Page 35 of Keeping Penny

“And I have to tell you, you did good, mister,” she said, after she wiped her face with her shoulder. “I’m gonna be able to tell our kids and grandkids and great-grandkids how romantic you were and how you surprised the hell out of me.”

“Good. That was the goal. Now, how about we all go to Anchor Point and celebrate not only our return with good cheeseburgers, but new beginnings!”

“We can’t leave Waffles behind,” Laryn said with a frown, as she stood with her new dog in her arms.

“I’ve already asked, and we can bring him too. Just this once, since it’s a special occasion.”

“Yay!” Laryn said, with a huge smile on her face.

“Mommy,” Bowie said, leaning way out of Pyro’s arms, toward Penny. Thankfully he had a firm grip on her, so she didn’t end up sprawled on the asphalt.

Bowie was getting a little big to be carried, at least by Penny. Pyro didn’t seem to have any trouble holding her. But Penny was well aware the time would come when her daughter didn’t want anything to do with her mom. She’d be a teenager full of angst and drama, and Penny would only have sweet memories of carrying her around.

For that reason, she relieved Pyro of his little burden and took her daughter into her arms.

“That was sweet!” Bowie said.

“It was.”

“I want to pet Waffles.”

“I’m sure you can later. Let’s let Laryn and Waffles get to know each other first. I’m sure things have been pretty hectic for him.”

“Okay. Mommy?”

“Yeah, sweetie?”

Laryn and Casper were walking with the three older men, and everyone else was following along behind. Pyro and Penny were taking up the rear as they headed for the area where the team had left their vehicles.

“Where are we sleeping tonight? Are we staying with Kylo-Pyro?”

Penny couldn’t help but look up at the man by her side. He was carrying two duffels in one hand—one his own, and the one that held everything Penny and Bowie had to their names. Bowie had never once asked about their living situation in the past. She’d simply trusted that her mom would keep a roof over their head and food on their table. She wasn’t sure why she was questioning things now, except that she was getting older. More aware of things around her.

“We’re going to stay with Zita. You just met her, remember?”

“Uh-huh. Is Kylo-Pyro going to be there too?”

“No, honey. He has his own apartment. It’ll just be you, me, and Zita.”

“I wanna stay with Kylo-Pyro!” she whined.

“You’ll have your own room, honey, and there won’t be red dirt on the ground,” Penny cajoled, trying to appease her daughter.

“I bet Kylo-Pyro’s home doesn’t have red dirt either. I wanna stay with him!” Her voice was louder now, on the verge of a tantrum. Something she hadn’t had in quite a while.

Attempting to reason with a six-year-old was difficult at the best of times. But Bowie hadn’t slept much the night before, too excited about the ship getting to shore, and the disembarkation process had been long and tedious. And then with the excitement over Laryn’s proposal…it was no wonder she was being cantankerous.

“We’ll visit Pyro’s apartment, and he’ll visit ours. But we can’t live with him.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not our new home.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re living with Zita. We’ll each have our own room. You’ve never had that before.”

“I don’t want my own room, Mommy,” Bowie pouted. “I wanna sleep with Kylo-Pyro.”