Hold on to Hope

He looked up, and where I was expecting to see him upset, he was bleeding relief, his eyes flooded with hope. “It’s my attorney. He got the approval from the judge to get my name on the birth certificate. He needs me to come down to his office this morning and sign some papers so he can request Everett’s medical records.”

I swore I could feel it—deliverance rumbling through the air. Blistering and streaking. Wrapping us in it.

Joy split my face, and I eased around farther. “I’m so happy. This is such good news.”

He set one of those big palms on my face. “It’s all coming together, Frankie. Our home. Our family. Us.”

Emotion pulsed.

I swallowed around the severity of it. “Us,” I repeated.

He gave a tight nod and then pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I need to get over there. Are you okay with Everett for a couple hours so he doesn’t have to sit in an office for so long?”

Awe tugged at my mouth. The fact that this was goin’ to be my life. “It’s my honor to care for him, Evan. Always. Every day. Without question.”

Understanding moved through his features, and he dropped his forehead to mine. “Thank you, Frankie. Thank you for being you.” He inhaled deep before he brushed his lips to mine.

It didn’t matter how many times he kissed me—every time, the boy managed to hitch my breath. He pried himself away, the softest smirk hooking at the corner of his delicious mouth as he stood and headed for the en suite bathroom.

His glorious ass bare and on display.

God, the man was gorgeous.

I nibbled at my thumbnail, watching him go, wonderin’ again if I was dreaming, but knowing if something felt this good, it had to be real.

I heard the showerhead turn on, and I laid there just listening to the sounds of life happening around me. The stark, sudden change in my path that I’d been destined for all along.

Evan was quick, in and out of the shower and dressed in ten minutes flat.

Excited.

Anxious.

I walked him to the front door and he dipped down, kissed my mouth, smiled so sweet. “I love you, Frankie Leigh.”

I clung to his shirt for the beat of a second, couldn’t do anything but sign against his chest, YOU ARE MY FAVORITE.

I knew when he got back, today had to be the day. I couldn’t keep this in any longer. It wasn’t fair or right or good.

The last wedge between us.

One he didn’t even know existed.

It was going to hurt.

Slash and cut and flay.

But we were strong enough to make it through it.

We had to be.

Milo did circles at my ankles, as happy as could be as I locked the door behind Evan.

I petted him behind the ears. “Hey, Milo Boy. What do you think about all of this? Completely crazy, right?”

He whimpered approval, and I dipped down to kiss him on his snout before I straightened, struck again by this house that Evan had asked me to help him make a home.

Evan had been nervous that he was bein’ bold, making another decision for the two of us without my input. But he’d wanted to surprise me. To give me a gift when he’d said he’d missed so many. He’d been adamant that if I didn’t love it, we could pick a different place. He’d wanted to snag it quickly since it was so close to our parents’ neighborhood, and he knew he wanted to raise Everett with his grandparents nearby.

I couldn’t have agreed more.

Bonus points?

The man had really good taste.

The house?

It was magic.

Gorgeous and warm and more than I ever could have imagined.

Bigger than any fairytale I could have conjured.

I knew Evan had inherited a ton of money from his grandfather, money he’d never wanted, blood relatives that he would have just as soon have forgotten.

But sometimes life brought you a buoy that you didn’t anticipate.

There for you when you needed it most.

I went into the kitchen that I was sure would even make Aunt Hope jealous, and believe me, she had a kitchen to envy. I dug into the fridge that had already been stocked to find something to make for breakfast.

I chopped and hummed and swayed, my heart lighting up when the baby monitor I had sitting on the counter next to me crackled. Immediately, I glanced at the image of Everett climbing to his feet, taking hold of the railing, and jumpin’ up and down.

“Da? Fi-fi? Da?”

There was no staunching the rush of affection that flooded me.

Head to toe.

It wasn’t like I wanted to stop it, anyway.

It was a welcomed invasion.

Setting aside the knife, I walked down the hall to his room and opened the door. The second I did, Everett started clapping his welcome. “Fi-Fi! Fi-Fi! Puppy!”

He pointed at Milo who was hot on my heels, Everett’s smile so wide and open and full of joy.