Titan

“Isabella, stop running.” I placed my hands on my hips and stared down at my five-year-old daughter. She’d been running around the house with crayons in her hand because she refused to put on her shoes so we could leave.

Isabella stopped in her tracks, timid with fear. She dropped the crayons on the hardwood floor.

“Put on your shoes.”

“Can you help me?” She hopped onto the chair and looked at her pink sneakers.

“You know how to tie them.”

“It’s hard…”

“You can do it, sweetheart.” I showed my little girl how to do everything, but I didn’t baby her. She needed to learn because I wouldn’t always be around to help her. She needed to stand on her own two feet as quickly as possible.

Isabella sighed before she began the long process of getting each shoe on and taking forever to tie each one correctly.

I didn’t rush her.

Diesel called me for the third time.

“I’m leaving right now. Isabella is putting on her shoes.” I shut my laptop on the desk and grabbed my purse from the table. I’d worked all day at the office with Isabella strapped to my side. Our nanny was sick, so I had to run business with my daughter in tow.

“We’ve been here for fifteen minutes. You want me to come help you?”

“No. Just be patient.”

Nathan yelled over the line. “Dad!”

“Shh,” Diesel said in the background. “Mommy is coming.”

“Mommy!” Nathan yelled.

Whenever our nanny called in sick, I took Isabella and he took Nathan. We couldn’t handle more than one kid at a time while we were focused on our projects. Nathan behaved better with Diesel, and Isabella was a lot quieter with me.

“I’ll be there soon.” I hung up.

Isabella was done with her shoes, so we both left the office. I didn’t pick her up and carry her to the elevator. We walked whenever possible. If I were willing to pick her up all the time, she would be the happiest little girl on the planet. But I wasn’t doing that.

My driver took us to the restaurant, and we finally made our way inside. Since there were too many people around, I scooped her up in one of my arms and carried her to the table where everyone was waiting.

“There’s my girl.” Diesel stood up with Nathan in one arm. He leaned in and kissed Isabella on the forehead.

“I thought you were talking about me,” I teased.

“Then let me do that again,” Diesel said with a chuckle. “There’s my girls.” He kissed me on the forehead next.

We traded kids because we hadn’t seen either one all day. I held Nathan against my chest and smiled down at my three-year-old son. He looked so much like Diesel that my heart melted every time I looked at him.

“There’s my granddaughter.” Vincent came to Diesel’s side and took Isabella away. “Beautiful, as always.”

“Hello, Grandpa.” She covered his nose with her hand.

“Hello, sweetheart.”

Scarlet stood beside him and grabbed her small hand. “I like your dress. You look very nice today.”

“Thanks, Grandma.”

Scarlet took her next, her wedding ring shining in the restaurant.

Vincent eyed both of them with a smile on his face.

“Sorry we’re late.” Thorn came in next, his twin boys sitting in each arm. “We had a toy emergency. Don’t ask.” He rolled his eyes then greeted me with an awkward hug since he didn’t have any arms to embrace me.

Autumn came in behind him with their daughter. “Brittany couldn’t find her stuffed bear, and you know she can’t go anywhere without it.” The dark-haired girl in her arms had it held tightly to her chest.

“It shouldn’t be an emergency,” Thorn said. “But it was absolute chaos.”

Autumn hugged me next. “Hello, Nathan.”

He waved.

I took Brittany from her arms, and she took Nathan. “Hey, Brittany. How are you?”

She just held the bear to her chest and stared at me. She was very shy, which was unusual since both of her parents certainly weren’t. But she was adorable, looking like a perfect blend of Autumn and Thorn.

“Let’s eat.” Thorn sat down. “I’m starving.” He looked around the table and saw that Vincent was the only one without a baby. “Vincent, take one.” He handed Connor across the table into Vincent’s arms.

Vincent didn’t seem to mind at all.

Now we all had a baby except Diesel. His eyes were on me, and he watched me hold our son against my chest. His eyes were soft, just as they always were when he saw me hold our children.

“What?” I asked, feeling his gaze intensify.

“You want to have another one?” he asked right in front of everyone. “Make it three?”

“Don’t. Do. It.” Thorn pointed at me. “Don’t even think about it. Two is plenty. Don’t go for three. Two parents and three kids doesn’t add up.”

Autumn rolled her eyes. “He’s exaggerating.”

“Hell no,” Thorn snapped. “I had to take all of them to work with me one day… Let’s just say it was one of the worst days of my life.”

“Shh,” Diesel said to him. “I’m trying to convince my wife to let me knock her up again.”

“Keep your legs closed, Hunt,” Thorn barked. “You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

There was no way I could keep my legs closed around my husband. Even if I wanted to, he would force them apart. “A third baby doesn’t sound so bad…”

Thorn shook his head then grabbed the menu. “I need a big-ass beer.”

Scarlet held Isabella until she started to cry in her arms. She handed her back to Diesel.

“See?” Thorn said. “It never stops.”

“You’ll regret the day it does stop,” Vincent said quietly. “So enjoy it every moment you can.”

Thorn turned his gaze on Autumn and shared a look with her. His features noticeably softened, and he brought his son closer to his chest. “Yeah…you’re right. Vincent is always right.”

Diesel hummed under his breath until Isabella stopped crying. Within a minute, she was back to being her calm self. She grabbed Diesel’s nose and chin.

He was used to their hands constantly touching everything, so he was immune to it. He read his menu without being fazed by the constant touching. When Isabella slipped her fingers into his mouth, he playfully nibbled on them.

When I saw the way he was with our kids, there was nothing I wanted more than to have a third one.

Diesel caught me staring at him, so he stared back. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Probably.”

He chuckled then adjusted Isabella to a different leg so he could grab his water glass. “Dad, what are you and Scarlet doing tonight?”

“You want us to babysit?” Vincent held Connor in one hand while the other rested on Scarlet’s thigh. “So you can make me another grandchild?”

“Pretty much,” Diesel said. “Our nanny has the flu.”

“And you have to do this tonight?” Vincent asked incredulously.

“Hey, you want another grandkid or not?” Diesel asked. “Jax isn’t even close, and Brett and Natalie just got serious. I’m all you’ve got right now.”

“Now he’s threatening us with grandchildren,” Scarlet said. “Well played, Diesel.”

“I’m just yanking your chain,” Vincent said. “We’d love to babysit, and not so we can have another grandchild. We love watching them.”

“Yeah?” Thorn asked. “You want to watch ours too?”

“Thorn,” Autumn said with a laugh. “Stop it.”

“Hey, it was worth a shot,” Thorn said. “When Autumn’s parents watch the kids, it’s impossible to get them back. They hog them too much.”

“Aww, that’s sweet.” I thought of my father and how much he would love to meet his grandkids. But at least my mom was around. She came over once a week to spend time with the kids. Our relationship had progressed, but it was nowhere near perfect. It seemed like we were friends rather than mother and daughter, but it was better than nothing.

“Or do you want to watch them now so Tatum and I can sneak off?” Diesel asked.

I grabbed a piece of bread and threw it at Diesel’s face.

Isabella laughed.

“Sometimes I feel like I already have three kids,” I snapped.

Diesel grinned back, loving the way Isabella laughed. “That’s pretty accurate, actually.”

The waiter finally arrived with children’s menus and took our orders. When everyone was distracted, I stared at my husband and reminded myself not to take anything for granted. I had the perfect life, luxuries that couldn’t be bought. I had a wonderful husband and two beautiful children. My life was perfect.

I treasured it every single day.

I treasured it even more because it could have been so different. I took a chance on love, and I was rewarded with happiness I never thought I would experience. I got something people dreamed about but never actually experienced.

Letting go of Titan was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do, but combining my life with someone else’s brought me more joy than I ever could have imagined. Diesel and I were one person, and we had two wonderful kids to show for it.

I couldn’t be happier.

Diesel must have known what I was thinking because he gave me a soft expression.

I gave him the same look in return.

And we both just knew.