A year and a half later

“Remind me the next time you ask for my help to tell you to go to hell.”

I slid the hammer back into my tool belt and glanced over at Caleb. “Will you quit your bitching already? We’re almost finished.”

“Well thank God for that,” he grumbled. “My blisters have splinters, for Christ’s sake.”

“Aw, poor baby Caleb. Never had to work a day of manual labor in his life,” Dominic laughed. “Is real men’s work too tough for you?”

Caleb shot the bird in Dominic’s direction. “Says the man who gets manicures.”

“It was one time!” Dominic shouted. “Sophia dragged me along. What was I going to do, just sit there bored out of my mind?”

Grayson wiped the sweat from his brow and shifted his gaze between our pain-in-the-ass friends before rolling his eyes. “You two think you can get your shit together long enough for us to get this done? I’d like to have dinner with my family tonight, not be stuck out in the middle of the goddamn woods, watching you two bicker like little girls.”

Caleb and Dominic stopped fighting and got back to work. Without the distractions, we managed to finish an hour later and headed back to my parents’ house. It was the Fourth of July, and everybody had gathered at the Lockhart house to celebrate the holiday with beer, barbeque, and family.

Dad was manning the grill on the back porch with Calvin and Maury gathered around, getting in some guy time well away from all the womenfolk. Nana was lying on a lounger in typical Nana style, with a pair of giant sunglasses on her face, a big floppy hat on her head to block out the sun, and a margarita in her hand that spelled trouble. My mom ran around with Evelyn and Elise, setting up huge spreads of food on the outside tables while Caleb’s mother flitted around the yard chasing after Evie and Liam, Grayson and Lola’s little boy, while somehow managing to hold Sophia and Dominic’s three-month-old daughter, Annabelle, on her hip with surprising ease.

I scanned the area until my gaze landed on the one person I was looking for. Fiona sat near the pool with Lola, Sophia, and Daphne. The four of them were in a tight huddle, talking and laughing without a care in the world, and just like it had all my life, my heart flipped at the sight of her gorgeous smile.

I broke off from the guys and made my way to my wife, stopping about five feet away. When her attention turned to me, I lifted my hand and crooked my finger, chuckling under my breath as she rolled her eyes at my caveman antics. She said something to her girls before standing and heading in my direction. I watched in fascination as she moved, the swell of her belly prominent beneath her filmy sundress. There was nothing more attractive in the world than the sight of my wife heavy with my child. When she held that stick up seven months before, the two pink lines clear as day, I finally understood what my father was talking about when he described the pride he felt when it came to his children.

“You summoned?” she teased once she made it to me.

“There’s something I want to show you. Can you spare a few minutes away from the band of merry misfits?”

Her face scrunched with curiosity as she examined my sweaty T-shirt and dirt-covered jeans. “I think I can make a little time for you.”

My lips quirked in a grin as I took her hand and started leading her toward the tree line past my parents’ backyard.

“Ooh,” she cooed playfully, tugging on my hand as we got farther and farther away from the party. “Are we sneaking off for a quickie? Why, Deacon Lockhart, you’re so naughty.”

My head fell back on a burst of laughter as I continued leading her deeper into the woods. “As enticing as that sounds, that’s not why I’m bringing you out here.” I hooked my arm over her shoulder and pulled her into my side, kissing her temple. “At least not yet, anyway,” I added, because her idea definitely held merit. But first….

Fiona jerked to a stop with a loud gasp. “Oh my God. Deacon.” She looked from the tree house to me, tears welling in her beautiful eyes. “You… oh my God, you built me a tree house.”

“Well, we can’t keep calling it our secret hideout if there’s nowhere to actually hide out in, now can we?”

“It’s… it’s….” She let out a hiccupped sob and reached up with her free hand to cover her mouth. “This is the most perfect tree house ever.” Spinning into me, she wrapped her arms around my waist as best she could with our baby growing between us and burrowed into my chest. “I’d go inside”—she let me go to look down and rub her belly—“but this little guy’s throwing off my center of gravity. I don’t think I could make it up the ladder.”

I placed my hands over hers and tangled our fingers together right above where our son grew healthy and strong. “It’s not going anywhere. Unlike the last one, this tree house has been built to last. It’s a gift for you as well as this little guy right here.”

She sniffled and looked back to the tree house. “I can’t believe you did this for me, Deacon,” she whispered, giving me her eyes once more. “It’s amazing.”

Moving my hands from her belly, I lifted them and tangled my fingers in her thick, fiery red hair. “When our son is old enough, we’ll bring him here and tell him stories about his parents’ friendship growing into something so much more. We’ll teach him what real, unconditional love is, and maybe one day, when he finds the girl he knows, down to his bones, he’s going to spend the rest of his life with, he’ll bring her here and make it their own special, secret hideout. Just like his dad did with his mother.”

A tear slipped free and made a track down her cheek. I caught it with my thumb and leaned in to kiss her rosy pink lips.

“You’re being awesome again, Deacon,” she said in a mock scolding tone.

“Better get used to it, baby. This is only the beginning.”

Her sigh was filled with contentment as she leaned into me and gave me a hug. “I love you, Deacon. Around the world and back again.”

I breathed in the scent of her hair, relishing the fact that this amazing woman was mine for the rest of my life, and responded the same way I always did. The same way I always would. Forever.

“And I love you to Jupiter and back again.”