He grins like a thirteen-year-old boy watching his first porn before pulling me in hard and crushing his lips against mine. He kisses me until my knees go weak and when he finally finds the strength to pull back, he takes my hand and practically rushes through the door.
As we walk around our new home, we take it in with wide eyes. This is the first time Rivers has walked through it too, so really, he took a bit of a risk buying the place without checking it out, but the risk paid off. This home is beautiful.
There are three bedrooms and the second I peek my head into the smaller one, I instantly see the nursery and joy overtakes me. We have two months before this baby comes so we have a lot of work to do to make this place perfect for this baby, but we can do it. I don’t care about the other rooms, as long as my baby has a beautiful room to sleep in each night, I’ll be happy.
The rest of the house gives me ‘the feels’ just as it had when I was looking at the listing all those months ago.
There’s space for a pool out the back with that beautiful tree that creates just enough shade over the yard. I can picture our summers playing out there, splashing around while soccer balls go flying. Maybe we could even build a cubby house for the kids in the tree. There’s a double garage with room for Rivers’ to finally start working on his Freebird and space for me to have my own little reading nook.
Nothing has ever been so perfect.
As we finish walking around, I realize that there wasn’t a hint of hesitation within me. I knew the second he asked that this is what I wanted. In fact, I’ve always known, but fuck, I’m not going to lie. This is one hell of a surprise. I wasn’t expecting this though I had a feeling that over the next few months we’d talk about it, but we’d never get around to it and keep living in my apartment because we’d be busy with the baby.
Fuck me. He just blew my freaking mind.
Once we finish taking it all in, we find ourselves sitting out on the back deck, though without any furniture out here, we’re left to sit on the floor, but I don’t mind.
Rivers’ arm circles my waist as he pulls me into him and rests his other hand against the baby that’s been using my rib cage for target practice. “This is the beginning of our future, Tullz,” he tells me. “We’re going to be happy here.”
I lean my head into his shoulder. “We are,” I sigh. “But I’m already happy.”
“I know,” he tells me before looking down at me with a seriousness that’s enough to have anyone pulling back in concern. “How do you feel about all this if I were to be deployed again?”
I press my lips together before looking out at the to-be pool once again. I consider my answer for a moment, trying to picture how I’d handle it. “You once told me that this is the life you signed up for and it’s because of that life that I get to now have you in mine. If you were to get deployed again, I’m not going to lie, I don’t know how I’d handle it. It would be hard and I’d have to learn how to single parent for a while, but I can see how much you love that part of your life and I’d never take that away from you. So, yeah, I’ll adapt, but let’s just hope that they let you stay home for a while.”
He nods and draws me back into him. “Thank you,” he murmurs. “You’re right. I do love being in the military, but if you wanted me to or if it was too hard, you know I’d leave. In a fucking heartbeat. I’d do anything for you.”
“I know you would, but you need to remember that I’d do anything for you too and being in the Military is a part of who you are, and I’d never force you to make that choice. I went into this knowing that deployment is a possibility and if and when it happens, we’ll work it out, but for now, let’s just focus on starting our lives together.”
“I fucking love you so much,” he tells me.
I press my lips together, unsure how to tell him what I need to say, but feel that while we’re discussing our future, now’s probably the right time to get it off my chest.
“What’s wrong?” he asks me.
I shake my head, looking up at him. “Nothing’s wrong,” I tell him. “It’s just…I kind of did something while you were gone too.” His brows pull down and concern begins to flood his eyes. I hurry in to ease his worry, but truth be told, I really don’t know how he’s going to take this. “It’s not bad,” I promise. “It’s just that…I’m not entirely sure that it’s something you’re ready to discuss.”