“Who’s invading my space?” Carter said, rolling over to face us.
“It’s me, daddy.” Tanner settled between us and then closed his eyes.
I looked over at Carter who was staring at Tanner with awe and love. His gaze lifted to mine. This was the dream.
His hand reached over to touch my face. “I love you.”
I kissed his palm. “I’m so happy.”
He leaned over Tanner to kiss me.
Tanner pushed him back, turning over and snuggling against him.
I woke an hour later to Tanner talking to his bear.
“This is my daddy and that’s my mommy,” he said.
I opened my eyes and saw that Carter was watching him with interest.
“He makes friends everywhere he goes, doesn’t he?” Carter said.
I laughed. “Yes, pretty much.”
“Can I go to work with you again, daddy?” Tanner asked.
“No work today. It’s Saturday.” Carter looked over at me. “Are you off?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Yay!” Tanner’s arms shot up in victory.
“What do you say that we get up, have some pancakes and then take a drive?” Carter asked.
“Where are we going?” Tanner asked.
“It’s a surprise,” Carter said, tickling Tanner.
The morning couldn’t have been more perfect. We were a family. I just needed to convince Carter that he could trust in me. That might take time, but I had all the time in the world.
After breakfast, we piled into Carter’s SUV and he drove us to a car dealership.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
“Buying you a new car,” he said. He put the SUV in gear and turned to me with intent eyes. “I know you don’t want me to give you a car, but I’ll have to insist. The idea of you and Tanner being broken down in your duct taped jalopy scares me to death.”
I smirked. “It’s not as bad as that.”
He didn’t budge.
“Can we get a red one?” Tanner asked from the back seat.
“You can have any color you want and any features. As long as it's top rated in safety.”
I shook my head, but inside I was immensely happy. Not to be getting a new car, but that Carter was so insistent that we were in his life.
My experience with car buying was that it took forever, but I guess having money and paying with cash made the process faster. I drove out of there in a top-rated smaller SUV, in red as Tanner requested. I drove while Carter was in the passenger seat. He called someone to make arrangements to get his car home.
“How about we go to the beach?” Carter said.