Paloma snuck out of my bedroom at dawn, wanting to ensure that her sisters didn’t wake up and see her in my room. I had insisted that I would wake up with Sky, so Paloma could get a good night’s sleep.

She would need it. I planned to wear her out tonight.

When she and the girls woke the next morning, I had a surprise for them.

First things first—I was going to cook breakfast. Definitely wouldn’t be as delicious as Paloma’s food, but it would be filling. Perfect for a road trip.

I threw the bacon into the pan and started the coffee pot. My heart brimmed with excitement. No more telling Paloma how I felt. Today, I was going to show her that I was serious about having a future with her. 

I walked over to the kitchen table to clear it and noticed that there was one of Mónica's papers from school crumbled up. I opened it up and my heart wrenched. 

A Father Daughter Dance.

Paloma had told me that none of the girls knew their fathers and that she didn’t even have a clue who her dad was. I couldn’t even imagine that. My father was the best man I knew. Without his guidance, I was sure I’d be a womanizer like Sawyer. 

When I had been with Paloma last night, it had been only about her. I wanted to be with her, hold her kiss her, make love to her, make her feel good. But now I realized that being with Paloma met so much more.

It wasn’t just about her. I needed to do right by her sisters.

The bacon sizzled in the pan and I flipped it over. 

Paloma emerged from the room wearing a tank top with no bra and low-slung pajama bottoms—definitely less conservative that the fully dressed woman I was used to seeing in the mornings. 

“Morning, sunshine.”

I walked over to her and gave her a kiss. A confused look graced her face. 

“Are you cooking? Do you know what you are doing?”

Smartass. “I can feed myself, Loma. I did eat before you came into my life.” But honestly, the only thing I wanted to eat was her again. I wanted to devour her nightly. Last night, my balls were in a world of hurt. But I was a patient man and I wanted to wait until she felt more comfortable about dating me. To ensure her that I wasn’t using her.

Her eyes glanced over at my packed suitcase. “Are you going somewhere?”

I removed the bacon from the pan and patted it dry with some paper towels. Then I cracked some eggs to fry in grease. 

“We are going somewhere.”

Her brow furrowed. “We? What are you talking about?”

“Babe, I’m taking you to San Diego. The girls too.”

She bit her lower lip. “Today?”

“Yes today. Tomorrow I have to fly over Coronado for a Navy SEAL graduation. We can stay at my buddy Grant’s place.”

“How are we getting there? We can’t all fit in your plane.”

“Right. The narrator on the squad is going to fly my plane to San Diego. It’s good practice for him. He will be taking over my slot next year. I’ll drive.”

Tears began to well in her eyes. “San Diego! Are you serious? Can we go to the beach?”

“Woman, we are staying on the beach. The base in the on beach.”

“Oh my god!” She ran over to me and threw her hands around my neck and kissed my lips. I pulled her into me and kissed her back, savoring her taste as I pressed her against the sink. 

“Well well well, guys. Good morning to you,” Mónica said.

Paloma pushed me off of her, but I pulled her back into me.

“Morning, Mónica.”

Paloma's cheeks reddened, and she whispered in my ear. “I didn’t want her to know until we became serious.”

“Well, know she knows and we are serious. We have nothing to hide.”

Paloma exhaled and buried her head in my chest.

I turned to Mónica. “Mónica. Do you want to go to San Diego today?”

“You serious?”

“Yup. We are leaving in an hour.”

Mónica ran over to me and hugged me. “I can't believe it. Lo, can we drive around and see where we are going to live?”

Paloma and I made eye contact and her face seemed to fall at the same time that my heart dropped. 

San Diego.

Where they had planned to move after I left El Centro. It was only a month away, but it seemed like an eternity. 

It was too soon to ask her to move with me to Florida, but I couldn’t imagine my life without Paloma. Without her sisters. And it wasn’t even about me and how I felt about her. What about Sky? Paloma spent more time with her than I did, though that wasn’t by choice. We were deep into our training schedule now and I couldn’t imagine having anyone else take care of Sky. I no longer worried about Sky when I was out flying. I completely focused on my men and my formations knowing that Sky was being loved and attended to. I would either have to hire another nanny back in Florida or ask my in laws to watch her. For the next nine months, I would be traveling every week around the country to different air shows. And then she needed someone to love her when I would deploy next year. Sky needed stability. And I needed someone to miss me while I was gone. 

But I had a month. One month to ease into this conversation. One month to make decisions.

“I’m sure Beck will show us around. I’m going to wake up Sky.” Paloma left the kitchen. 

I turned my attention back to the eggs and plated the food. Ana María walked out in her favorite Dora the Explorer nightgown. 

Mónica ran over to her. “Ana María! We’re going to San Diego.”

“Today?”

“Yes. Today!”

Ana María clasped her hands together and turned to me. “Can we see the baby tigers?”

The tigers. They had been all over the news. A baby tiger had been caught at the border and the Zoo Safari Park had rescued it.

“Sure. We will go to the Zoo Safari Park and the beach.”

Mónica ran down the hallway almost plowing over Paloma and Sky.

"Mónica, Beck said we can go to the beach and the Wild Animal Park. Can you believe it?”

Paloma looked up at me and her confused expression from earlier turned into a hopeful smile. “Yes. I can.”

And this time, Paloma kissed me. In front of Mónica. In front of Ana María. In front of Sky. I kissed her back. 

We had nothing to hide.