Defensive Daddy

Samantha let out a soft chuckle. “Yes, I’m positive. I...we...can’t imagine a life without you in it, Cooper. We’d love for you to move in with us.” Her chest heaved with the weight of her words. “You and Tommy. The four of us.”

Elation filled every bone and vein within me. “Anything you guys want, you got it. You know that. Especially this.” My gaze flitted between the three most precious people in my life. “All of this.”

“So, you’re gonna stay over tonight?” Levi wrapped his arms around my leg, squeezing it like he never planned to let go, looking up at me with his bottom lip puckered out.

“Of course I am. If that’s okay with your mom, then I’d love to.” I glanced down at Samantha, my eyebrow arched. “I think Tommy would love to, too.”

She offered a warm smile, nodding. “Let’s do this, then. We’ll get you two moved in already.” She winked at me, then kissed my cheek. Her lips burned against my skin, branding me with all the promises and dreams the gesture held for the future.

Our future.

I clapped my hands together, knowing if I didn’t do something and step away from this beautiful woman who owned me, heart and soul, I’d wind up coming undone completely. I felt so much, loved so much—I was sure I would combust at any moment.

There was no way the hold she and Levi had over me would ever fade.

“How about I go over and grab a few of the things I bought at the grocery store, then we can put together a big dinner tonight, watch a movie—Levi, you can choose—and have a campout in the living room? Then, tomorrow, we can start moving stuff over.”

“Yay!” Levi cheered. You’d think I just suggested an unlimited shopping spree at Toys ‘R’ Us.

“Yay,” Samantha grinned mischievously, leaning into me. I knew exactly what that meant. She knew as well as I did that the campout in the living room would come to an abrupt ending the moment the kids drifted off to sleep. After that, we’d slip into her bedroom—our bedroom—and have a little sleepover of our own.

I kissed Samantha again, managing to hold myself back as much as I could. I shook my head at her. She knew damn well what I was thinking, and she knew what her mere presence was doing to me. And she was enjoying every minute of it. “I love you,” I whispered, dangerously close to her face.

“I know you do,” she replied cheekily. “And I love you, too.”

Finally.

“Leave Tommy with me,” she added softly. “We can get acquainted while you grab the groceries from next door.”

I’d never left Tommy with anyone other than Zoey and my own mother before, but it didn’t scare me nearly as much as I thought it would to hug the three of them and walk out of that apartment, leaving him with Samantha and disappearing into my own apartment. She was the woman I loved, my partner in crime from now on, and I trusted her, wholeheartedly.

With my son, and with my heart.