Cole was the first one out of the car when we pulled up in front of the house, darting out onto the lawn already. Not far behind him was Maverick, the black lab-slash-German shepherd that Bryce had given him for his eighth birthday a couple months before. The dog ran yipping around the yard, and Cole ran right around with him.
I got out of the car, laughing at their antics, and smiled over at Jake. “Well, here we are,” I said quietly.
“Here we are,” he agreed.
It was strange to think that after less than a year of really knowing him, we were already moving into our own house together. But then again, we'd been “engaged” practically since I'd come back into his life. And we'd been officially engaged for about three months now, ever since my parents had finally thawed a little about our relationship. Of course, that thawing had been helped along by…
“Here, let me get that,” Jake said, pulling the suitcase away before I could get to it. “I don't want you carrying anything heavy in your state.”
I rolled my eyes a little, although secretly I was pleased by the way he had been treating me. “Jake, I'm pregnant, not decrepit. I'm not even showing yet. I think I can carry a suitcase!”
“Come on, you can help me with … well, you can tell me where all the boxes go, how about that?” he asked. He grinned at me. “The sooner we get all of these things put away in the right rooms, the sooner we can…” He trailed off, wagging his eyebrows suggestively, and I laughed, shaking my head.
“We've already got the one kid and another on the way,” I reminded him.
“All the more reason to do things now, before the other one gets here!” he said. “I know what it's like to live in a place where there are screaming babies around. Everyone is always exhausted, and they probably aren't going to do sexy things in bed...”
I snorted. “All right, all right, you've convinced me. Let's get these things inside.”
Cole ran over, Maverick hot on his heels. “Can I help?” he asked, ever the polite gentleman.
“Sure, buddy,” Jake said. “Here, can you get this box or is it too heavy.”
“It's really light!” Cole said, beaming up at his dad.
I had thought the kid would be a bit more fazed to learn that Jake was actually his real dad and that we were going to be moving, but apparently with all the weird things on TV these days, they covered all of that kind of stuff. I thought back to the conversation that we'd had…
Cole was sitting in the living room, doing his homework with the TV on in the background. I didn't usually let him have the TV on, but there was football game on that Jake was watching when he wasn't on the phone — which seemed to be happening a lot that day, but I no longer really let it bother me, and I didn't try to listen in.
When Jake got off the phone and halftime started, we muted the TV and sat down next to Cole, one of us on either side of him. Cole immediately looked suspicious. “I don't know what you think I did, but I didn't do it ... probably,” he announced.
I grinned a little at that, although mentally I made a note to keep an eye out for whatever it was that he had done that he thought that we had already found out about. “We're not here to punish you, Cole,” I told him. “We just had some big boy stuff that we wanted to discuss with you if that's okay.”
“Okay,” he said, sitting up a little. “I'm almost done with my math homework.”
“Good job, buddy,” Jake said, eyeing the paper. I knew he was still so proud of Cole and his homework. Jake had never been very good in school, a symptom of moving around from foster home to foster home and always having different curriculum to learn, so he was impressed with Cole's ability to really stay on top of his grades and do a good job.
“Honey, remember that time that we had the conversation about Brian and how he wasn't really your daddy?” I asked, and Cole nodded. I took a deep breath. “Well, I don't know if you know this, but Jake is really your daddy.”
Cole shrugged a little. “Okay,” he said. He looked at Jake. “Does that mean you're going to teach me to ride a motorcycle? Because all the kids at school think that your motorcycle is really cool. I drew a picture for show and tell!”
Jake laughed and gave me an apologetic look. “Maybe someday,” he agreed. “But not until you've graduated college.”
Cole pouted a little at that but then sighed. “Fine. But will you at least teach me how to throw a baseball better? Matt Dickinson always gets to be pitcher for our games because everyone knows he throws the ball the hardest, but I want to get to be pitcher sometimes too.”
We were both suppressing laughter at how blasé he was about this. “Sure thing, buddy,” Jake said. “We can work on that. Now that the weather's nice and warm when you get home from school, we should go practice a few times a week, and I'm sure you'll get better in no time—how does that sound?”
“Good,” Cole said.
We continued sitting there, as I mustered up the courage to say what I had to say next, and Cole finally rolled his eyes impatiently. “Mom, why are you still sitting here?” he asked. “I have to finish my homework.”
I laughed a little and pulled the little munchkin sideways into a hug. “Well, the other thing that your dad and I wanted to talk to you about is that we're going to be moving. Just you and I and Jake, into this nice little house that's not too far from here. So, we'll still be able to come back and see grandma and grandpa a lot, but you will have to move schools next year.”
“Oh,” Cole said. He shrugged again and pulled his math homework back towards him. “Well, I already know that.”
“What?” I asked, surprised.
“How?” Jake asked.
“Grandma told me the other day. She told me that it was a secret and that I wasn't supposed to tell you that I knew, but I did.” He scrunched up his face. “She didn't say it on purpose or anything, I was just talking about the teachers that I would have next year and she told me that I might have different teachers and when I asked what she was talking about or if Ms. Rosen was getting fired or something, she told me. But that's okay. She told me it means I get to make even more friends, and that sounds like fun.”
“Well good,” I said, shaking my head a little. Of course, my mother had already told him that we were moving; I shouldn't be surprised. Really, Jake and I had been meaning to talk to him sooner, but I'd been afraid that this conversation would be more difficult than that.
I got up off the floor, and Jake stood as well. “Well, if there's anything that you want to talk to us about, buddy…” Jake said.
“I know, I know,” Cole said, rolling his eyes. “Dad, it's fine.”
Jake looked a bit stricken at the name, and I was taken aback with how quickly the kid had adopted that. But then again, he'd been so fine with it that I had to wonder if that was another secret that Grandma had spoiled. Or maybe he had just worked it out on his own; he was a smart kid.
I smiled at Jake and held out my hand to him, glad that everything finally seemed to be falling into place for us.
And now that we were finally in our house together, it felt even more that way. The place was a bit small still, but it would do for now. Of course, if we had any more children, things would be a bit tight, but we'd cross that bridge when we got to it. For now, it was big enough for us and Cole, plus a nursery for the new baby. And it had a big yard for the kids and Maverick to play in.
What I really loved about the house was the sunny, yellow kitchen. And there was plenty of space in the garage for both Jake's car and his bike. There were good schools in the area, and really, everything seemed perfect.
“You all right?” Jake asked, coming to stand behind me as I stared out the kitchen window into the backyard, watching Cole and Maverick playing fetch. He wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on my shoulder and his hands across my stomach, which wasn't growing yet but would be soon.
“Yeah,” I said, smiling happily. For the first time since I'd found out that I was pregnant with Cole, it felt as though maybe my life was on the right track. “Yeah, everything's just ... perfect. Absolutely perfect.”
“Good,” Jake told me. He lightly kissed the side of my neck, and I could feel his smile against my skin.
THE END
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