the rumors that got thrown around weren’t my favorite part, but I did have to admit this was one of the perks of living in a small town.
We spent the rest of the night brainstorming a name for the newest addition to our family. As much as Karla wanted to keep the name Puppy, Jones convinced her that since that was already her stuff animal’s name, it wouldn’t be fair for the newborn puppy to not get one of his own.
Karla eventually decided on the name Sunflower to keep with the flower theme. Though I suspected his government name would rarely be used, since both she and Jones were already calling the pup Sunny.
Every time I saw Jones interact with Karla, I fell in love with him just a little more. He was so patient with her and always so gentle. He treated her like his own, and I truly believed that he considered her his .
I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better man to be a part of our lives. And just when I thought he surely couldn’t be any more giving, he stated he was officially going to turn the guest bedroom into Karla’s and give it a makeover.
“You really don’t have to do this,” I tried to convince him the next day. I didn’t think he would be so proactive about the whole thing, but he’d already managed to get his friends over to move the old bed and everything else in the room into storage.
Jones glanced at me, a smile on his lips as he nodded toward Karla, who was currently spinning around in circles, singing about her new room.
“Think it’s a little too late to back out now,” he teased.
“I’ll talk to her. She’ll get over it,” I told him, but he just pressed his lips to mine to shut me up.
“I want to do this. Honestly, I’ve been thinking about it since probably the first night you two stayed over.”
The admission shocked me. “Since that long ago? But you still hated me then.”
Jones pulled me close. “You know damn well hating you is near impossible. I was hurt, sure, but hate you? Never.”
Hurting him was something I would always regret. And I would live every single day trying to make it up to him .
“Fine, but I’m covering the costs of the room makeover,” I told him, leaving no room for arguing.
“Sure, baby,” he said, and made a noise that was neither agreement nor disagreement.
I narrowed my eyes at him as if by doing so, I could see what he was really thinking. Jones flashed his pearly whites through the entirety of my inspection, looking innocent.
Sighing, I grumbled under my breath. I knew when I was fighting a losing battle. When it came to doing things for the people he loved, the man was too stubborn. I’d just make sure to pick up the tab whenever I could.
“Oh, and could you not call me baby ?” I asked with a wrinkle of my nose. “It feels weird being called that when it’s what we call Karla.”
Jones’ smile grew wider as he pulled me to him and held me tight. “What, you don’t want to be my baby girl, too? Dan would hop on that chance in a heartbeat.”
“Hell yeah, I would!” Dan agreed from where he and the others were crowding around Lily and her babies.
I rolled my eyes and pressed my palm against his chest to push him away. “I’m neither a baby nor a girl,” I grumbled.
Jones chuckled and plopped a loud kiss on my cheek. “Fine, I’ll think of something else to call you.”
“I do have a name,” I reminded him.
“Sure, but I want something that only belongs to me. Hmm, I can’t do something unoriginal like babe or honey. Darling is just not me , and love of my life is too long.” He took a pause to think, then said, “I’ve got the perfect name. Sparkles.”
“Sparkles?” I asked, incredulous. It sounded like the name of a cartoon character…or a stripper.
“Yeah, it fits you perfectly,” he replied with the brightest smile.
“How so?” I asked suspiciously.
He swept back my hair, his touch as gentle as his eyes that watched me. “Because you brought back the sparkle every summer you returned to me. The sun can’t even compare when I’m captivated by your radiance.”
“Jones…” Aw, fuck. I didn’t know how he always managed to melt my heart into a pile of goo.
“You totally want to bone him right now, don’t you? I want to bone him after hearing that.”
Dan’s voice jolted me out of the moment we were having to find our friends watching us with sly smiles. I could just die from mortification. When the hell did they even come over to where we were standing?
And if I thought it couldn’t get worse, my sweet, innocent baby girl ran over from behind the wall of men. She hugged Jones’ and my legs and looked up at us with bright blue eyes as she asked, “Daddy, what’s he going to do with a bone?”
I didn’t even have to look to know that Jones was glaring at Dan. Meanwhile, I picked Karla up and tried to do damage control. “He means he’s going to give Lily a bone as a treat, isn’t that right?” I said, gritting out the last part as a question to Dan.
Dan chuckled nervously and quickly agreed. Thankfully, Karla just nodded and then got distracted by something else.
“What do you want to add to your walls, baby?” Jones took Karla from me and asked.
Naturally, she shouted “Flowers!”
Jones smirked and replied, “I knew you’d say that.” Karla giggled, and Jones turned to his friends. “It’s time to get painting, boys!”
They all hollered their agreement and went to start the task.
“I’ll watch Karla so she doesn’t get in the way,” I told Jones. I tried to offer to help with the room makeover, but he insisted they had it handled. Besides, I probably would have been more of a nuisance than a help.
Karla slid down his body and ran back to be with the doggies.
Jones was probably going to be busy for the rest of the day, which meant it was the perfect time to sneak out and do something that I’d been wanting to do for a while.
“We’re gonna go to my grandma’s and get packing. I need to tell them we’re moving out, too,” I said with a laugh.
“You’re coming back tonight, right?” Jones asked.
“We’ll drop by…but maybe Karla and I should stay at Grandma’s today? ”
“What? Why?” Jones said grumpily.
I gestured toward the room where everyone had already started painting. “There’s no bed.” I reminded him.
“You say that like it was the only bed at home,” Jones teased.
“You really want all three of us to sleep in your bed tonight? Karla kicks in her sleep.”
Jones let out a dramatic gasp. “No, she does not! Don’t say that about my baby girl!”
I laughed and patted his cheek. Karla did, in fact, kick in her sleep, but it wasn’t a nightly thing. “Fine, we’ll be back tonight. I’ll bring over dinner for everyone.”
Karla and I said our goodbyes to Jones and the others before heading out to my grandma’s place. Before I could even say anything, Karla had run up to my mom and excitedly told her we were going to live with Jones, Lily, and Sunny.
“Is that right, baby?” Mom asked, sending a smirk my way. She pulled Karla into a tight hug and then told her, “Why don’t you tell Gigi the news?”
We watched her run to Grandma’s room, and once we were alone in the kitchen, Mom turned my way with a shit-eating grin.
“Mom,” I said in a warning tone.
“What? A Mom can’t talk to her son anymore?”
“Not when you look like you’re about to grill me,” I grumbled .
“No grilling, I promise. I wouldn’t want you to get all toasted and crispy,” she teased.
“Your Mom jokes aren’t funny,” I told her, which only made her laugh.
She came to my side and bumped her hip with mine. “I’m just happy you’re happy.”
I turned to fully face her. “You’re not going to ask anything?”
She gave me one of her mom looks . It was a look that I’d seen so often growing up. It was the one that said ‘ I know more than you think I do .’
“I know all I need to, just by looking at your face,” she said mysteriously.
“Did you gain this skill from years of snooping around other people’s business?”
Mom rolled her eyes affectionately. “No, this is a skill all parents have from years of watching their children. You’ve gained back your spark, honey. You used to wear it on you like a sleeve, but then it dimmed after your dad?—”
Her voice choked, and I pulled her into a hug. The pain of missing a loved one never went away. That was something I was well acquainted with.
Mom took a calming breath and wiped at her eyes. When she looked up at me again, they were clear of tears. “My point is, you lost your spark, and I haven’t seen it since. But I can see it returning now.”
Her smile turned mischievous again. “You always shone the brightest during our summers here, and now I know why. Were you in love with Jones even back then? You could have told me, you know.”
“And this conversation is done,” I said and dropped my arms. My mind was already swirling at her words, saying that I shone? And with Jones telling me basically the same thing, I was starting to wonder if my skin actually shone in the sun. Was I half-vampire?
I shook that crazy thought away and turned to find Karla to tell her I was making a quick grocery run.
“You could have told me you were gay back then, honey. You know I don’t care who you love,” Mom called to my back.
My steps paused at her comforting words. Some people had to worry if who they liked would cause a rift with their family. I was so fucking lucky to never have to worry about that.
“I’m demisexual, Mom, but thanks,” I turned and called back to her. She smiled one of those big, proud mom smiles that almost had me tearing up.
I found Karla happily telling her gigi all about Lily’s new pups. Her gigi was indulging her, smiling and nodding every few seconds.
I watched them for a few moments, my heart so filled with all the love my family had graced us with. I knew it played a big part in Karla’s healing journey.
She’d changed so much from when we first arrived in Kither Springs. The quiet, shy girl who barely spoke a few words to me was long gone, and now I couldn’t get her to be quiet for more than a few minutes, and I couldn’t be any happier about it.
I had no doubt that Karla would always miss her mom—I would too—but my strong girl was moving into the future instead of being trapped in the past.
I was so fucking proud of her.
After giving my grandma a hello hug, I told them I was heading to the store for some groceries. Karla quickly said she was going to stay there with her nana and gigi. I couldn’t stop the smile at seeing how close Karla had gotten to them.
Once I got everything I needed from the store, I spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen. The chicken was seasoned and tossed in the crock pot, and two Concord grape pies were in the oven. I could prepare the rice and beans right before heading back to the cabin.
I cooked a shit ton of everything, because I’d seen those men eat at Mama Denn’s cookout, and I was sure they’d worked up an appetite.
There was just one very important thing I needed to do before we headed back. Jones had done so much for me, and I wanted to do something for him, too.
I told Karla we had a secret mission to complete for her papa. She was completely on board and ran to the car before I could even tell the others.
I laughed and quickly followed her.