by Doyle, Dawn
My shoulders ached from the days’ session, and as I rode my motorcycle into the garage, I finally let myself relax.
I took the stairs two at a time, impatient to see what was on the other side of the door, my stomach in knots for what lay ahead.
“Kinny?” I whispered when no sound came from inside our apartment. I walked down the narrow hallway, a strip of light shining through the arched window, past the living room and kitchen and into our bedroom, the vast open space filled with everything we needed. I stopped in the doorway and leaned against the white wooden frame.
Our son was sound asleep in his crib, and my girl was sleeping in the rocking chair next to him. Her arm was resting through the bars, a tiny hand wrapped around her pinky. My chest filled to bursting every damn time I saw them like this, my emotions choking me up.
“Hey,” Kinsley, whispered groggily, a sleepy smile on her face. She checked Isiah, then turned back to me. “I was dreaming about you.”
“You were?” I walked over and stroked across her flushed cheek, warmth seeping into my fingertips. “Good, I hope.” I waggled my eyebrows. Kinsley giggled quietly, and I leaned down to kiss my son’s head, his dark hair tickling my lips as I did.
“I was wearing a white dress,” Kinsley said, her flush darkening. “And you looked fine in a tux, just as well as that leather jacket you have on.”
My heart hammered so fast I was amazed it didn’t seize up. “Really?” I asked, keeping my exterior calm, but inside, I was shaking.
Kinsley nodded. “You were waiting for me at the altar, and when I got to you, I woke up. Just like every time I dream about it.”
Every time? She’d dreamed about this before? Fuck me.
I cleared my throat. “Before the good part?”
“Yeah,” she admitted. “I think so.”
Fuck, so did I. I’d thought about it too often, and more since Isiah came into the world. A tiny, screaming person that I loved more than I thought possible.
Shit, here goes nothing.
“I’ve got a proposition for you,” I said matter-of-factly, loving how her eyes widened, just like they had when I suggested for her to be my fake girlfriend. Yeah, that was insane, but it worked out better than I could’ve imagined. “What would you say if I could make it so your dream wouldn’t end there?”
Kinsley’s mouth fell open. “Quinn, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying, Kinny, that what if, right now, I asked you to marry me. What would you say?” Shit, I was about to have a heart attack. Sweat beads rolled down my spine, prickled along my scalp, and I was nervous as fucking hell waiting for her to say something. My pulse pounded in my ears, the quiet clock adding to the thump thump inside my skull.
Kinsley blew out a long breath. “You already know the answer to that, Quinn.” Her sparkling eyes were like a knife to my gut, but there was no pain. It was the moment I’d been waiting for, for a long fucking time, and I had to cut it out of me because I sure as shit couldn’t just spill it out like a normal person.
My hand shook like fuck as I reached into my pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. “Kinny,” I said, my throat tight. “You made my dreams come true the day you showed up in Broken Hollow. You were everything I thought I didn’t want, but you’re everything I need and more.” Tears spilled over her lids and down her cheeks as she lifted her hand to her mouth. “Would you let me make your dream become a reality? I love you, Kinny—you and Isiah. Will you marry me?” Both our hands trembled as I lifted hers and slid the diamond cluster onto her finger, the platinum band fitting perfectly.
“I’ve already said yes more times than I can remember,” she choked. “Every time.”
I cupped her face and kissed her once. “I need to hear it, babe.”
“Yes, Quinn, I love you so much. I’d love to marry you.”
I sighed with a shit-eating grin on my face, sinking back onto my heels. I didn’t get a chance to get up. Kinsley threw her arms around me, and our mouths crashed together, our tongues joining, and lips gliding over one another.
Isiah squirmed in his crib, his soft noises breaking the silence. Kinsley sat back, and I stood to take my child in my arms. I walked across the room, looking down at the tiny bundle that had come from us. I stopped near the shelf that held pictures of us, Kinsley’s parents, and the few I had left of my mom. Sat in the center, was my model motorcycle from when I was a kid, the exact same as the one parked downstairs.
“Hey, little man, did you hear?” I asked. “Your momma’s gonna make an honest man out of me.” I tilted my ear toward him. “Oh, really? You think so?” I chuckled and turned to Kinsley, who was watching us with a content smile on her gorgeous face, her hair loose around her shoulders. “He said it’s about time, Kinny. Can you believe that? Our kid’s got an attitude.”
She laughed lightly. “Just like his daddy.”
I beamed, rocking my boy side to side. “Yeah, just like me.” Fuck, I hoped not, because mine was born of the shitty hand I’d been dealt as a kid, and even though I was coming out the other side with my family, I was still that broken kid inside. Mine wasn’t gonna ever feel that way, because he was loved more than anything in this fucked up world, he was wanted, and I would die before anything happened to him—either of them.
My family.
My world.
My future.
Kinsley
I watched my guys, taking in the loving bond between them, my heart aching for the one that Quinn had been denied.
But, as he held our son in his arms, gazing down on his little form, there was no denying the unbreakable connection and the love he had for our baby.
For everything Quinn had been through, he deserved happiness, the best, and all the love he could get.
He was my world.
My love.
My savior.
And he was an incredible father.
The End.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to say a massive thank you to my go-to-girl, Sarah ‘Loopy’ Green. Always ready to read and points out my typo’s, even the stubborn ones. (Brian working faster than my hands can type). Thank you so much for your feedback; it’s always appreciated. Thanks for being excited for me to get back to the keyboard after my break. It pushed me more than you know.
Lisa Seleska for being an amazing woman, and excited to read when I was ready to to pout my work out again.
A huge thank you also to Kimi and Nikki—my best friends from across the globe—for always being there for me.
And to you, the reader, for not giving up on me.
Dawn.
xxxxx