Chapter 12 #3
Vivian reached out and cupped his cheek. “Forgiven,” she whispered.
Dean leaned down, cutting the distance between them. He’d missed kissing her, holding her, breathing the same air as her.
Their lips touched, but there was nothing tentative about the kiss. It was warm and familiar and exactly what he’d been trying not to miss. He slid his arm around her waist, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss.
“Coach Dee! Mommy!”
They broke apart quickly, turning together.
Pip stood in the doorway, gaping at them. “Are you Mommy’s boyfriend?” she asked him.
Great. Talk about getting tossed into the deep end. Dean paused briefly, hoping Vivian would field that question. When he looked in her direction, she gave him a covert wink, followed by a slow sweep of her hand that said, “Be my guest.”
He snorted. Apparently, Vivian was a masochist who believed in trial by fire. Good for her.
“I am dating your mommy,” he said, slowly picking out each word.
“Like Uncle Vic and Belle?”
Dean nodded. “Yeah. Is that…okay with you?”
Pip launched herself at Dean, laughing as he caught her. “This is great! Now we can have date nights like Uncle Vic!”
“Date nights?” Dean asked, as Vivian grinned.
“Pip has been quite jealous of Belle and Victor’s date nights,” Vivian explained.
Pip wrapped her arms tighter around Dean’s neck. “They go to the movies and get ice cream without me. But now we can go. All three of us, and Uncle Vic and Belle will have to stay home and be sad.”
Dean glanced at Vivian. “She’s got killer instincts. Might have to sign her up for hockey lessons.”
Vivian laughed, but Pip wasn’t deterred as she started listing her dream dates. “We can go bowling and mini golf and laser tag and camping and the trampoline place.”
“Sounds like your social calendar just filled up,” Vivian teased.
Dean looked at the little girl in his arms and grinned. He couldn’t remember the last time something had felt this uncomplicated, this right.
“I don’t have a problem with that. Not at all.”
When they returned to the living room together, Pip still in his arms and Vivian’s hand in his, everyone in the room went quiet. For all of three seconds—which was how long it took for Pip to announce that the three of them were dating.
Victor slapped him on the back, gripping his shoulder tightly. “Well done,” he murmured under his breath.
Belle slid over to make room for him and Vivian on the couch, and they got drawn into the games, playing two rounds of Farkle, one of Flip Seven, and a cutthroat round of Magical Athlete.
Pip had been put to bed upstairs an hour before they all decided to call it a night. Vivian went to check on her, coming back downstairs and declaring she was still out like a light.
“I can carry her to the car,” Dean offered.
Victor shook his head. “Leave her here. There’s no school tomorrow.”
Dean appreciated that his friend was giving him yet another opportunity for alone time with Vivian.
They walked to his car together. “I’ll drive,” he said. “You can grab your car in the morning when we come back for Pip.”
The short drive back to Vivian’s was quiet, as Dean kept thinking about Pip’s arms around his neck, the way she’d yelled his name when he arrived today, the complete absence of hesitation when she jumped into his arms.
Love.
For too much of his life, he’d been running from that emotion like it was a serial killer.
Now…now, he could see just how big of an idiot he’d been.
When they reached Vivian’s place, they walked inside. The door had barely closed behind them when Vivian turned toward him.
“Doing okay?” she asked.
It was a fair question, given the fact he’d been quiet on the ride home and had proved himself to be a flight risk this past week, easily overwhelmed by the idea of commitment.
“I’ve never been better,” he said, the truest words he’d ever spoken.
Vivian smiled.
“I’ve spent so much time believing I wasn’t capable of finding this that I stopped looking.”
“Capable of a relationship?” she asked.
He nodded. “That and having a family and…love.”
Vivian went still.
“I love you, Vivian Kelly.”
She smiled, tears shimmering in her eyes, as he brushed his thumb across her cheek.
“I don’t know exactly what this looks like yet. I don’t know how to do any of it,” he said.
She took his hand away from her face, kissing his knuckles before grasping it firmly. “We’ll figure it out together.”
“I’m finished running, sunshine, finished fighting this. Shit, the past week has been hell. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“Stop trying. Because I love you too.”
Vivian wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest. He held her, soaking in her scent and her strength. This woman humbled him in all the best ways.
And for once, he wasn’t waiting for something to go wrong. He’d found something worth staying for, worth fighting for.
Vivian lifted her head. “Should we go to bed?”
“Hell yeah.”
As they walked to the bedroom, Dean was overwhelmed by the sense that he wasn’t just going to Vivian’s room.
He was coming home.