SAM leaned back in his chair, beer in hand, daughter tucked into the crook of his arm. He watched Mia as she chatted with Faith, the two of them standing by the table, and wondered what they were laughing about. The two of them got along so well, and he was used to them ganging up on him big time—not that he minded all that much.
“You ever get the feeling that they’re talking about us?” Nate asked, pulling Sam from his thoughts.
“Don’t go thinking you’re that important,” Sam joked, “They’re probably never talking about us.”
Nate grinned and held up his beer, clinking it to Sam’s before sitting down across from him.
“How’s the little lady?” Nate asked, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe you’re a dad.”
“Yeah, that makes two of us,” he replied, gazing down at his daughter. She was so beautiful, her little mouth parted in sleep as she snuggled into him, wrapped in a pink blanket as he held her. He’d never felt so protective or in love his entire life—falling for Mia had been one thing, but falling for this little girl was something else.
“You know they have these beds for babies, right? They’re called cribs, and you can put them in them to sleep on their own?” Nate teased. “They don’t actually have to be attached to you twenty-four seven.”
“Whatever,” Sam glared at him. “This girl can sleep on her daddy whenever she likes.”
Sam looked up when a hand came to rest on his shoulder, followed by long hair brushing his face as Mia bent to look at their daughter. He smiled at her when she turned, kissed her mouth before she had time to pull away.
“What was that for?” she murmured.
“Do I need a reason to kiss the best mama in the world?”
Mia laughed and squeezed into the chair beside him, arm slung around his neck, head dropping to rest on his shoulders.
“I wish I wasn’t so tired,” she muttered, cuddling tighter into him. “How can one tiny human use up every ounce of my energy? I feel like I haven’t slept in days.”
He set his beer down so he could scoop Mia against him, holding both of his girls. Sam knew fatherhood had changed him; it had made him fiercely protective and he was always thinking about his daughter, wanting to do anything and everything he could for her. But Mia had changed him, too. She’d made him a better man. She’d made him want to fight, to open up and be the man she needed him to be, the man he wanted to be for her.
Sophia wriggled in his arms and he looked down at her as one fist pushed out from the blanket and stretched up, her little mouth open as she wriggled. In just three months, he’d become so besotted with her that he couldn’t ever imagine life without her.
“You two lovebirds ready to have dinner yet?” Nate asked with a laugh. “Or are you just going to stare at your offspring all night and make cute baby faces back at her?”
Sam look up and saw Faith sitting on Nate’s knee, his hand on her thigh as she leaned back into him. The twins were inside playing, and the food was all set out on the table outside, and his sister and brother-in-law were laughing. Nate could tease him all he liked, but he’d seen the way he was with his girls and he was just as besotted.
“Yeah, we’re ready,” Sam said, nodding to Mia. “Would you get mine, darlin’? I don’t want to disturb Sophia.”
Mia smiled, kissing him before pushing off. She was wearing a sundress and boots, like she had the day he’d called her into the ring and declared his feelings for her, only this time she was wearing a diamond on her finger and a smile on her face as big as Texas. It had been their little secret for a couple of days, but keeping his mouth shut about it since they’d arrived today had been almost impossible.
“I’m liking this trade-off,” Mia said with a wink. “Me serving you in exchange for daddy daycare duty.”
“Mia!” Faith suddenly gasped, making them all look up.
“What?”
“How did I not notice that huge rock before? Mia, it’s huge! When did this happen?”
Sam grinned when Nate made a face at him. He mouthed something but Sam had no idea what he was saying and just shrugged.
“We wanted to tell you tonight,” Mia said, sporting the cutest pink blush on her cheeks that Sam had ever seen. “In person, rather than over the phone.”
“She finally said yes,” Sam joked, standing with little Sophia still tucked in his arm. “We came over tonight so my sister and best man would be the first in the know.”
“Best man?” Nate asked, one eyebrow arched as he stared back at him.
“The one and only,” Sam said.
Faith squealed and threw her arms around Mia, and both women laughed and talked and giggled like little girls. Nate waited until Mia and Faith had moved away, before coming over and holding out his hand. Sam clasped it and then Nate pulled him in for a one-armed hug.
“I’m so damn proud of you,” Nate said, stepping back and shaking his head. “Man, what happened to the bachelors, huh?”
“Hey, it’s when we both start driving minivans that we have to worry,” Sam joked.
But he saw the look on Nate’s face, knew him well enough to see how genuinely happy he was for him. They’d been through a lot together, and being with Mia and seeing Faith with his best friend, it all made sense now. The universe had thrown a lot at him, but everything had worked out well in the end.
Sophia cried then and he smiled down at her, knowing Mia would be at his side within seconds as he rocked her in his arms and tried his best to comfort her.
“Shhh,” he soothed, jiggling her and passing her over to Mia when she appeared beside him and held out her arms. He watched them both, the mother of his child and his little girl. He’d been so close to walking away from Mia forever, and he was so damn pleased he’d come to his senses. He had Nate to thank for that, and his sister. They’d been hard on him but he’d deserved it.
Sam went and got their diaper bag, knowing Sophia would be hungry and probably wet. Mia settled into the chair he’d been in earlier and he stood for a minute, wondering how he’d gotten so lucky as he watched her feed their daughter, watched a little hand rest on her mother’s breast, and Mia whisper down to her as she nursed.
“It feels good, doesn’t it?” Nate asked.
Sam grinned. “Does it ever.” He’d experienced highs in his career, he’d listened to applause from crowds of people who’d traveled from all over to see him work, but it wasn’t a patch on the way he felt right now.