I rolled my eyes and kicked at her leg.
“Has Brody mentioned getting married or anything?”
My eyes went wide, and I sat up quickly. “Kinlee! No!” I shouted and laughed.
“What? Why is that such a definite no?”
“Really? Think about it. It has technically only been three months.”
Kinlee’s face fell, and her eyes looked up and to the side as she thought about that. “For reals?”
“Yeah. Just three months. It may have felt like it took years to get here, but . . . not so much.” I sat back against the cushions and watched as she thought some more, knowing she was nowhere near done with this conversation yet.
“But you’re different. From listening to you both tell the story, you met and the world stopped turning, and no one else mattered except for the two of you because you were made for each other!”
I glared at her.
“Whatever, you know what I mean,” she said with a laugh. “But you had that instant connection. And it wasn’t something you read about in fairy tales. Where they meet, fall in love, and live happily ever after. You met, you knew you couldn’t be together, and still you knew you couldn’t live without each other. Now you’ve both been to hell and back in the last three months, and you can finally live your happily ever after. Why would you wait?” She looked at me expectantly for a few seconds before sitting up and scooting closer to me. “It has been three months. When you put it that way, I totally get it. Any other couple and I would think it would be insane. But then again, any other couple and I would probably hate the fact that they were together. I would think you stole him from his wife and he was an asshole. With you? I couldn’t be happier that the two of you are together, and I want this for you.”
“Kinlee,” I said softly when her eyes filled with tears.
“I didn’t even know about the bad shit when it was happening. But knowing the story, knowing both of you, I just—I just want you both to be happy. You deserve this.”
Leaning forward, I pulled her close and hugged her hard. “Thank you, Lee. Thank you for understanding us. And we will,” I continued when we both sat back. “We will get married someday. But I think once the divorce is final, we both just want to be together for a while.” I shrugged and smirked. “Or who knows, we might get married the day after it’s finalized if she drags it out long enough.”
Kinlee laughed and rolled her eyes. We both knew that was a possibility.
“Brody and I are both just happy that we can be together finally. So for now, this is enough.”
“Okay.” She nodded and looked away thoughtfully. “That makes sense. But promise me you’ll try to have babies someday!”
I laughed and covered my face. “Kinlee, oh, my God! What? Yeah, someday. Like, way far away someday.”
“As long as there’s a someday, I can live with that! Because I want to be Aunt Kinlee, and I really want us to be moms together.”
My head snapped up, and my eyes widened at her. “What?” I asked breathily.
“Jace and I have been talking ever since that Sunday at my house, and, uh . . . well, on Friday we started the really ridiculously stupid-long process of adoption.”
“Really, Lee?”
She nodded and tried to bite back a smile, but soon it was covering most of her face. “I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I’m just really freaking excited that we finally started it!”
“I’m so happy for y’all! It will happen, I know it will. And you’ll be the best parents!”
“You think so?” she asked, her expression hopeful.
“I know so. Come on!” I jumped up, pulling her with me. “We need to go out and celebrate.”
Brody
August 4, 2015
SHUTTING THE GARAGE, I closed the door and locked it behind me and made my way through the condo,
turning off lights as I went. The house was unusually quiet, so instead of calling out for Kamryn, I walked silently toward the bedroom and smiled when I found her.
Leaning up against the doorjamb, I studied her for a few seconds before pushing off and walking the few steps to where she lay asleep, her Kindle on the bed beside her, her glasses still on. Taking the frames gently in my fingers, I slid the glasses off her face and placed them—along with the Kindle—on the nightstand before brushing her bangs back and kissing her forehead.