“I thought maybe it had changed.”

“Well...” Has it? “I want you,” I add. A big smile lights his face as Bree leaves me for him. “And if you’re serious, which you are,” I hurry to say based on the look he gives me, “you’ve given Jackson a sibling.”

“Don’t you want more?” he says before I can continue.

My eyes pop. “More?”

“More,” he confirms. “One day.” He picks Bree up and holds her up in the air, giggles coming from her as her legs dangle and her fists go to her mouth. “You had Jackson, I sort of had Bree,” he brings her down to blow a raspberry on her stomach before lifting her up again and looking at me. “We need one together.”

That almost means more to me than anything else he’s said. I know what it means for Elias to say something like that. For him to choose me for a journey like that, where he’d want to make a baby with me. That proves he trusts me more than anything else does.

He brings Bree back down and rolls onto his side. “More tears?” he asks quietly, reaching out to wipe a few away as Bree comes over to rest her head on my stomach.

“I love you,” I whisper.

He kisses me so suddenly, I’m stunned for a moment. I kiss him back with just as much passion and that security and peace I felt earlier is still there, even more present than before. Bree giggles and Elias pulls away, but rests his forehead against mine.

“I love you too.”

“Da!”

Elias laughs and looks at Bree. “You’re slacking, princess. Come say hi to your Ma.”

Oh, goodness. He’s really trying to keep me crying all day. “We’ll have to tell her about Vicky one day.”

He sighs. “I wish I had more to tell her. Or that she had grandparents who could tell her, but over the summer, I hired someone to track down any relatives of Vicky’s. It looked like she was an only child and her parents had passed years ago. He couldn’t find info on anyone else. We’re the only family Bree has.”

“Ah, da,” Bree squeals.

“Ma,” Elias repeats. “No more Rae. Ma. Ma. Ma.”

Bree studies him and then looks at me. She crawls onto my chest and sighs like she’s tired. The only way this day could be more perfect is if Jackson were here.

Later, we’re at Brayden’s house to drop Bree off. They are babysitting while Elias takes me out on a date as promised. Bree wiggles to get down to their dog, Otis, so I set her down. The Rottweiler stands about a foot away next to Deanna, but Bree slams her hands on the floor and shouts, as if demanding he get his butt over here. Otis slowly closes the distance and plops down in front of Bree, his head in front of her feet. That excites her so much, a foot kicks out and hits his nose. Otis breathes heavy, but otherwise, watches her.

Bree crawls closer and tugs on his ear. I smile because Otis simply lies there and lets her tug, pull, and crawl all over him.

“Look, Brayden! How cute!” Deanna says excitedly. “Maybe he won’t be so jealous now.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Whenever I’m around kids, and even Brayden every now and then, he likes to be so close to me or wiggle between us. He’s never shown any real interest in the kids, though.”

“You two going to have kids?” Elias asks, earning a glare from Brayden. “What? Everyone else is popping them out.”

“Do you want me to ask you?” Brayden snaps back.

“We have two already, so you can’t,” Elias replies with a grin.

“Get the fuck out of my house before I change my mind about keeping your kid.” Brayden bends to swoop Bree up, pissing her off since she was having fun with Otis, and her upset makes Otis go on alert. He stands, looks up at her, and then braces his front paws on Brayden, so Bree can touch him as he nudges her with his nose.

I glance at Deanna to see she looks a little uneasy with this conversation. Maybe this is a sore subject for them. Elias opens his mouth to respond, but I grab his hand and squeeze.

“Thanks for watching for her,” I say, stepping forward, next to Otis, to kiss Bree’s cheek goodbye.

Brayden’s voice barely softens as he addresses me. “No problem, Raelynn.”

Once we’re in the car, Elias says, “I must be missing something. Brayden can be an ass, but he was too quick to be defensive and an asshole. Deanna seemed relieved that we were leaving too. Didn’t she?” He glances over at me and I nod. “Damn it,” he mutters.

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