51. Alexis
Alexis
I cling to Gabriel as we breathe together, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. His arms tighten around me as if he’s afraid to let go, as if he’s making sure this is real. I press my cheek against his chest, listening to his rapid pulse as his heart races from the intensity of his release.
For a few moments, he keeps his lips buried in my hair, breathing in the scent of me. Then he lifts his head, his gaze meeting mine.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers hoarsely.
I try to put myself in his position, to see myself through his eyes. I can’t help the little snort of laughter that escapes me. My hair is mussed, and sweat clings to me, smudging the little bit of mascara I applied this morning. Objectively, I look like a mess.
He shakes his head, smiling, and presses his palm to my cheek.
“I’m serious,” he murmurs. “You look so gorgeous right now.” The pad of his thumb runs over my face, over the bridge of my nose.
“I think I’ve just about memorized your freckles.
I’ve made a map of them in my head—I know every single one. ”
He leans in close and softly presses his lips to them, kissing each one with reverence. A shiver travels through my entire body. I close my eyes, letting myself drown in the warmth of his touch, in the way he cherishes me.
A low sigh escapes me as his mouth trails lower, lingering at the curve of my jaw before returning to my lips, slow and deep.
Then he draws back and pulls out. I try to hold him, to keep him there, but he chuckles as he sets me on the hardwood floor. “Sorry,” he says ruefully. “But we’ve got a lot to do.”
He’s right. I glance around at the empty library, envisioning those shelves filled with books. An armchair by the corner window, a lamp for reading at night, maybe a desk.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he says.
He wraps an arm lightly around my waist and guides me down the hall toward one of the spacious bathrooms. He turns on the shower, and I step into the stream of warm water, letting it cascade over my skin.
By the time I’m clean, he’s rustled up a towel from somewhere in the house and has it waiting for me.
I wrap myself in it. He presses a kiss to my forehead and brushes a damp strand of hair out of my face.
“That’s one room down,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“I plan on fucking you in every room in this house.”
A grin spreads across my face, unbidden. “Is that so?”
He nods, his expression serious. “Every single one,” he confirms, his gray eyes dark with intent. “The kitchen. The living room. My office. This bathroom.”
“That seems… ambitious.”
His hands slide down to my waist, pulling me flush against him. “What can I say?” he whispers into my ear. “I’m an ambitious man.”
I laugh. Ambitious isn’t the word I’d use.
Gabriel isn’t like the other men who run in my family’s circles, men who are fixated on success, on their social standing and public image.
Gabriel couldn’t care less about those things, except insofar as they benefit his family. He’s not ambitious. He’s relentless.
Gabriel helps me get dressed, and together, the two of us wander back down the stairs into the foyer. As I move through the house, I can’t stop envisioning what it’ll look like once we live here. In my head, I place furniture, hang artwork. Visions of our future seem to surround me.
Gabriel echoes my thoughts as we pass by the kitchen for the second time.
“Can’t you just picture Peyton running down the stairs on Christmas?
” he says softly. “That cat sitting in front of the fireplace? Our little one…” He pauses, letting his hand linger on my abdomen.
“Learning to crawl in this living room?”
“I can already see it,” I reply, resting my hand over his. “I can’t wait for that. For all of it.”
I twist in his grasp to kiss him. This kiss is sweet and slow. It feels like it spans years, decades, in this living room. I’ll kiss him like this when we’re both old, when our children have grown. When the world looks radically different, this kiss will feel the same.
“Come on,” he murmurs. “Peyton will be home from school soon. I’m sure she’d love to know about her future sibling.”
I breathe in, a flutter in my stomach. I’m sure he’s right, that Peyton will be thrilled, but I hesitate, a sudden wave of nervousness washing over me. “I know she’ll be excited, but… do you think she’s ready for this? For the change?” My voice is quieter now, uncertain.
Gabriel’s expression shifts, his thumb brushing over my knuckles in a comforting gesture. “Peyton’s been through a lot in her life, but she’s resilient. And she has a lot of love to give. Trust me, she’s going to be happier than any of us.”
I nod, letting his reassurance wash over me. Then we make our way back through our new house, with its perfect kitchen and light, airy foyer.
For the entire drive back to Gabriel’s house, our fingers are laced together over the center console.
He drives with one hand casually resting on top of the steering wheel, content to sit in LA’s traffic instead of weaving through the stagnant cars as he usually would.
The drive takes twice as long as it normally would, but it feels like the blink of an eye.
When we finally arrive home, we’re greeted by the sound of laughter from the living room. Peyton is sitting on the plush rug, dangling a cat toy on a string. Pepper’s tail lashes from side to side as she tracks the movement of the little fabric fish, her pupils narrowed to slits in concentration.
Margaret, sitting on the couch, is the first to notice our arrival. She turns toward us, her polite smile widening into a genuine one when she sees our intertwined fingers. I haven’t let go of his hand since we left the new house.
“Welcome back,” she says, her eyes twinkling.
Peyton looks up, then drops the cat toy and scrambles to her feet. Pepper takes the opportunity to launch her attack, pouncing on the felt toy and pawing at it with her hind paws.
Peyton rushes over to throw her arms around me, and my heart warms as I hug her back.
I fell for Peyton every bit as much as I fell for her father.
She’s an amazing kid, sweet, bright, loving.
I feel something inside me relax as Gabriel scoops his daughter up for a hug next.
My hand rests on my belly. Whoever’s in here, she’s going to love them.
Gabriel meets my gaze. He raises an eyebrow, like he can hear my thoughts, and gives me a warm smile.
“I take it you two have things under control from here?” Margaret asks.
Gabriel nods. “We’ll get takeout for dinner. Thank you for everything, Maggie.”
“Have a nice night,” she responds, giving us both a knowing smile as she gathers her things. She gives Peyton a quick hug before making her way toward the door.
“So—takeout?” Gabriel asks, glancing from me to Peyton. “How do we feel about that?”
“Yay!” Peyton shouts. The kitten, alarmed by the sudden ruckus, runs over toward us with her tail puffed up. “Tacos!”
“You open to tacos?” he asks me. I smile, nodding. “Okay. Good. I’ll make the call.”
I sit in the living room with Peyton, laughing as we watch Pepper tear back and forth through a crinkly tunnel toy of hers, until Gabriel comes to get us for dinner. I help him set the table while Peyton unpacks boxes of Mexican food, practically bouncing up and down on her chair.
For the first few minutes of dinner, we’re all silent as we dig into our food. The quiet is comfortable, natural.
Then Gabriel asks, “How was school today, Bug?”
Peyton’s eyes widen. “Oh! I almost forgot to show you what I made!” She blinks at Gabriel. “Can I get up from the table? I’ll be right back, I promise.”
He pretends to mull it over, then says, “Okay. As long as you keep your promise. Otherwise, I might have to eat all your tacos.”
With an indignant yelp, Peyton jumps to her feet and dashes toward the kitchen. She comes back carrying a piece of paper, which she lays proudly on the table.
“I drew a picture of our family!” she announces.
The crayon drawing isn’t immediately legible, but luckily for me and Gabriel, the artist explains her work to us.
She points at the figures on the paper one by one, starting with the smallest of the three people.
“This is me, and this is Daddy, and this one is Alexis. And that’s our house behind us, and right next to me is Pepper.
” She indicates a four-legged ball shape with a long tail.
“Ah, that makes sense,” says Gabriel, leaning over. “Was there a particular reason you made Pepper blue?”
“Johnny Fredericks used up my black crayon,” Peyton says, rolling her eyes.
“That’s a shame. But I like it the way it is,” Gabriel says. “It adds some nice color.”
“This definitely belongs on the wall,” I add, exchanging a glance with Gabriel.
There’s a question in his eyes. His fingers trace the edge of Peyton’s drawing. He taps an empty space on the paper, then tilts his head. I know exactly what he’s trying to say.
And he’s right. Now is as good a time as any.
I clear my throat, leaning forward. “What do you think about making an addition to that picture, Bug?”
She stares at me. “Like what?”
“Well, what if we added someone else to the family drawing? Someone who’s going to be joining us soon. A little brother or sister.”
Her brow furrows slightly as she processes the words, and then it clicks. Her eyes widen again, her face lighting up with excitement. “You mean… a baby?”
“That’s right,” I say, relieved that she’s happy. “A baby.”
She sucks in an excited breath, then turns to face her father. “Does this mean you did the thing?”
Immediately, heat rises in my face. What? She doesn’t mean… I glance at Gabriel, who’s clearly struggling not to laugh.
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “I didn’t do the thing yet.”
“Do it now!” she insists.
I stare at Gabriel, bewildered, as he rises from his seat. Then he drops to one knee, and my confusion evaporates.
He reaches into his pocket and produces a small, velvet box, which he pops open to reveal a ring set with a rectangular-cut emerald.
The stone is a vivid green, my favorite color.
The ring itself is white gold, inlaid with small diamonds that make the band glitter when he moves the box under the light.
It’s gorgeous. Perfect. Perfect for me, unlike the generic ring I wore for our first wedding.
“Alexis,” he says softly, meeting my gaze, “will you marry me again?”
“Of course I will,” I whisper, my voice thick with emotion. I throw my arms around him before I can start sobbing, and he holds me tight. I bury my face in his shoulder, my eyes stinging with tears.
Beside us, Peyton lets out a shriek of enthusiasm, clapping her hands together. The danger of bursting into tears passes, and I release Gabriel. He holds out his hand to slide the ring onto my finger.
“Yay!” Peyton shouts, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “When’s the wedding? Can I be the flower girl? Can Pepper come?”
As if on cue, Pepper, still riled up from her earlier trials with the felt fish, darts into the room like a ballistic missile let loose in the house.
She leaps up onto the table, snatches a particularly large piece of fish from one of the tacos, knocks over my water glass, then scurries to the floor with her prize.
The room erupts into chaos as all three of us scramble to catch the criminal. Peyton’s laughter rings out as she tries to cut off Pepper’s escape route, but the cat is too quick. She makes a beeline for the basement, Gabriel and Peyton hot on her heels.
I hang back as the two of them hunt down the fugitive, admiring the deep green emerald on my ring finger. This is the proposal we were meant to have, I think to myself, my heart feeling full. Messy. Imperfect. But perfect for us.
A proposal of our own design, surrounded by our family. There was more love in this room today than I’ve ever felt in my life, and Gabriel’s promise from earlier echoes in my head. I’ll love you more every day. It’s only going to grow.
I pick up Peyton’s drawing, which was mercifully spared from the spilled water, and stare at it for a long moment. The crayon figures smile back up at me, reflecting my joy.
My family.