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I stare at the house in front of us, a small smile on my face as Ryker walks around the car.
This is it.
Our future starts here.
25
Six Years Later
Ryker
Don’t ever let anyone fool you into thinking that planning an extravagant party for a hyperactive little boy is everything dreams are made up of. Every single time I think I’ve got the details down, Nico walks up and gives me a brand new thing to worry about.
At first, he said he couldn’t live with himself if there wasn’t a huge bounce house at his party—something his friends would apparently “freak out” over—and he needed to stay in the cool crowd.
I handled that, feeling proud of myself, and then he came up to me and told me that he’d lose all credibility if there wasn’t a huge monster truck cake. He even went into specifics—he wants a big orange monster truck on the top, with small monster trucks cruising along the bottom to show how big of a deal he is.
Now, after pouring over every last detail, he tells me monster trucks are no longer interesting to him and he wants everything to be Minecraft-themed.
Minecraft.
I’m supposed to change everything for a party that’s in four days because my son has since decided that it’s not what he’s interested in anymore. I want nothing more than to deny his request and explain to him that I put my time and effort into planning the monster truck party, but I can’t bring myself to let him down.
If Wren were in here, she’d cave as soon as he looked up at her with those big puppy dog eyes – at least I have a little more restraint than that.
Nico is looking at me expectantly, after I got the decorations put together in front of me, and I sigh. “Bud, I thought you wanted the monster trucks?”
He grumbles like he’s the adult and I’m the kid, then crosses his arms with a frown. “I want Minecraft, Daddy.” I know it’s coming, which is why I wait until he pokes his bottom lip out in a pout that has my heart cracking and let him say, “Pretty please, Daddy?”
How could I possibly say no to that?
Just as I go to give in to him, Wren walks through the door with bags dangling from her fingers and our daughter clutching her hand like she’s in need of saving.
Nico has always been our more outgoing child, loving the attention, but Nicole is the complete opposite of that.
Nicole is the type to hide behind our legs when a stranger even starts walking in our direction. She only speaks animatedly with a few people—Wren’s family and my best friends. Anyone else is completely off-limits to her.
I smile at my little girl, her red curls bouncing right along with her as she rushes over to my outstretched arms and jumps onto my lap. “Hey there, pretty girl, you have fun shopping with mommy?”
“She let me get a new baby doll!” I watch with my mouth dropped open in amazement as Nicole pulls her new dolly from the bag and dangles it in front of me, that toothy grin making my heart immediately warm up. “I think I’m going to name her Lily, do you like that name?”
Nico is coming up on six years old, with Nicole following closely behind him at almost five. Once we had our son, it didn’t take long for Wren to get yet another positive pregnancy test and we took in the news with happiness.
I never thought I’d see myself with a house full of kids, but as Wren walks over to me and her swollen stomach brushes against my bicep, I know there’s no other place I’d rather be. I’d have an entire football team as long as Wren was the one at my side to wrangle them together.
“We’ve got an issue,” I mumble to her after brushing our lips together in a slow kiss. Even to this day, I can’t get over the way tingles erupt through my veins when she touches me.
Wren cocks a brow, then smirks. “Let me guess, another change?”
“Oh, big time,” I mumble, then wave a hand at Wren while looking at Nico. "Why don’t you tell Mommy what kind of party you want now?”
Nico smiles wide, and the excitement rolls off him in waves, giving me more of a reason not to open my mouth and deny his wish. It’s his birthday after all, who shouldn’t get what they wish for?
“Minecraft!”
Wren chuckles like she knew this was going to happen all along, and she shrugs her shoulders. “Well, the boy has spoken, Daddy.”
I shove what I’ve been working on aside and roll my eyes while already thinking of decorations to match a Minecraft theme instead.
