“I don’t want to move,” I said.
Mason’s forehead creased as he glanced over at me. “Speaking of?”
“How crowded things became at Thanksgiving.”
He hummed and sorted through his tools on the bench, searching for something. “See, all I heard there was the indication that you’re thinking about a future where we live together and have family over.”
Christ, he was right. But before I could even think about any type of embarrassment, his smug expression removed all doubts on whether or not I was moving too fast with my thoughts.
“There’s no reason for you to move,” he went on conversationally. “Your living room is big enough, and the kitchen can be turned into a buffet at Christmas. People can sit wherever they damn well please.”
I bit into a spring roll and listened to his vision.
“Will and Kelly could be in charge of Thanksgivings once they buy a new place,” he went on. “It’d be better for all of us if we could just spend holidays together. No more going back and forth for the kids, or figuring out whose turn it is to have them. Besides, they’re all older now. Tristan has Katie, and it won’t be long before Brady and Matt bring home girlfriends. There’s gonna be enough deciding who they’re gonna be with as it is.”
I swallowed hard as a lump of emotions threatened to surface.
He cleared his throat and carefully drew his hand over the canopy piece. “And should you find yourself a handy man who’s an amateur handyman, he could build you a proper deck in your backyard for Fourth of July parties in the summer and weekend barbecues in the dead of winter.”
My vision blurred with unshed tears, and I pinched my lips together to contain my smile.
“Maybe Tristan and Katie will take over this house one day. Maybe it’ll be their getaway for when they want to get out of the city.” His focus remained on what he was doing, but I had a feeling it was for a reason. Throughout our short relationship, he had consistently been the one who put all cards on the table, and he deserved the same from me. I didn’t want him to be uncertain about us because of how cautious I’d been in the beginning. “They could host Easter brunch or something here,” he finished.
It hit me with force that Mason would never be one of the strangers on Tinder who didn’t understand my family dynamic. Mason would never take away anything from me or our family, partly because he understood me, partly because it was his family too.
He was only trying to unite us.
“I’ve found my handyman already,” I blurted out, and my heart started racing. A heart I’d fucking lost at some point. “Actually, he found me.”
Mason side-eyed me with a faint smirk and set the canopy aside. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I licked my lips and set the Chinese food on the side table next to me. “He’s amazing. He paints the most beautiful pictures of the future, and I don’t want to hide anymore.”
That stopped him in his tracks for a moment. He hadn’t seen that one coming yet.
Suddenly, I’d never been surer.
I was so in love with him.
I pushed the blanket off me as I stood up from the chair, and then I walked over to him.
I felt what he felt now. In the beginning, he’d seemed so confident in us, and I finally got it. My wariness and fear had probably chipped away a piece of his assertiveness, but he’d been patient. So damn patient, and he wasn’t showing any sign whatsoever that he was running out of it. The opposite. But he didn’t have to wait any longer.
I closed the distance between us and pulled him down for a kiss.
“It’s us, Mason,” I mumbled against his lips. “I mean—us. Imagine the damage we could do to the world together.” I brushed my fingers over his scruffy jaw and let my heart speak. “I missed you before I had you. You’re the missing piece.”
He sighed and wrapped his arms around me tightly, and he kissed me back with so much passion that I felt it everywhere.
“This was supposed to happen,” I whispered. “We were meant to happen.”
He smiled into another heated kiss and cupped my cheeks as I wrapped my arms around his midsection.
“I mean it. I missed you so much. I can’t describe it.”
“You don’t have to,” he murmured. “I missed you too.”
He got it. I let the rivers of contentment flow through me, and I just reveled—
“Mason!” we heard Katie scream.
I gasped and jumped back, knowing what was happening before she could spell things out.
“My water broke!”
And Tristan wasn’t home from work yet.
Mason and I were pros, though. We exchanged a quick glance that said we’d continue this later, and then we bolted into action. He went first, tearing open the door that led into the house, and I followed him in.
We found Katie on the stairs with their baby bag. Her breathing was choppy, and the pain was written all over her face.
“I’ll get that for you, honey.” I jogged up and grabbed the bag from her. “Okay, so someone is eager to join the world. That’s wonderful. Mason, can you start the car and call Tristan?”
“On it.” Mason grabbed his keys and wallet before he was out the door.
“Have you started timing the contractions?” I guided Katie down the stairs and helped her with her shoes.
She sucked in a breath and shook her head.
“Are you feeling one now?” I asked.
She managed a jerky nod. “It’s fading, though.”
“Okay. I’ll time them. No worries. We’ll handle this until Tristan arrives.” I smiled and kept my voice calm, and I quickly pulled out my phone to see when the contraction began. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”
“He should be here,” she whimpered, clutching my hand. “Why is he late?”
“Oh, traffic. I bet it’s traffic.” I ushered her out after grabbing her
