Only tears of joy though. Those are the only tears I’ll ever make her cry.
“Diana,” I begin. I take her hand and I can feel her shaking. For the rest of my life whenever I feel that uneasiness in her I want to be the one who puts her at ease. And that starts with right now.
“We’ve known each other for a very long time, but it’s only recently that we’ve really had the chance to get to know each other on a deeper level. Even though we’re still getting to know each other, there’s one thing I already know with absolute certainty. I know you’re the one for me. You came into my life and now everything makes sense. You’re like the final puzzle piece that’s been nowhere to be found for years, and then suddenly one day there you are right next to me the entire time. And finding you after all these years makes everything right…everything complete. And I’d wait all those years again a million times over if at the end of that journey is you. And now that I’ve completed my individual journey, I want nothing more than to take another kind of journey…a journey together for eternity.”
In my other hand I open the little black box that contains the symbol of just how much I love this woman.
“Will you do me the honor of being my soul mate now and forever? Will you marry me?”
Diana’s hand leaves mine and both of her hands move to her face and cover her mouth.
“Oh my god. Yes! Yes! Yes!” she says.
I reach for her hand again, and she extends it. I slowly slide the seven-carrot diamond ring down her beautiful ring finger. It was bare before, but by placing my ring on her hand I’m telling the world she’s mine forever.
“It’s a perfect fit!” she says.
“Just like you,” I say.
She reaches for my face and pulls me up towards her.
“I love you,” she says.
“I love you,” I say.
We’ve had a lot of kisses already, but none feels as good as this one.
“Yay!” Brianna says, as she begins clapping. Her feet are kicking back and forth even faster than before.
Her claps are light and fast, but soon are joined by a slower, heavier clap. I look over Diana’s shoulder and see her dad putting his hands together for us. He’s smiling.
At that moment I realize everything is completely perfect for everyone, but I have to admit…things are best for me.
I just got the woman of my dreams, and she’s mine forever.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Diana
Two years later
I reach up with a wet wipe and rub the Popsicle off from around the outside of Brian’s mouth.
“Can I have another one, mom?”
I’ll never get tired of being called that. Mom.
“Yes, but only because we’re on vacation.”
Brian reaches into the cooler and picks out another Popsicle. He chooses green this time. I can’t wait to see how his tongue’s going to look now. It’s currently brighter red than a stop sign, thanks to the first Popsicle.
“Can you pass me one, buddy?” Joshua says.
“Sure, dad. What color?”
“Let’s go with blue, to match the color of the ocean.”
Brian digs for a blue one and then hands it to Joshua.
“Thanks.”
Brian digs out another and then takes off running, forgetting to close the cooler.
“That little bugger!” I say. “I told him only one.”
“Watch,” Joshua says.
Brian reaches the waterline and quickly presents one of the Popsicles to Brianna. My heart about melts.
“What a sweetheart.”
“He’s looking out for his sister. Just like we asked him.”
“Just like you look after me,” I say, extending my hand from my beach chair towards Joshua. He takes my hand in his and looks over at me and smiles.
Life is great, and has only got better since we adopted Brian.
He’s been the perfect brother to Brianna. They’re in the same grade so he’s able to keep an eye on her during the day. It’s not that anyone would give her any troubles, she’s a great kid, but if anything did happen it’s nice to know Brian’s there to have her back.
And speaking of backs, that’s where I plan on spending my time on this weekend getaway.
It’s nice to be able to take a quick flight down to Mexico for the weekend, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
After Joshua sold his business he had a lot of free time on his hands. Never one to sit around, he shocked everyone and decided to run for mayor.
I would say everyone, but I can’t really. Nothing he does shocks me.
Just like I wasn’t even surprised when he ousted the incumbent and won.
And this is our little victory time off before the real work starts.
Never in a million years when I was studying did I think I’d put the skills I learned to use as a political campaign manager. Surprisingly it was a lot of fun. A lot different than watching House of Cards, but fun all the same.
But nothing brought me as much fun as spending time with our growing family.
After we got engaged Joshua explained to me how his Bitcoin operation worked. At least he tried.
I didn’t really understand the whole computer money thing, but what I did understand was that he’d taken that computer money and turned it into real money.
A whole lot of money.
And as nice as it was to have money, we really didn’t use it to buy nice things. Sure, we spent some on Joshua’s campaign, and on a lot on traveling at first.
But not material things. We may be billionaires, and it’s crazy just to think that, but we used the money on family experiences…not material things.
And of course we invested in the kids. Our kids. We wanted them to have the kind of education and experiences that couldn’t be taught in classrooms.
And not just our kids, but other kids as well.
Now that the campaign was over, Joshua was going to get to work on making our city a better place.
And we hadn’t told anyone yet, but I was going to get to work on making our city a better place for kids from all over the country.
We wanted to provide services for kids in need. I knew what it was like to lose a parent. Brianna and Brian knew as well.
I wanted to help others, and show them that there’s a happily ever after out there for all of us, no matter what.
Sometimes it’s even right where you’d least expect it, like just next-door.
Joshua always reminds me how much his life improved that day I showed up on his doorstep.
As much as he thinks he won out that day, I know I got the better end of the deal.
But that’s why we work so well together. We both know we won everything, when we won each other’s hearts.
And that’s what I want to share with others. No matter your circumstances, if you can surround yourself with caring, positive people then change is possible. Improvement might come in baby steps, but it will come.
And speaking of baby steps I’m planning on bringing up the idea to Brian that we adopt a baby. It was always my dream to have one, and even though we couldn’t do it on our own, we could do it with some help.
I know Joshua is a great listener and will give it serious consideration. He loves kids just as much as I do. I just want to give us some time to relax this weekend, before I go and start trying to make our family grow even bigger…again.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Joshua
One year later
“J5,” Brianna says.
I look down at my Battleship board. “Hit,” I say.
Diana and Brianna look at each other and pause…before bursting out laughing.
“A4,” I say.
“Miss!” Brianna says.
“J4,” Diana says.
“Hit,” I say. This is not looking good for Brian and I.
Our family had come up with a plan. Brian and I were on the fence about adopting a baby. Brianna
and Diana were totally for it. We decided the only fair way to choose which direction to take was to play a board game.
If the boys won, we could decide whether or not our family would adopt.
If the girls won the adoption was guaranteed, and here’s the kicker…they also got to pick the sex of the child.
We wrote down the names of all the board games we had on a piece of paper and put them in a hat. We shuffled them up and Battleship is what came out.
“C9,” Brian says.
“Miss,” Diana says.
“I6,” Brianna guesses. But why would she guess that? She knows I have one battleship running vertically in the J column. Now she goes off and guesses horizontally. It makes no sense, except it does.
“Hit,” I say. “How in the world did you know to guess that?”
Brianna and Diana grab each other’s forearms and literally lay back and start rolling on the floor laughing.
If Brian and I don’t get the ship righted, no pun intended, this game is going to be over fast.
A full minute passes and the girls are still laughing.
“OK. What’s going on?” I ask.
“I have to be honest,” Diana says, wiping the tear from her eye. She’s literally laughing that hard. “When we drew the Battleship game I knew we were going to win.”
“What makes you say that? I’m the king of this game. I used to play it all the time.”
“That’s why I knew why we were going to win.” Diana’s takes a drink of water after all that laughing. “You used to come over and play my dad every chance you got. One night when I went to say goodnight to my dad, you guys were playing. My dad excused himself and went upstairs with me to tuck me in. I asked him about your game and he told me he could beat you in five minutes if he wanted to. I asked him why, and he said you always put your ships in a J pattern on the board…usually the back of the J is lined up along one of the edges. If you’re feeling really frisky you do the J backwards, but either way…it’s always a J.”
“Wait. I never told him that!”
“Dad,” Brian says, motioning with his head towards our arrangement of battleships.
“You’re cheating,” I say to the girls.
“We’re not cheating, and you’re right…you never told him that. You’re just predictable. Isn’t that a downfall in battle?”
“But—” I begin.
“And I have to let you in on another Battleship secret.”
“There’s more?”
“So many more,” she jokes. “But just one in particular. Remember that first time I came over and whispered something in Brianna’s ear?”
“How could I forget.”
“That’s exactly what I told her.”
“So after all these years I finally figure out what was said that night.”
“That’s it, dad,” Brianna says.
“All my attempts to make you laugh and that was all it took?”
“It was cute,” Brianna says. “Guys always put their names on everything. They have to claim things, take ownership, all those manly things.”
“Wait a minute. Honey, you whispered to Brianna twice that night.”
“I sure did.”
“What was the second thing you said to her?”
Diana bites her tongue, before her expression changes to a why the heck not look.
“I told her that you don’t think anybody noticed your J pattern.”
“This story just gets better and better doesn’t it,” I say sarcastically.
“My dad told me the next morning he picked up on it about the third or fourth time the two of you played. He just pretended not to know in case one day you guys made a bet on a game. That way he could beat you and win some of your money. But just a friendly wager of course…something like who pays for pizza. That and he just wanted to relax, so knowing what not to guess made the game last longer, which gave him more time to unwind after a long day at work.”
“Well, I’ll be,” I say.
“Don’t be mad, dad,” Brianna says, as she uncrosses her legs and gets off the floor, coming around to our side of the table.
“What are you doing? You’re going to see our ships.”
“Come on. I already know where they all are,” she says, as she hugs me. “And just think, if it wasn’t for this silly little story we may have never become the family we are today.”
“Or the family we’re about to come,” Diana says. She winks at me. “So there’s Brianna and Diana so far. Both end in ana and we skip every other letter in the alphabet.”
“Maybe Fiona,” Brianna says. The ending is ona instead of ana, but we can mix things up a little. We wouldn’t want to be…too predictable after all.”
I grab her with one hand and tickle her with the other.
“Dad!” she yells, as I tickle her good.
It’s just another thing I love about my family. Even when I’m the butt of the joke, and even when I lose, I always win.
I’ve got an amazing son, and amazing daughter, and it’s all because of my amazing wife. There’s nothing I’d like more than to welcome another addition to our always exciting home.
“If the girls get another girl, then I want to get a dog,” Brian says.
“That’s right!” I say, pretending to be in charge. “The boys are getting a dog! And we’ll name it whatever we want.”
“Maybe BJ, dad? It would be a good way for both of you to put one of your initials in the name.”
“Now you’re really gonna get it!” I say. I pin Brianna’s hands over her head while Brian tickles her relentlessly.
Diana pulls out her phone and starts recording a video. “We may never finish movies, and we rarely finish board games, but it’s only because we’re always too busy having too much fun with each other,” she says, as she talks over the video.
I love that she’s recording this so we can go back and watch it later. Our family may not make it all the way through most of the movies we start, but I know for sure we’ll all want to watch one of our classic family moments together again and again and again.
And once we welcome a baby girl into our life there’s going to be a lot more memories to be made.
Just our little family having fun together…like always and forever.
VETERANS DAY DADDY
I’m only in town for the weekend - in and out for the Veterans Day Parade
At least that was my plan…
Until her.
We shouldn’t have met.
We shouldn’t have this kind of chemistry.
And we certainly shouldn’t be doing what we both want to do so, so bad.
One look at her hourglass figure and that rotund booty of hers and I’m standing at attention…in more ways than one.
But it’s a different kind of look that matters the most to me. The way my little daughter looks up to her like she’s exactly the kind of female role model she’s been longing for for all these years.
But there’s another look that matters too…the one her dad’s giving us. I think he knows. And I know I shouldn’t be doing what I’m doing with my best friend’s daughter.
I should be shipping off, but all I can think about is making her my # 1 mission…forever. All rules and regulations are out the window now. I’m going to strategize on the only thing that matters…winning her heart, regardless of the ensuing battle that’s coming with my brother-in-arms…her dad.
*Veterans Day Daddy is an insta-everything standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
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