I heard Osiris yell FUCK! for the fourth time. That’s when I decided to go outside with an ice cold bottle of beer to calm him down. If that didn’t work, then I’d start taking off my clothes. But if I did that, we would have to act fast because Adley was coming any minute now.

I walked off the porch and found him on his knees holding the pole for a tent. He stared at it like it was something foreign.

“What the fuck is this for?” he growled.

“I think it’s for holding up the tent,” I said.

Osiris looked at me. “I put up the tarp.” He pointed to a large tarp that was nailed to a couple trees. “That’s good enough.”

“You wanted to go camping with Adley,” I said. “You have to sleep in a tent. You know that.”

“I promised her we would look at the stars. She could fall asleep and I’ll carry her inside. It’s going to be cold tonight, too.”

“Then you’ll have to build her a fire,” I said.

“And you’re loving this, huh? You get to sleep inside.”

“I wasn’t invited,” I said. “Brought you a beer.”

Osiris threw the pole down and came to get his beer. And steal a kiss from me. “How are you feeling?”

“Great.”

“Liar,” he said.

“How’s the tent going?”

He curled his lip as he drank the beer.

I went to the tent and, no lie, I had the thing standing in less than two minutes. My wild mountain man was able to build anything by hand with tools and wood. He could carry a tree on his wide shoulders. But ask him to put up a tent?

“Don’t tell anyone about this,” he said. “If anyone asks, I did that.”

“Fair enough,” I said.

“How’s business today?” he asked.

“Good,” I said. “I have to get in there tomorrow and finish up a few orders. Megan is working the register until eight tonight.”

“I’m proud of you, sugar,” he said. “Taking all that on and making it work.”

Yeah, so, I bought the flower shop. I sold everything I could part with. I took a loan out from a bank that owed Jerry and Osiris a favor. So I was all on my own. I owed nothing to nobody. I kept everything in the shop the same. I did a little advertising to get the word out about our custom orders and retail space. I hired an amazing woman named Megan. She was twenty-one, going for her MBA, and was thrilled to be working with me. I gave her all my trust to grow the business with me. I told her when she finished school, if she was still interested we could partner up and open a second location. But I had it in my heart she was going to end up getting serious job offers. Which was great.

I was technically homeless still. I found an apartment and then gave it up at the last second for a good reason.

“So, did you look at any of the houses I sent you?” I asked Osiris.

“Nope.”

“Syi…”

He touched my face. “I told you already. Find what you like.”

“I want it to be us, though.”

“Oh, trust me, sugar, this is all us.”

“I don’t like when you talk like that.”

“I don’t really care.”

“I’m going to tell Dane you couldn’t build the tent.”

Osiris gritted his teeth. “Fine. Which house did you like best?”

“The second one. With the red shutters. With the maple tree in the backyard.”

“Me, too,” he said. “That’s my favorite.”

I slapped his chest. “Asshole! There was no house with red shutters!”

“Well, maybe we should find one that has them.”

“I hate you sometimes,” I said.

Syi slid an arm around me and pulled me close for a kiss.

I pushed at him. “Hey. Careful. Your lips taste like beer.”

“Relax, nothing’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s my baby in there. A little beer won’t harm a thing.”

Syi winked.

I rolled my eyes.

I was finally starting to show.

It was sort of the reason I was still homeless. I found an apartment and then found out I was pregnant. Right now I lived in the cabin with Syi. But I was anxious. I wanted to set up a nursery and get ready for the baby. For our baby.

“Lara,” he said. “I want you to find your dream home. My dream home already exists.”

“Well, where is it?”

“The home you’re in with me.”

I lowered my head.

I hated when he said stuff like that.

Yeah, it was romantic as hell. But my hormones were out of control.

“Are you crying?” he asked.

“Shut up,” I said.

A truck appeared on the horizon.

“Big truck,” Syi whispered. “Means he has a small dick.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Your truck is bigger than his.”

“I’m the exception to the rule,” Osiris said with a wink.

Both doors opened and Michelle opened a side door. Little Adley popped out and hit the ground running.

“Wow!” she screamed when she saw the tent. “It’s really here!”

Osiris dropped to one knee and Adley jumped into his arms.

“Told you,” he said.

“Are we cooking s’mores?”

“Yup.”

“Telling ghost stories?”

“Of course.”

“If I get scared…”

“You can sleep inside,” I said to Adley. “But we’ll make Osiris stay outside. Girls night, right?”

Adley giggled.

Michelle walked over with a pink bag in her hand. “Here you go.”

I took the bag. “Thanks.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better in the afternoon,” I said.

“A little girl, huh?” Michelle asked.

“Yeah,” I said. I glanced at Osiris. “He’s convinced they’re wrong.”

“We’ll see when the baby gets here,” Osiris said.

Michelle shook her head. “Typical man.”

Dane walked up and put an arm around Michelle.

“Where are you two headed tonight?” Lara asked.

“Movies,” Michelle said.

“Dinner,” Dane said. “An actual night out. Off. Away.”

“Hey,” Osiris said. “Anytime.” He then pointed to the tent. “Ad, why don’t you go check it out. Put your sleeping bag down.”

“Okay!” Adley yelled.

She grabbed her bag from me and disappeared.

I sensed a little tension.

I wasn’t going to step in unless I had to.

“Look,” he said. “I have plenty of blankets and sleeping bags. Chances are, she won’t last an hour in the tent. Which is fine.”

“I know,” Michelle said.

“Then why are you two standing there like I’m about to get yelled at?” Osiris asked.

“What you did to the bench out there,” Dane said. “That’s good.”

“Oh,” Osiris said.

A couple months ago Osiris disappeared in the middle of the night. He always took midnight walks. This time he didn’t come home until morning. He turned the stone bench into a memorial for Mila. He said it was the right place to have the memorial for her. I didn’t question it. I loved that he did it.

“It’s nice, Syi,” Michelle said. “What you did. What you’re doing tonight for Adley. You know, Father’s Day is coming up. She was asking questions…”

“About what to do,” Dane said.

“Right,” I said.

“I told her what she should do,” Dane said.

I sensed Osiris stiffening. These two guys were never going to be friends. That was for damn sure.

“I told her to make two cards,” Dane said. “That at the end of the day she was lucky to have two fathers in her life. You and me, Osiris.”

“Damn,” Osiris said. “That means a lot to me.”

“There’s a Father’s Day party at her daycare,” Michelle said. “It’s next Wednesday at-”

“I’ll be there,” Osiris said. “I’ll be there.”

“Good,” Michelle said.

“We better get going,” Dane said. “Let’s say goodbye to Adley.”

As Dane walked by, Osiris grabbed his arm. The two had a stare down. “Thank you.”

Dane nodded.

They said their goodbyes and the sleepover-slash-camping trip had officially begun.

It wasn’t until after nine, when it was dark out, that I left the cabin to check on things. I walked to the end of the porch to spy on Osiris and Adley.

Adley sat in a small chair with a blanket on her legs.

Osiris knelt next to her, poking a stick into the fire.

I smiled.

Osiris looked up to me and I saw his smile in the smoke of the fire.

I put both hands on my stomach and let out a long breath.

I looked down and smiled bigger, tears filling my eyes.

We’re the luckiest people in the world, little one. Not many people get the love your father has to give. He’s a rough-looking guy. He’s got tattoos. He doesn’t smile as much as I’d like. But I can tell you this… there are three times I always catch him smiling. The first is when he sees the drawings on the fridge from Adley. The second is when I catch him in the reflection of the mirror staring at me. And third, most of all, is when he pulls the picture of the ultrasound out of his pocket and looks at you. I’ll forever joke and call him ‘the hot guy from the woods’ but you, little one, you get to call him Dad.

THE END.