I’m silent for a moment before I choose to speak. “I’m very happy for you, David. I just had some news of my own that I wanted to share.”
“Oh?” David says, raising his eyebrow. It’s now or never. I look him straight in the eye.
“I’ve fallen in love with your daughter. We’ve been living together as a couple since the gas leak. We’re very happy...and we’d like your blessing if you’ll give it.”
The room falls silent and I wonder if this whole thing was a mistake. Maybe we should’ve waited longer but with David in such a good mood, it seemed like the only time to bring it up. Besides, I don’t want to lie to him or sneak around with his daughter. This isn’t some one-night stand. Me and Teagan...we are forever.
“A couple?” David says, blinking. His eyes finally fall to our entwined hands and his face goes pale. He takes a step back. “My best friend...and my daughter?”
“We wanted to tell you in person,” Teagan says anxiously. “This is so important to us both, Dad. We’re really happy together. I know you must be confused, we’re both important people in your life, and the age gap between us is bigger than normal, but we love one another. We know we’re going to be happy together if we’re given the chance. And...and I know we are going to have a family too…”
David looks so shocked that he can’t even speak. His eyes dart between me and Teagan, trying to piece together what he’s hearing. I’m waiting for him to explode into anger, to say that he’s disgusted, to try and break us apart…
But then his face splits into a huge smile.
“Amazing!” he cries out with a laugh. “Amazing!”
I frown, unable to believe what I’m hearing. “Really?”
“Of course, you’ll make a lovely couple,” he says. He sounds a little uncertain, but his eyes are filled with joy, and you can’t fake that. “Yes I’m a little shocked, but what could be better than us all finding happiness at the same time? All my favorite people, gathered in one room to celebrate love. And of course, I know that my best friend will always take care of my daughter. I know you well, Kian. You have a big heart, and you’ll never hurt her. There are plenty of heartbreakers out there but you’re not one of them. You’ve waited all these years for the woman of your dreams and I know that my daughter is the woman of every man’s dreams because she’s perfect. So you deserve to be together. You deserve to be happy.”
I feel my fists unclench, then my jaw, then my muscles. I was ready to fight when David walked in here. I was ready to prove I was worthy of his daughter, and for him to tell me I’m not good enough for her. But here he is, telling me that we have his blessing. And that’s the best feeling in the world.
Teagan rushes to hug her father and I can’t help smiling. This is an ending I never could have predicted to my story with her, but it’s the perfect one. My best friend doesn’t hate me, he’s finally found a woman he loves, and my beautiful girlfriend has changed my whole life for the better. I expected anger and drama and chaos, but instead, all I have is confirmation that this was the best thing to ever happen to me. David walks over to shake my hand.
“You take care of my little girl. She’s the best thing in the world,” he warns me. I look at her as she’s hugging Sherry and think about how perfect she is. So perfect that I can’t believe she’s mine. So perfect, that this all seems too good to be true. But this is real. This is my life now. And I’m going to do everything I can to keep it.
“I know,” I growl. “And I will.”
Epilogue
Six months later…
Teagan
I’m standing in a field, covered in more flowers than I’ve ever seen in my life, trying to pretend all the pollen isn’t tickling my nose. I’m wearing a white gown and cradling my baby bump while Kian snaps endless photos of me and the baby.
“You look so beautiful right now,” he says as he takes a few more snaps. “I can’t wait to frame all of these in the nursery.”
“I don’t think you’ll have room on the walls for all five hundred pictures you’ve taken,” I laugh.
He smiles and moves closer in order to kiss me. “I know you’re being cheeky, but trust me, I’m finding room somewhere to hang each and every one of them. There’s no way I can delete a single one of these pictures when you look so perfect in all of them.”
I blush. I’ll never quite get used to being complimented all the time by Kian. He treats me like I’m his queen, but I still find it hard to believe that I got so damn lucky. He could have any woman in the world, and yet he chose little old me.