“Thank you,” I said into Jay’s chest. We were laying in bed, and he was holding me close.

The night before we had a wonderful night out on the town celebrating our news. There was great food, excellent champagne, and lots of dancing and laughing. Once we got home, there was lots of playtime. In the kitchen, in the dining room, and on the stairs.

I was on cloud nine with the way everything had turned around for us. Life was good, and I was going to bask in the glory of it. In the space of twenty-four hours, I gained a full-time daughter—well, technically—and my arch enemy was arrested and facing serious charges. I just hoped my dad was happy in heaven with my mom and not kicking himself in the ass for trusting such a snake.

“For what?” He asked.

“Everything. This is a beautiful life and it’s only going to get better. Thank God you went into Lace that night.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” He kissed the top of my head and ran his hand down my back to grip my ass. I knew what that meant. Jay, or more aptly Jay’s dick, was ready to play a little game of slap and tickle.

“Not this morning, Casanova.” I grabbed his hand to stop him.

“Thought you just said this life was about to get better. In my mind that means smashin’ my woman.”

“Yes, well. Let’s just say I’m not pregnant and we can smash again in a few days.”

The corner of his mouth turned up in a sad grin. “Sucks. Kinda liked the idea of you barefoot and pregnant.”

“Me too.”

We lay in silence for a while, and I thought about how I had wanted to be pregnant once I knew it was a possibility. Life was too short to worry about how long we had been together or what kind of shit was going to get thrown our way. Deciding to embrace the moment, I said, “So I was thinking that maybe we could start trying for a baby.”

I really hoped he said yes. I couldn’t wait to be pregnant with his child. I pictured him rubbing my swollen belly and doting on me. The very idea of another little girl or boy for him to spoil, or more accurately to wrap him around their finger, made my biological tick loud and hard.

“Like the way you think.”

“Good.” I squeezed him and started drawing patterns on his chest. “Can we go to my special spot down by the Arboretum today?”

“Anything you want, T. All you gotta do is ask.”

Yes, life was good.

* * *

The bike pulled off to the side of the road, and I swung my leg over and took my helmet off.

“What’s in the bag?” I asked, referring to the bag Jay pulled from his Harley’s saddlebags.

“A surprise. Come on, let’s go.” He grabbed my hand, and we began our trek to the boulder overlooking the lake and the Dallas skyline that I visited so many times as a youngster.

“What did you do?” I asked when I realized the path was completely clear of the junk and overgrowth that was there the last time we were here.

“This place is special for you. I wanted to make it beautiful again. Bought the plot of land and had it cleaned up.” His hand squeezed mine, and he turned to look at me.

Talk about going above and beyond to make me happy.

“You’re amazing,” I breathed. This was such a great gift.

“Can’t take all the credit. Keesha worked her ass off to make this possible.”

“Well, be sure to give her a raise,” I joked.

“Not so sure about that,” he joked back.

We settled on the boulder, and I put my head on Jay’s shoulder. This place really was beautiful and brought such a sense of peace to me whenever I was here. I imagined Jazzy and hopefully three or four little mini-Jay’s or T’s running around enjoying this place like I did as a youngster, while Jay and I sat just like this watching them.

“We should bring Jazzy here,” he informed me. I wondered if he had similar thoughts to mine when he said that.

“No. You should bring her here. She deserves a special place with you, especially now that things are going to be changing for her. I’m willing to share and then eventually we can start working me into the mix.” At least for now I’d let it be their thing. Once we had more time together and she was more used to me, it would definitely become a family thing.

“Alright. I’ll bring her up here and we’ll make it a thing. I just hope she can sit still long enough to enjoy it.”

I laughed at that. She really did have a rather large amount of energy. “I’m sure I drove my father crazy a time or two when he brought me here.”

“Probably,” he agreed. “Which reminds me.”

Jay dug in the bag he brought and produced a chocolate croissant and a small bottle of chocolate milk. When he handed them to me tears sprung to my eyes. “You remembered?”

“Remember everything you’ve ever told me. It won’t bring your dad back, but it will remind you he’s here with you.”

“I love you.” The tears fell from my eyes. I swiped at them and vowed I wasn’t going to cry anymore about this.

I took a bite of the pastry and then shook the bottle of milk before taking a sip.

Everything about being here was just like I remembered. The smells, the scenery, and being with a man I loved. Perfect.

We watched the city as everyone went about their business. The birds chirped, boats passed by, and off in the distance kids played. It was the most wonderful way to cap off all the amazing things that were happening to us.

“Got you something else.” Jay rooted in the bag again and pulled out a box from Harry Winston, identical to the one he gave me on my birthday.

“You didn’t need to…” I trailed off once I saw what was inside.

It was a necklace like my birthday necklace, but better for obvious reasons. Inside the locket was a diamond encrusted “Love” charm, a diamond encrusted J and T, a peridot for my birthstone, an opal, and a garnet—which I knew was Jay’s birthstone. Dangling next to the locket were three tags, each one with a different saying: Love, Trust, and Forever.

“The opal is Jazzy’s birthstone,” he explained. “You can either wear it alone or there is an extender so that it can hang off your first locket.”

“It’s perfect. Shit. I’m going to cry.” And just like that the dam opened and tears flowed.

Jay gripped each side of my face and pulled me to him. His thumbs swiped away my tears. “Love you, T.”

“I love you, too. Put it on me?” I held my hair up and he did the clasp for me. “I’m going to wear this every day.”

“It’s not a ring, but—”

“I don’t care. It means more to me than a ring. You’re very thoughtful, Mr. Santiago.”

“I try.”

“I fell in love with a great guy,” I declared while looking at my necklace.

He shook his head and gave me a mischievous grin. “No. You fell in love with a bad guy.”

“Wrong. I fell in love with the perfect guy.” I gave him a wide smile and leaned into him. My head rested on his shoulder again.

“Nutty,” he murmured against my hair after he kissed me there.

“Want to ride off into the sunset with me? It’s still part of the dream,” I told him.

We might not be getting married anytime soon, or well ever, but he was still my knight and we were still going to have a kick ass future just like I always imagined.

“Totally fucking nutty,” he said with a smile in his voice.

I looked up at him and batted my eyelashes. “But you love me.”

He gave me a deep, wet kiss. When he pulled back, the amount of love I saw in his eyes made my heart skip a beat. “You know I fucking do.”