“I love you. I love Knox, and the thought of not having either of you, it breaks me.”
Oh, my sweet girl. “Won’t happen, baby. It’s you and me, remember?”
She nods and wipes her eyes.
“Can I kiss you?” I know it’s not really the time, but I need something. I need to show her that nothing in that letter changes a damn thing for me. She’s my heart.
She laughs. “You really want to kiss this mess?” She points to her face.
“Yes, you’re my beautiful mess,” I say, leaning in to kiss her salty lips. The door opening has me pulling away.
Mark is carrying Knox in his seat and sets him on the couch beside us. He sees us and babbles, moving his little arms and legs.
Kendall laughs and turns sideways in my lap, pulling him out of his seat. Immediately, she hugs him tight to her chest. The little bugger grabs onto her hair, and she smiles. “I love you, Knox Beckett,” she says, kissing him on the forehead.
Is it possible for your heart to be too full of love and happiness and hopes for the future? Mine feels so full it could burst from my chest at any minute.
“We love you, Kendall Dawson,” I whisper in her ear, hugging them both. She smiles through more tears, and that smile tells me we’re going to be okay. We’ll take it one day at a time until we learn to live with our unexpected reality.
The last three months have been filled with tears and uncertainties. It took Kendall some time to process that she’s a twin and that the man she loves and his son are connected to said twin. I also had some processing to do—I had to decide how long I needed to wait to ask her to marry me.
Knox will be seven months old in a week. It’s hard to believe. He really is starting to look like my little man. It’s been so much fun to see him learn new things and to be able to share that with Kendall. I’m ready for more, and Knox is too; he told me he’s ready to be a big brother, in his own little babbling way.
I talked it over with Knox, and we decided tonight is the night. I called Kendall and invited her over, told her we were having a quiet night in. We are, just the three of us. Hopefully, by the end of the night she’ll be my fiancée, and I can finally convince her to move in with me. I’ve been trying for the last two months, but she still turns me down. I know she’s still leery, and in the back of her mind she feels like she has taken her sister’s family, but she needs to see that we’re her family, Knox and me.
I have everything set up. I bought the frozen lasagna and put it in the Crock-Pot just like she did that first day the three of us spent together. I have the same blanket we used down at the gazebo the night before, washed, folded and waiting for us by the back door. Nothing over the top, just us and how it all started.
I hear her pull in, so I quickly zip up Knox’s hoodie and hand him the red rose, hoping like hell he doesn’t try to eat it.
As soon as she opens the door, we’re standing there, both of us holding a single red rose. I offer her mine and Knox mimics me. “Thank you, handsome.” She leans in and kisses his cheek. He giggles. “And you.” She stands on tiptoes and presses her lips to mine. Knox grunts and pulls on her arm. He’s a little jealous when it comes to Kendall, not that I mind. I love that they’ve formed that bond—makes tonight’s plans even sweeter. We’re already a family; this will just change her last name, make it official.
“How was your day?” I ask.
“Good. It’s been a long week. I was definitely ready for my weekend with my two favorite people,” she says. Knox reaches for her and she beams as she takes him and settles him on her hip.
“We missed you.” I kiss her temple. She stopped spending the night through the week, but from Friday after work until Sunday, she stays here. She still stops by every night, but she said during the week it was just easier with work to stay at her place. She seemed to always forget something—no scrub top, her stethoscope, something. I tried to convince her to move in, and this was her compromise. Hopefully that all changes tonight.
“So, dinner is in the Crock-Pot, and I thought we could take a walk out to the gazebo.”
“That sounds like fun, huh, bud? You want to feed the fish?” She looks up at me. “It’s actually fairly warm out still. We better enjoy it while we can.”
I nod my agreement, grab the blanket, and hold the door open for them. I trail behind as Kendall points out birds and the leaves on the trees. Knox mimics her and points too. Once we reach the gazebo, I set the blanket on the bench and open the bucket of fish food we started keeping out here a few weeks ago. Knox loves to feed the fish. He gets more food on us than he does in the water, but his giggle is worth it.
“Hey, I have to show you the shirt I found for him,” I tell her.
She smiles.
“He’s actually wearing it,” I tell her.
“Did Daddy buy you a new shirt?” she asks him. “He did? Can I see?” She sits on the bench and adjusts him on her lap. I kneel before her and grab his little hand so she can pull down the zipper. “Let’s see the new duds,” she says, pushing the jacket open.
I watch her face closely as she reads it. I see her confusion. Her eyes flash to me and that’s when she sees the ring. “What’s it say?” I ask her.
Tears well in her eyes as she places her hand over her mouth. Knox pats her cheek, seeing she’s upset. “Will you marry us,” she whispers.
I reach for Knox and he jumps into my arms. “We love you, Kendall. We want you to have our last name. We want Knox to be a big brother.” She laughs through her tears. “Make our little family complete and marry us?”