It's Our Time (Carolina Rebels 3)

“I’m not doing this shit for just anybody, babe. I don’t want to do it for anyone but you, so no, I wasn’t this nice to other girlfriends. I didn’t care if they stayed with me or not.” He pauses and glances at me. “So, I’m still doing good?”

I nod. Ian grins and gives me a quick kiss. A loud “Ewww!” comes from the living room. I’ll be glad when Savannah is used to seeing him kiss me. Otherwise, I’ll be breaking into a smile during our kisses more often. It’s just too cute that she does that. Ian thinks it’s cute that I smile mid-kiss, which earns me another kiss and another “ew.” It’s a terrible cycle.

“My mom and stepdad are coming next weekend. They want to check on Logan and meet grown-up Ian. Is that okay?”

“Yeah. It’ll have to be Saturday, though. I have games Friday and Sunday. You can take them to a game, if they’re interested. If not, no worries. Which reminds me.” He nods toward the living room where Savannah still is. “We should sign her up for skating lessons. When Z and I took her, she really liked it and was fascinated by this figure skater. I’d love for her to know how to skate.”

“I feel like there’s a but.”

“There is.” He flips the pancakes. “I obviously can’t take her to every lesson, so it’s definitely your decision. I have information packets around here somewhere. Will you look at them at least?”

“Of course. She’s not too young?”

“No. She’s the perfect age. Hell, she could’ve started learning as soon as she started walking good.”

“Language,” I remind him. Savannah may be in the living room, but those little ears could still be listening.

“Sorry.”

Soon, we’re sitting at the table eating breakfast. Savannah is tickled pink over her red heart-shaped pancakes. She ends up sitting with Ian and eating his because she doesn’t want to mess up hers. I think Ian has gotten more comfortable with her now that he’s seen our routine and how I do things. Ian follows my lead in most cases.

What’s surprised me the most is how he seems to discipline her without realizing he’s doing it. She threw the mother lode of tantrums just this morning. It was one of those crying tantrums rather than an angry one. At first, his eyes were wide and he kept glancing back and forth between me and where she decided to park her bottom and cry. But then, he picked her up, held her, and waited for her to finish crying. When she was reduced to hiccups, he said, “Done crying, little Miss?” She nodded and he proceeded to explain why we weren’t going swimming today and especially not first thing in the morning. He kissed each of her cheeks, and that was that.

“Hop down, Savannah. I gotta head out.”

“Where you go, Daddy?” she asks.

“Work, but only for a little bit. When I come back, I’m taking you and your mom out on a special Valentine’s Day date, so you better be ready when I get back, okay? Tell me bye.”

“Goodbye, Daddy. I love you.”

“Love you too, little Miss.” He kisses her forehead and helps her out of his lap. His gaze swings to mine, turning hot. “Come tell me bye, gorgeous.”

“You’re leaving. You come tell me.”

He grins as he stands, comes to stand behind me, and leans over to kiss me. Three, two, “Ew!” I smile, breaking our kiss, and Ian laughs. “What do you think she’d do if I added some tongue?” Our kisses in her presence have been very PG. I don’t know if there’s a particular reason, other than the fact that she seems to be paying attention to us.

“Let’s not find out right now. We’ll be ready when you get back.”

He gives me another quick kiss before grabbing his keys and phone and leaving. I finish my breakfast before cleaning up the dishes and wrapping up Savannah’s untouched pancakes. To make sure we are ready by the time he’s done, we do that next. I’m not sure what I want us to do today. I planned on being at home all day and napping at some point because I have to work tonight. Maybe we should see some kids’ movie, find a place to eat, and call it a success.

Savannah and I are sitting on the couch, watching some cartoon, all ready to go. I worried about how she would take the move, but she’s been doing fine so far. She misses her Lo-Lo and Carey, but she likes having her own room. We just have to check for monsters. It’s Logan’s fault we do that to start with. When she goes to bed by herself, he tucked her in one night and asked if he should check for monsters. Now, we have to because if we don’t, she’s worried they might get her. She was perfectly fine before that.

“I have presents!” Ian announces as he walks through the door, holding two little red bags in one hand.

“Daddy!” Savannah yells, running toward him. “What is it?”

“Come on, let’s sit with Mommy and find out.” He takes her hand and leads her back to the couch, sitting next to me and pulling her into his lap. “I couldn’t get Mom a Valentine’s Day present and not get something for you, too.” He gives her a bag and hands me the other one.

I watch her pull out a velvet box and Ian helps her open it. Savannah immediately oohs.

“It’s a bracelet,” Ian tells her as he holds it up.

“Mommy! It’s like yours!”

My eyes water as I see the gold bracelet that is a mirror image of mine with a bunch of tiny infinity symbols linked together. He hooks it around her little wrist and says nearly the same thing to her that he said to me.

“This is the infinity symbol. Means forever. You get this because I’ll love you forever.”