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If anything, I truly thought this was just the start of my happily ever after. I didn't need a damn ring or an empty promise. I just needed love from my favorite pest. The person who would defend me to the end of the earth without crossing the line. Most importantly, he was willing to jump in and be the dad when needed, especially to a kid who wasn't related to him whatsoever.
Spence turned back to me and gave me one more of those panty-melting kisses. It was probably a little too inappropriate of a kiss to do in front of a kid since it had a full tongue, but I didn't care.
Spence pulled back and reached into the kitchen drawer. At first, I didn't understand what he was trying to get out of there since he wasn't the one who was making dinner. Then, when he pulled out a ring box, I shook my head. While I knew he was my forever, it was too soon. We'd only been dating for a couple months.
I put my hand onto the box and pushed it back. "Spencer Michael Suzuki, do not even think about giving me that ring until it's been at least a year."
He pouted and held onto the box. "But I've known you since we were kids. How much slower do you want to go?"
That was when Eric piped in. "At least look at the ring. I helped him pick it out after visiting my mom at the hospital. I want to know if we did a good job."
I giggled. It was beyond sweet that he incorporated Eric into ring shopping. But I'd noticed that Spencer was always so good about doing something fun or sweet after going to the hospital.
"Fine. I'll take a look at the ring."
Spencer flipped open the box, and there sat a gorgeous princess cut ring with teal sapphires on either side of the round diamond. I smiled.
"It's perfect. But you're going to have to wait to give it to me for real. A year. Got it?"
"Of course, babe." Spencer took my hand and kissed it. He then looked over his shoulder toward Eric. "I told you it was too soon, and when we do it for real, I'll make sure you'll be there for it."
"You better," Eric said as he looked over the island. It was that subtle sign that he was getting hungry. Thankfully, I was stirring the powdered cheese, milk, and butter in the pot.
Epilogue
It'd been over a year since I de facto moved in with Spencer and we started our lives together. There had been a few ups and downs. Mainly watching the drama between Siobhan and Carter and then seeing Scuba reconnecting with his unexpected family.
Spencer was his typical self and had been a damn pest all the time. If it wasn't for Carter pulling him back, I was pretty sure Spence was going to lick another player in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Thankfully, it was only an attempt, and with some quick thinking, I made a meme saying how he was mocking a player with that attempt since Spence did it to a known licker. So, at that time, he was considered a hero.
I looked at my watch; I was going to kill Spencer. Today was the day for us to have our assessment to become foster parents, and he wasn't back from his workout. It already took a minor miracle that they worked with Spencer's schedule to set up the appointment. But there was no way in hell that we would be approved to be foster parents if he didn't show up soon.
While I fumed, I did that anxious cleaning. Rethinking every little thing on the coffee table, including the little tray filled with tea.
I heard the alarm beep, indicating that someone had come through the door. I peeked out to the kitchen to see Spencer walking in. "You're late."
"I know," he said with a smile. "But I figured you would want me to be clean after working out."
He was more than clean. His hair was perfectly done. His beard was trimmed. Even his outfit was a huge upgrade from his normal stuff. He had a nice Legacy polo on and a good pair of khakis. It was just a step down from his game-day suit.
He pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me. I smelled that wonderful woodsy cologne. "Don't worry about it so much."
"You know they don't like unmarried couples and whatnot."
He chuckled and kissed my forehead. "We can fix that any day you want. I already tried to propose to you last year, and you said I needed to wait at least another ten days before I could do it again. Hell, we could get married any day of the week as long as you don't mind disappointing your parents."
I giggled and stood there in disbelief. He knew down to the day when he could propose to me again.
I could see him dragging me off to the courthouse to get married. But he was right; my parents would flip if we eloped without a ceremony. Besides, I still had my image of a perfect wedding day.
The doorbell rang. He kissed my nose and went to answer it. A middle-aged woman was standing there. Spencer held out his hand and said, "Thanks for coming to meet with us."
She smiled and shook hands with both of us. "I'm Bella McPherson. I know you already were granted temporary guardianship of a child about a year ago, so this shouldn't take too long."
First came the home inspection. That part was easy. Everything was clean and tidy. We showed off the guest room, which we turned into a kid's room and explained how we planned to tailor it for any child we got. We even moved Spence's gym stuff out to the finished shed so we could have a playroom for some kids.
Then, we sat down for the interview. I grabbed Spence's hand and tucked it around my elbow. I was so afraid of him saying something stupid in the interview process.
"As far as the application process, everything seems to be in order, but there are a couple things that I wanted to get more information about. Why fostering?"
