* * *

“Did you see the box with my pots and pans anywhere, Kylie?” I shout down the hallway.

“No,” she says. “But I did find your box of trains,” she says with a mischievous grin. “I didn’t see your conductor hat though, was that in another box?”

“A man needs to have hobbies,” I say.

Her grin widens. “You just may have to fight with Dean over this hobby of yours, because, you know… He’s two, and he likes trains too.”

“You know you’re going to pay for this, right?” I ask.

She bites her lip. “I was counting on it.”

I’m about to pull her in for a kiss when Dean comes barreling through the new house on a little toy truck. He crashes into a wall and tips over. He looks to me and gives me a thumbs up and a smile before picking his truck up again and zooming off.

“He’s going to love it here,” says Kylie. “You know you didn’t have to move, though. This is all so much, I don’t know how--”

“Hey,” I say, pulling her close and hugging her. “You’re mine, Kylie. Mine to take care of. Mine to protect. Mine to love. That means you don’t get to decide what is too much or what is excessive when it comes to me spending money on you. I want us to have this place together. And I want to make sure you have a chance to catch a breather whenever you need it,” I say, drawing her attention to the front window, where we have a clear view of Angie arriving. “There’s an in-law suite separate from the house where Angie will be staying. She’s thrilled about the whole arrangement because she loves Dean and she loves you. Plus, she gets a free place to stay with salary and benefits.”

“Damian…” she says. “I can’t--”

“You can, and you will. You don’t have to use her to watch Dean at all if you don’t want, but she’s here if you need her. So am I.”

“I’m always going to need you,” she says, gripping my shirt and standing on her tiptoes for a kiss.

“Damn right you are. Especially when we start filling this beautiful belly of yours with more babies.”

A look crosses her face that makes me narrow my eyes, looking at her more closely.

She looks up at me with wide, searching eyes, then the shadow of a smile creeps across her lips. “I think we already started.”

“You’re pregnant?” I ask. “You’re actually pregnant?” I can’t help myself. I grab her by the hips and lift her up, spinning around a few times while I laugh. “We’re going to have a fu--freaking baby!” I say, catching myself before I drop an “F” bomb within ear-shot of Dean.

Kylie laughs. “Not if you spin it out of me.”

I carefully put her down. “I’m sorry, that was--”

“No. Don’t be sorry. I was afraid you’d be upset for some reason. We never talked about it, and I mean, now you’re with a woman who has gotten pregnant twice out of wedlock. I thought maybe you’d think I was a hussy,” she says, still smiling slightly but I can tell she was actually a little worried.

“There’s nothing I want more in this world than being with you for the rest of my life and growing our family, Kylie. Nothing at all. Okay, there may be one thing.”

She raises an eyebrow.

“Remember when you dropped your suitcase full of bathing suits three years ago?”

“Yes…” she says. “Are we playing the embarrassing memory game? Because this isn’t going to be fair. All I have is the time you stubbed your toe and fell completely on your face.”

I reach in my back pocket and pull out a post card. It shows a scene of a pristine beach in Bermuda and a rocky outcropping. “Look familiar?” I ask.

She snatches it from my hands, eyes wide. “You had this the whole time? I was looking for it when I got home and thought I lost it.”

“It took me a little research and some time, but I found the place. I know we were going to get settled in today, but I went ahead and paid a team to handle the rest.”

“You let us move half the boxes in the house and then paid a team to do the rest?”

I smirk. “I can’t spoil you too much. Now you get the best of both worlds. The charm of working up a sweat on move-in day, and the luxury of knowing professionals are handling it all for you.”

She grins. “So thoughtful.”

“I thought so. Now go find Dean, because I’ve got a helicopter scheduled to pick us up in the back yard in about five minutes, and we can’t go without our little man.”