I can feel the sweat slowly rolling down my back under my light cotton dress. It’s hot as balls out, as Logan likes to say. I smile to myself a little bit, sometimes very aware of the habits that I’ve picked up from living so intensely with him. To be fair, he’s picked up some of my habits, too. For example, he dries himself off while still standing in the shower, instead of stepping out onto the bathroom rug first. Not to mention he actually cleans his dishes instead of leaving them for the housekeeper to do.

It’s also weird that I have a housekeeper, but I try not to think about it. My life has changed so much these past two years, and I have to admit, it’s gone fast.

“Are you ready?”

I look over at Logan and grin. I tip my sunglasses down to get a better look at him. He’s wearing a navy blue suit without a tie, the first two buttons undone in the heat. He’s so damn handsome and he makes my heart beat so fast even after all this time.

“I’m ready,” I say.

“Good.” He steps forward and accepts the scissors from the Mayor. He looks out over the crowd and grins at them. “Ladies and gentleman without further ado, I give to you the Ray Community Center and Homeless Shelter, or the RCCHS, as everyone’s been calling it.”

He steps forward and cuts the ceremonial red ribbon as the assembled press snap away with their cameras. The crowd cheers as it falls away and Logan waves as he hands the scissors back to the Mayor.

The ribbon ceremony is really just an empty PR event. The RCCHS has been open for a few weeks now. In a whirlwind of building, permits, money, contractors, more money, we razed the entire block and built this modern, beautiful building. It has beds for two hundred people and enough staff to keep them all fed. People are already starting to filter in, getting shelter for the night before heading back out into the world. Nobody is allowed to stay permanently, but if they do stay, they have to go through some mandatory counseling. So far, I think we’ve already managed to find several people jobs, and to get medical help for tons more that needed it.

Meanwhile, the community center part is buzzing. There’s already a basketball league forming, along with classes, more counseling, and even an indoor pool that was a last minute addition when we realized that we had the space for it. Swim lessons are shockingly popular, probably since they’re free.

I spend the rest of the ceremony by Logan’s side. It’s where I’ve been for the last two years, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. He answers questions like a true professional, and any semblance of the old, media-averse Logan is totally gone. He’s not surly or short with reporters anymore, but he lets his natural charming spirit shine through. I like to think I had a hand in that, but I know the truth.

It’s Alexa. That little girl changed him far more than I ever could. He went from a bachelor with few responsibilities to this man who cares about his community and wants to raise a daughter.

The hot day slowly wears on, but the ceremony ends and the crowd disperses. In Gym Three, there’s a basketball game going, and the cafeteria is serving lunch to the homeless, all of it funded by Logan’s personal charitable foundation. He’s mostly financing that, but others have started to give money, and things look very, very good.

“What do you think?” he asks me. We finally find ourselves alone out in front of the center. People walk past and recognize us, or at least I assume they do based on the way they look, but nobody bothers us.

I smile up at him and kiss his lips softly. “It’s your dream,” I say

He grins and shakes his head. “It stopped being my dream a while ago, Everly.”

“What do you mean?”

“This place is ours. Not just mine. You’ve worked on this just as much as I have.”

“Good point.” I kiss him again. “Don’t you ever forget it.”

Against my wishes, Logan promoted me at work. He assigned me to head of the board of the Ray Foundation, which means I basically run the RCCHS. We also have a few other projects coming up the pipeline. The work is difficult and demanding, and very different from my old life, but I love it. It’s more satisfying and fulfilling than anything else I’ve ever done, and it’s all thanks to Logan.

“What are you two doing, lurking around over here?”

We both turn and spot Richard walking over, a big smile on his face. Before we can say anything, though, Alexa comes running forward, tugging herself free of Richard’s hand.

“Daddy!” She throws herself at Logan. He laughs and lifts her up in the air.

“There you are, moon pie,” he says. “Did you have a fun morning with Uncle Richard?”

“She sure did,” Richard says. “Almost got lost at the zoo. Didn’t you, gremlin?”

“I saw monkeys!” she says.

Logan laughs and hands her off to me. I put her down on the ground and take her hand. “I’m glad you didn’t turn into a monkey, little gremlin,” I say to her.

“Monkeys are cute, mommy!” she says.

I laugh and kneel down to kiss her.

“How’d the ceremony go?” Richard asks Logan.

“About what you’d expect.”

“So perfect?” He grins.

“Of course. Everly set it all up.”

I shrug and stand up. “It’s easy when you have the backing of a billionaire.”

“Good point,” Logan says, nodding sagely. “I do make things easy.”

I laugh and kiss him one more time.

“Well, I’m off babysitting duty now,” Richard says. “Bye, little gremlin.” Richard waves to Alexa.

“Bye, big gremlin.”

He laughs and waves as he leaves.

“Thanks, Richard,” I call after him and he just waves again.

“Were you good for Uncle Richard?” I ask Alexa.

“Yes,” she says, although she’s already forgotten all about him.

I smile down at her, and feel something I’ve felt a hundred times since making it official with Logan. It’s an intense, powerful sense of pride.

Logan catches the look on my face and steps up close to me. “What are you thinking?”

“Just how much I like this little kid,” I say, grinning down at Alexa.

“Yeah? She’s okay,” Logan says. “Smells a little.” He makes a face.

“Daddy!” Alexa throws herself at his leg and he laughs.

“I was thinking…” I say, trailing off. I give him a sly little look.

“Okay,” he says instantly.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

Logan bends down and looks Alexa in the eye. “Alex honey, do you want a little brother or a little sister?”

She hesitates. “No,” she says.

We both laugh. “Why not?” Logan asks her.

“I want two little brothers,” she says.

I laugh again and Logan makes a face. “One at a time, honey,” he says.

“Okay,” Alexa answers. “Baby! I want a baby!”

“Okay then,” Logan says, standing. “I think that’s our answer.”

“You’re sure?” I ask him.

“I’m sure. I’ve been sure for a while. You’re the one that wanted to wait.”

“Yeah…” I say, hesitating. “I only wanted to wait until this place was open. And now it is. So I think it’s time.”

He grins at me. “Then let’s get to it.”

“Okay then.” I feel a sudden rush of excitement and relief.

I love having Alexa as my stepdaughter, but I’m ready to have my own daughter with Logan. I want to see what a baby we make together will be like. I want Logan to be the father of my children, and now it’s the perfect time.

I feel complete, more complete than I’ve ever felt. I have a perfect husband, an amazing daughter, and soon I’ll have more children. The culmination of years of hard work sits before us, successful and amazing. I feel so proud, so good, and I know it’s all thanks to Logan.

If I hadn’t accepted his crazy proposition all that time ago, I don’t know where I’d be. But I’m so happy I did. All the stress, all the danger, it was all worth it. Spencer Winterfield hasn’t bothered us since we made that deal with him, and I haven’t even thought about him.

Things are perfect. Logan is perfect. He’s an incredible husband and father, and I feel so blessed to be with him. Together, we’re going to make a new baby, and we’ll build an empire of charity together that’ll help this city in ways I never imagined. All because he’s the perfect, incredible person that he is.

I kiss him one last time, squeeze Alexa’s hand, and we head back to our apartment together, back to our life, the life I never, ever want to leave.