Ignite (Unbreakable Bonds 7)

“Not going anywhere,” Noah said, and Rowe knew it was true. The old worry that he was going to lose Noah like he lost Mel would probably dog him for the rest of his life, but Noah didn’t mind reminding him every time that he was going to be right there by his side no matter what.

“But in the past ten years, we lost Mel. Lost friends. Made new friends and family. I got a second chance—”

“We got a second chance,” Noah corrected.

Rowe smiled. “When we didn’t think we’d get one. Marriage doesn’t feel like the logical choice, that imperative need, for completion that it once did. We look around this table, and we know that we already have everything that we could ever want. Marriage isn’t for us. We’re perfectly happy the way things are.”

“Things change,” Snow said. Rowe looked over at the doctor. He was leaning to his side so that his right shoulder was touching Jude’s, while his left hand rubbed up and down Daciana’s back as she slept on Jude’s chest. Yeah, Snow was a poster child for things changing. Rowe would never have expected the man to want marriage and kids, but so many things changed for Snow when he met Jude.

Rowe gave Snow a matching smirk. “True. Things change. And if things change for us, we’ll talk about it. But for as far into the future as we can see, we don’t see this changing for us.”

“What about kids? Do you plan to have any?” Jude asked in a low voice so as not to disturb the little girl.

“We already have our kids,” Noah said. “We’ve got three dogs that keep us busy at home.”

“And Ward Security is our other family,” Rowe added. He glanced over at Andrei to see the man smile and nod. He had a feeling that Andrei was developing a similar view of the company, as its COO.

“But even though we’re not planning to have kids of our own, we are looking forward to being the awesome uncles of the family,” Noah said. “Lucas and Andrei have already kicked things off with little Daci, and you know they’re not going to stop until they add a little prince to the Vallois family.” He then motioned over to Snow and Jude. “You’re going to be adding to your family and keeping Grandma Anna busy,” he said, mentioning Jude’s energetic mother.

“And we all know that Ian’s going to have a huge brood.” Rowe pinned Ian with a knowing look. Ian rolled his eyes dramatically but didn’t deny it. Rowe knew in his heart that Ian wanted several children, filling his home with the love and laughter he never got to experience growing up. He and Hollis were going to be amazing dads.

“We’re looking forward to taking them camping and boating.”

“Teaching them how to shoot a bow and arrow,” Noah said.

“Self-defense and martial arts training at Ward Security.”

“Oh! How to disable a security system.”

“Code names!”

“Weapons maintenance.”

“Explosives.”

“No!” their friends shouted in unison.

Noah and Rowe looked at each other and started laughing. Their friends said “no” now, but they would come to realize it was better if their kids learned those important things from their Uncle Rowe and Uncle Noah.

Daciana popped her head up and gave a little whimper as she looked around. The moment she spotted her Daddy Lucas, she stretched out her arms. Lucas leaned forward and scooped her up, cradling her against his chest, and murmured soft words in her ear that sounded a lot like Romanian. He did it all as if he’d been doing things like that his entire life.

And yeah, the sight warmed something deep in Rowe’s chest, but he didn’t need one of those for himself. No, if he needed to cuddle a baby, he only had to reach out for Daciana or any of the other nieces and nephews that were undoubtedly heading his way.

Clearing his throat, Rowe said, “The point is that the life we want, that we dream about, we’ve already got.”

Jude sat forward in his chair and picked up his glass of iced tea. He lifted into the air, smiling at Rowe and Noah. “To family.”

A lump formed in Rowe’s throat as they all picked up their glasses and repeated Jude’s toast. Yes. To family. He was so damned lucky to have them all.

“Okay,” Hollis said as they lowered their glasses again. “Tell me this ‘warm and wet’ bathroom story. It’s probably just more proof of why I should have hauled all your asses in when I was a cop.”

Noah’s laughter brushed against Rowe, wrapping him up tight. Rowe was right where he was supposed to be. It hadn’t been easy getting there, but he was finally happy and complete again.