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I swallowed hard as I bent down to lift him up. “I love it.”
“Mommy said I gotta ask you.”
“Ask me if I want to be your daddy?” My voice was thick with emotion. This little boy and his mom were my everything.
“Yep.” With his adorably serious face, he was so matter-of-fact and sure with his one-word declaration.
I glanced toward Juliette; her cheeks wet with tears. “And you’d be okay with that?” Although I knew she loved me as much as I loved her, this was a whole other level of trust. I wanted to respect that in asking for her blessing in this pivotal step.
“Yes. I know you said you wanted to wait until he’s old enough to decide, but I think he has by drawing this picture.”
“Can I?” Tristan asked, putting his little toddler hands on either side of my face.
“I’d be honored.”
He scrunched up his little face with confusion at my words. “What?”
I laughed at my mistake in phrasing it that way for a three-and-a-half-year-old. “I mean yes. Yes, you can call me Daddy. That would make me very happy.”
He hugged me to him. “Me, too. Momma said I have two. One in heaven and you here with me.”
I appreciated the way she had explained this to him. I never wanted to lie to Tristan about his biological father. But some day when he was older, I would sit him down and tell him this was the day I became his dad. Just as his mother had captured my heart, so had he. “That’s right. I love you, Tristan.”
“I love you, too, Daddy.”
Oh fuck-cluck. I was going to lose it. I handed him off to Juliette, who was quickly becoming a mess of tears herself. “Uh, here. Why don’t you two go upstairs, and I’ll be up in a minute?”
She led him up the stairs.
I was grateful for a few minutes to myself to get a handle on my emotions. Toddlers didn’t always understand happy tears, so I didn’t want him wondering why his picture had made me so emotional. Taking the frame off the nail it hung on, I studied it closer. There was no way I was leaving it here for the next week. Nope, it was making the trip with us.
When I went up to the main level, Jules and Tristan were waiting by the door. Both looked curiously at the fact I was holding my present under my arm. “I want to take it with me, so I can have it all week. Then I’ll bring it back and put it above my desk again.”
This appeared to make Tristan very happy as he grinned from ear to ear.
As we started on the road south toward Orlando, I couldn’t help smiling. Obviously, I hadn’t been the only one with a big Christmas surprise in mind. I took Juliette’s hand across the console, and we spent most of the trip talking about the new house we would start building in the new year. I’d purchased the lot next door to Sasha and Brian, who were almost done constructing their house. I’d surprised Juliette with it when I’d proposed last month.
After the eight-hour drive with a couple stops, we got checked into our hotel and put Tristan down for the night. I’d relished it when he’d wanted his ‘daddy’ to brush his teeth, tuck him in, and read him his bedtime story.
Finding Juliette in the bathroom removing her makeup, I came up behind her and put my arms around her waist. I hugged her to me.
“You okay?” she asked.
I nodded, meeting her gaze in the mirror. “Better than that. You really blew me out of the water today with the family picture. Thank you.”
She smiled. “For what? I only provided the frame.”
I shook my head, moving her hair off her neck in order to land a kiss. “No. You gave life to that little boy, and now you’re sharing him with me. There is no greater gift.”
Her eyes went misty. “That was beautiful. I can’t think of anyone who will make a better father than you.”
I turned her around and kissed her softly, appreciating how amazing this woman was. But when her hand rubbed my chest, I stepped back with a wince.
“What’s under your shirt?”
Her head was quirked to the side, causing me to smile. “Something I can’t wait to show you.”
She lifted a brow. “Is this another ‘if you show me yours, I’ll show you mine’?”
