I walked through the front door of the new house and found Rose in the kitchen with Wesley in a highchair. She held a coffee mug in her hand, looking tired but so fucking beautiful that it stopped my heart for a couple seconds. I didn’t care what she said about me just being nice, she was the prettiest thing I’d ever laid my eyes on. Especially when she was tired. There was just something about her… watching her as a mother… it drove me insane.

She put her coffee mug down and jumped into my arms. We kissed like we were teenagers, me spinning her around until she giggled and said she was going to throw up.

Wesley let out a yell and slapped his hands.

“I’ve got you, kid,” I said.

I leaned down and kissed him. Then I tickled his sides and he threw his head from side to side.

Fuck, family was good.

“How was work?” Rose asked.

“Great,” I said.

Work consisted of going to the studio apartment and recording music. The songs I worked on were hits. All of them. Hit after hit after hit. I was wanted for more, but I refused to travel. So Carl got the thumbs up to turn my apartment into a studio. I would stay put and write songs, video chat with artists, and of all things, they’d fly to me. If anything was really worth pursuing, I would have to fly out and do the recording session. But that only started recently. I hated to be away from Rose and Wesley.

“Rhett and Carrie are upstairs,” Rose said, rolling her eyes.

I curled my lip. “I don’t like that.”

“Trust.”

“Screw that,” I said. “If I got trusted to be alone with you in your room…”

“Stop,” Rose said.

I had to act fast after Wesley was born. I got together all the money I could and was able to get a down payment for a house. Then I went for Rhett. I was his damn brother. I was his damn family. Nothing was going to change that.

So I took him in. We took him. I was his legal guardian and he lived here. He had a home. He had a family. I couldn’t make up for all the shit our father fucked up in our lives, but I could at least try to give Rhett a future.

“Um, hello?” a voice said.

I turned and Carrie stood there, waving.

“Hey, Carrie,” I said.

“I’m just leaving,” she said. “I have to get home for dinner.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay here,” Rose said. “I can call your mother.”

“Thanks but we’re going to the movies tonight. Girls’ night out.”

“Sounds like fun,” Rose said.

“Tell her we said hello,” I said. “Let us know if you two need anything.”

Two months ago Carrie’s mother left her stepfather. She found out he had been having an affair and as crazy as it was, he had been tied up in a prescription drug ring. Carrie’s mother basically lost everything and she and Carrie lived in a small apartment, but were happier. We liked having Carrie around. She and Rhett were good together.

I kissed Wesley one more time. I gave Rose a kiss she would never forget. The only problem with kissing Rose was that no matter how hard I tried to steal her breath or make her stumble, she made me feel that way.

I went upstairs to check on Rhett. There are about a hundred things that could go wrong just busting into a teenager’s bedroom. But taking the fatherly role, it was my damn house and I didn’t have to knock. Plus, I heard Rhett playing guitar, so I didn’t expect to catch anything happening.

“Sounds good,” I said as I opened the door.

Rhett stopped playing. “Hey, Foster. Thanks.”

Rhett looked jumpy. He hurried to put his guitar back in the hard case. Fumbling, he bumped the case and I saw something in the small compartment that was supposed to be for guitar picks and strings. Now, to be honest, I used to hide plenty of stuff in that compartment.

“What’s that?” I asked.

Rhett looked at me, face turning red. “Foster…”

“Shit,” I said. “What is in that? Show me. Don’t make me have to force it out of your hand.”

Letting out a busted groan, Rhett opened the small compartment and took out a little box. He threw it at me.

As I opened it, I hoped it wasn’t drugs.

It wasn’t.

It was a diamond ring.

A nice diamond ring.

“Whoa,” I said. “You bought this?”

“Yeah,” Rhett said. “I’ve been working my ass off. Two jobs.”

“I know you have.”

“I bought that for Carrie.”

“Rhett, this looks like an engagement ring.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Holy shit,” I said. “You know you can’t…”

“I know,” he said. “But I know what I want.”

“I can respect that, okay? But there’s no way in hell you’re giving Carrie this ring anytime soon.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” I said. “I’m going to hang onto this ring.”

“You’re not going to make me return it? Invest my money elsewhere?”

“No. You believe in this, Rhett, then so do I. This is going to make you work harder than you’ve ever worked before. Because giving this ring doesn’t mean shit unless you back it up.”

Rhett nodded. “Okay.”

“When the time comes, I’ll have this for you.”

I turned to leave the room.

“Hey, Foster?”

I looked over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Thanks,” Rhett said. “I can’t say it enough.”

“I’ve got your back, Rhett. Now pick that guitar up and keep practicing.”

He listened and I stood outside his bedroom door, opening the box to look at the ring. I should have yelled. I should have made him return it. But fuck that… I would have done the same thing at his age with Rose.

I laughed to myself as I walked to the master bedroom to tuck the ring away in my one drawer.

I dug through my t-shirts and knew right where to hide the ring. Funny enough, there was a black box already there. I looked to the door and made sure Rose wasn’t coming. I took the box out and opened it.

Another diamond ring.

I put the ring Rhett bought next to the one I bought.

I had to hand it to Rhett, he knew how to pick out an engagement ring.

I snapped his box shut and tucked it away.

My fingers touched the ring I bought for Rose and I looked at myself in the mirror.

If there was one thing in my life that I learned, it was that no time is the right time. Ever. There are only moments. They come. They go. And that’s it.

I lifted the black box off the dresser.

It was a random Thursday. Right around five in the afternoon. Rhett was playing guitar in his bedroom. Wesley was downstairs in his highchair, playing with baby toys. Rose was in the kitchen, still sipping coffee. Wearing no makeup. Her hair pulled back, obvious she did it in a hurry. In a navy blue hoodie and old jeans. No shoes. No socks.

I walked into the kitchen, one hand behind my back.

Our eyes met and Rose put the coffee mug down.

“Foster…”

I smiled.

She knew me all too well.

I was up to no good.

Maybe it wasn’t the right time to propose… but fuck it…

THE END.