by Rose, Kristi
I wipe my face on his T-shirt, not caring that I left a mascara smudge. I pull back to look up at him. “You aren’t going to New York?”
He shakes his head. “I wanted to tell you this later. I have a whole plan in motion, but I can see that making you wait might not have been the best move.”
My eyes narrow. “What are you talking about?”
“I took the assistant coach job for the university in Orlando. It’s the closest I could get to Daytona.”
“When did this happen?” My brain is slowly processing what he’s just said.
“Well, that day I was here with you and Tyler, the night after you sexed me up in the minivan? I asked my agent if there was anything nearby that might work for me. He called and said the university might be interested, but I had to meet with them that day since the head coach was headed out of town the following day.”
“That’s why you rushed out of here?”
“Yep.” He wipes moisture from my cheek.
“I thought we weren’t going to keep stuff like this from each other?”
He smiles. “I know, and I felt terrible, but I really wanted it to work out, and I was afraid to bring it up. And what if I didn’t get the job? All of it felt like a lot to load on you when you weren’t even sure you wanted me to come back even one more day. Remember?”
I nod. “So, you’re moving to Orlando?” I’m still wrapped in his arms.
“I wasn’t joking when I said I’d been aimless until I ran into you. Throwing the football out here with Tyler helped me decide on my next course.”
My phone, which has been pressed into my hand and his waist, buzzed. I glanced at the screen. Josie.
“She wants to go over the results I’m sure.” I show him the screen.
He meets my gaze. “Can we see them together first?”
“If you want. Are you sure?”
He smiles. “I know you think a lot would change for me, but I disagree.”
“Everything would change for you,” I say, incredulous.
He puts up a finger. “Wait right here.” He hops backward, mumbling. “Why did I bother to make a plan? Nothing is going like I planned.” He hobbles out of the room.
I sip coffee while I wait, desperate to take a peek. I text Josie that we’re going to look at the results now and will call her ASAP.
Dax hops back in and comes to a stop before me. He smiles then drops to one knee, kicking out his broken leg to one side. “Damn, this is uncomfortable.”
“What are you doing?” I say.
He takes my hand in his. “Heather Lowell Michaels. Will you marry me? I don’t care what that paternity test says. I want Tyler and I want you, not in that order, equally. I want this.” He gestures to the house. “I want to come home to you every night. I want to make street taco shells from big tortillas. I want to play catch with Tyler and go to the doctors with you. I want to take care of him and do everything in my power to make him healthy. I want to give him siblings. And I want…”
I clap my hand over his mouth. “Stop.” I shake my head. “I can’t take it. I can’t believe this is happening. I love you, and I was afraid you might not feel the same about me, and all this might be the last thing you would ever want.”
“Help me up,” he says. My hand is still in his, and he presses something into my palm.
I open my hand to find a diamond ring.
Dax says, “I’m going to take your declaration of love as a yes.”
“Yes,” I say. Then pause. “Oh, you have to ask Tyler. That’s the right thing to do.”
He dismisses me with a wave of his hand. “Already did that last night.”
“Wait, you and Tyler discussed this, and he kept it a secret?”
“Yep. Discussed it over ice cream before you came home. Ice cream before dinner. He kept that secret, too.”
I laugh and look at the ring. Amazed at how today has unfolded. “Marry you,” I say, as if the impossible has happened. I look at Dax, tears in my eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to be with anyone else, ever.”
He sweeps me up into a hug and nuzzles my neck. I hold him close. “Me neither. No one ever felt right like you do. I have always loved you.”
”And I have always loed you.”
My phone chimes again.
Dax says, “We should look. But now do you see why I kept saying whatever the results are, they won’t change my trajectory? Because where you and Tyler are is where I want to be.”
I pull back and against him as I engage my phone and open my email app. “Ready?”
He nods.
I click on the email and scan the details.
“Well, hell,” Dax says, disappointed.
“Justin is Tyler’s dad.”
Chapter 26
Wednesday Morning
Dax takes the phone and sets it on the counter. He turns me to face him. “I have a solution for that if you’re up for hearing my next crazy idea.”
“Are you saying marrying me is crazy?” I hold out the ring to him, teasing that he could take it back. He takes it from me and slips it on my finger. It fits perfectly. I look at him surprised. Everything about the ring is…well, perfect. Even the simple design with the round stone.
“I had your mom’s help. She sent a collection of bride magazines that I hid in the closet. And I used one of the rings in your jewelry box to find your size,” he says, knowing my question without me having to ask it. “And no, not crazy in a bad way. Crazy in all the best ways.” With his hands on my hips, he pulls me to him. His hands go to my backside and cup my butt.
“Is this your solution? Sex in the kitchen?” Because I’m down for it.
“Nope, I want to adopt Tyler. I want to make Justin a deal that makes him walk away for good. Maybe that’s not the right thing to want, a dad to leave his kid, but he doesn’t deserve Tyler.”
I take his face between my hands and search his face. “Dax, are you serious?”
“Yeah, I want that kid to be mine. I desperately wanted this test to prove it, too.”
The kid in question shuffles into the kitchen and stops short when he sees us. “What’s going on? Why are you crying, momma?”
I point to my face. “These are happy tears, baby.”
Dax pulls out a kitchen chair and sits. He gestures to Tyler for him come. “I got bad news, buddy. Remember that plan we had to give your mom the ring?”
Tyler’s eyes go wide. “It was a secret.”
“Yeah, I know, but I had to blow the secret. I’m sorry.”
Tyler looks between Dax and me. “But does that mean we’re all going to live together forever? Or not?”
I kneel beside Tyler. “Are you okay with us living together forever? If we keep Dax?”
Tyler’s nods are emphatic.
“I want to stay with Dax forever, too,” I say.
Tyler leans into me and says in a soft voice, “I wish he was my dad.”
I wrap him in my arms and glance at Dax. “He will be baby. He doesn’t have to have the same last name to be your dad.” Explaining it to a child is beyond complicated. I don’t mention Dax’s suggestion of adoption because there’s no telling how Justin will react. But I want Tyler to know that a person doesn’t have to be biologically related to be a father.
I look at Dax again, “Let’s do it,” I say. “I’ll give him all my savings if he wants.” It’s bold and scary to ask a man to give up paternity rights to his child. But Justin never wanted to be Tyler’s dad anyway. I only hope one day Tyler will understand.
Dax reaches for his phone. “Are you sure?”
I nod.
Tyler says, “Can I have frozen waffles?”
“Yes, but you have to heat them up,” I say as my son pulls away and goes to the fridge.
“Do I have to go to school today?”
I roll my eyes. “Of course, you do.”
Dax reaches for his phone and makes a call. “Hi, this is Dax Griffin calling for Mr. Taylor. I was in his
office two days ago asking about adoption. Please tell him to start the paperwork. Thank you.” He disconnects and puts the phone down. “Voicemail. I forgot it’s stupid early.”
I laugh. “You already talked to a lawyer?”
He nods. “Yeah, I might have wanted a miracle, but I wasn’t leaving it all to chance.”
“Hand me my phone,” I say. Dax passes it over. I call Josie. I tell her the news and our plans.
Dax takes the phone from me and says, “Josie, spare no expense. Let’s end this.” Following a brief pause he laughs and says, “Tell that to Heather.”
He hands the phone back to me and I say, “What’s so funny?”
Josie says, “There won’t be any expense from me because it would be my greatest pleasure to make Justin squirm before we cut him loose.”
“I just want this to be over,” I say and look between Tyler and Dax.
Josie says, “I know. I’m asking you to dig deep one more time and fight. I’m only going to ask for what he owes you to date. We know he doesn’t want to give you the money, so I want to have an unbiased financial advisor put the money in an account for Tyler. He can it for college or a car or whatever. That person can manage Justin’s payments until he’s all caught up. You won’t ever have to deal with him. But he needs to be made to do the right thing. Justin’s lucky Dax loves Tyler and wants to be a part of his life. He can show his appreciation by doing the right thing.”
She makes a good argument. Which is why she’s such a good lawyer, I suppose. I look at Dax, silently asking if this is what we should do. He nods.
“Okay,” I say. “Go for it.”
“Hot damn,” she says. “I’ll call you as soon as I know more.”
And just like that, my life changes.
Epilogue
Five Months later
We planned an afternoon wedding, a small affair at Josie’s house. We let the view of the beach from her backyard be our backdrop.
The last few months haven’t been easy. Justin tried to get out of paying anything and instead insisted Dax buy Tyler from him. Which only angered me more and steeled my resolve to make him pay at least something.
But the threat of having his wages garnished and his credit ruined were enough to make Justin see reason. He paid up and signed away his legal rights as Tyler’s father.
Both Dax and I started our new positions within days of each other. Which made logistics difficult since we both worked in Orlando but wanted Tyler to finish out his school year in Daytona. But once school was done, we sold my house and bought a house in Lake Mary, halfway between Orlando and Daytona. Dax insisted on a gated community, and after having Justin break into my house for the last few years, I didn’t put up much resistance.
Only two weeks ago, I completed my internship as a child life specialist and will start my position in another two weeks, after the honeymoon. For Dax, we have a narrow window of freedom before school starts and football season begins.
But now, we’re ready for this new chapter. I miss my friends and not seeing Jayne every day, but we still talk all the time. With Paisley leaving for Japan in a month, we’re spending as much time together as we can.
I stand on the edge of Josie’s yard, my heels sinking softly into her grass. One large step to my right, and I’m on the beach. My dress is the softest of pinks with a modest sweetheart neckline that flows into an A-line skirt and falls to my ankles. It’s sleeveless and simple. There’s no veil. My bouquet is pink peonies and white hydrangeas. All of this is Jayne’s tasteful work coming together.
Dax is dressed in a light gray suit. His leg has healed, and there’s no boot but a regular shoe. Tyler is in a matching suit. They both look dapper, Tyler so grown up. He stands in front of me and looks up at Dax with such love it makes me want to weep with relief.
In attendance are my friends and their partners, my parents, and Doug and Kenley, who cradle the two-month-old they have officially adopted. Dax has invited his parents, his sister, who I enjoyed reconnecting with, her children, and one close friend, the quarterback from his former team.
“Do you, Heather Elizabeth, take Daxton Charles to be your lawfully wedded husband?” The preacher is a local man named Sam Oliver who happens to be the same one who baptized Tyler. He’s an older gentleman with graying temples, a warm smile, and a knack for storytelling.
“I do,” I say as I look into Dax’s eyes.
“Do you, Daxton Charles, take Heather Elizabeth to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“Yes, please,” Dax says.
People in the crowd chuckle.
Pastor Oliver looks down at Tyler, “And do you, Tyler Douglas, take Daxton Charles to be your legal father?”
Tyler nods emphatically. “Yep. Yes, sir.”
Pastor Oliver says to Dax, “And do you, Daxton, take Tyler Douglas to be your legal son?”
Dax kneels before Tyler and says, “Yes, I'll be there for you every day. Nothing would make me prouder than to be your dad.”
Tyler throws himself into Dax’s arms.
I have been given more than I ever thought possible. If this gift is mine because of all the hard times when I had to go it alone, then I’d do it all over again. And again, and again.
Dax, having lifted Tyler and holding him at his side, finishes his vows. We slide on the rings and make it official.
Dax says, “I’m gonna set you down, buddy, so I can kiss your mom.”
Tyler smiles at me as Dax lowers him to the ground.
Dax pulls me into his arms and says, “If you had one wish?”
But I don’t need to wish. I have everything a girl could ever want.
* * *
If you enjoyed this series and want to read more of my books- may I suggest the Samantha True Mystery series. We head across the country to Washington State to solve mysteries. I promise some good chuckles, a slow burn romance, and a twisty mystery. You can check out that series here: https://www.kristirose.net/SamTrueBooks
Acknowledgments
A very special thanks to my critique group who give honest feedback and encouraging words. Thank you Anya Mora, Eryn Scott, and GL Snodgrass.
Thank you Amanda Merrill- SLP and proofreader extraordinaire. It was my lucky day when you reached out to me. So many thanks.
Charity Chimni- proofreader and cheerleader. You make me laugh, keep me sane, and always have the kindest words. Thank you.
To parents of special needs kids. I hope you have a community of support. I’m thinking of you.
Meet Kristi Rose
Hey! I’m Kristi. I write romances that will tug your heartstrings and laugh out loud mysteries. In all my stories you’ll fall in love with the cast of characters, they’ll become old, fun friends. My one hope is that I create stories that satisfy any of your book cravings and take you away from the rut of everyday life (sometimes it's a good rut).
When I’m not writing I’m spinning (riding a stationary bike- I’m obsessed repurposing Happy Planners or drinking a London Fog (hot tea with frothy milk).
I’m the mom of 2 and a milspouse (retired). We live in the Pacific Northwest and are under-prepared if one of the volcanoes erupts.
Here are 3 things about me:
I lived on the outskirts of an active volcano (Mt.Etna)
A spider bit me and it laid eggs in my arm (my kids don’t know that story yet)
I grew up in Central Florida and have skied in lakes with gators.
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