Page 112 of The Ones We Fight For

“Yes, I did.”

“He did,” Talia agreed, holding onto the crook of Walker’s elbow.

Amala smiled. “Well, I’ll leave you lovebirds to your shopping, then. Roscoe and I are very happy for you.”

“Roscoe finally gets his TV back,” Walker mused.

“What did he say about the TV?” Amala narrowed her eyes.

“What? Who said anything about a TV?” Walker stumbled over his words, latching onto the shopping cart and Talia’s arm as he backed away from Amala. He dragged Talia along, and she shrugged at Amala, waving as he bolted down the aisle yelling over his shoulder, “See you at six!”

Chapter 41

Talia

The minivan eased into the pickup lane at Archwood Elementary, and Walker threw the car in park. Talia squeezed his hand, resting casually on her thigh, and smiled at him excitedly. It was the first time they were picking up any of the kids together, as a couple. This was a declaration. One that said Talia was here to stay, both for them and for Walker.

Cooper and Jayla bounded down the sidewalk side by side, Cooper with both their backpacks slung over his shoulders. Given that Jayla was coming to the house in a few hours anyway, Talia had offered to take her off Amala's hands so she could relax, or relax as much as one who was that exceedingly pregnant could.

Pulling open the door for Jayla, Cooper waited for her to hop in first before climbing into his seat, the little gentleman that he was. His eyes landed on Talia’s and Walker’s now intertwined hands, and he smiled. The nerves flowing through her veins vanished instantly.

“You guys are getting married?” Jayla squealed.

“Uh, not yet,” Walker shook his head with a short puff of laughter.

Not yet. Talia’s heart flipped.

“But you’re together? Tal, are you gonna come stay with us?” Cooper clicked his seatbelt in.

“Sometimes.” Talia nodded. “Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, that’d be cool,” Cooper affirmed, wiggling happily in his seat.

The rest of the pickups went similarly. Pearl and Piper chattered endlessly, wanting to know all the details of how Talia and Walker had finally gotten together (Talia left out the majority, her face burning when she thought about Walker throwing her up against the filing cabinet in her office). Colin asked a series of questions in regards to if his car was okay and whether or not this meant that Talia would be cooking more, informing her that Walker had somehow burnt frozen pizza the other night. Carter slapped Walker on the back with congratulations before turning to Talia.

“I’m sorry it took him so long,” he joked.

“He had a good reason,” Talia responded, looking back at the kids with a soft smile.

When they made it to the Hartrick house, a place that felt like home just as much as, if not more than, Talia’s actual home, Walker held her hand as they walked up to the door and followed everyone inside. The shawarma she had planned to make took a few hours to prep and bake, so she made her way into the kitchen first thing, finding one of Paisley’s white aprons and tying it around herself.

More than once, Talia had wished she could have met Cole and Paisley. Walker and the kids had an entire life with these people she never knew and could never really know. People who were important to them. More than anything, Talia wished she could tell them how their kids were doing. How Walker was doing.

“They’re okay. I’m sticking around, I promise,” Talia murmured as she pulled a large cookie sheet out from one of the lower cabinets.

“Who are you talking to?”

”Oh!” Talia jumped at the sound of Walker’s voice, thinking she had been alone in the room. “Um… no one.”

“I talk to them, too, sometimes,” Walker said quietly, looking up at the ceiling and twisting his brother's gold wedding band around his middle finger.

“How did you know I was…” Talia trailed off, and Walker shrugged, coming to hug her from behind.

“I don’t know. I was just thinking about how much I wish I could’ve met your mom and that Cole and Paisley could’ve met you, and I thought maybe you were thinking along the same lines. They would have adored you, Tal. And they both would have been on my ass about when I plan on proposing.” Walker took the tray from Talia’s hand and set it on the stove as she turned around in his arms, eyebrows raised.

“Proposing? We started dating yesterday,” Talia cackled. It was the logical thing to say, though her heart took a nosedive in her chest at the thought of marrying Walker. If he asked her right then and there, she would have said “yes.” No matter how ridiculously quick it was.

“I’ve been dating you for months.” Walker peered into her eyes and brushed her arm with the pads of his fingertips. “Every coffee date. Every time I came to you for help with the kids. I was just too stupid to realize it. So, yes, proposing. I don’t want anyone else but you, and it’s going to happen. It’s not going to be immediate because I want to give the kids time to acclimate to this version of us, but I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t thought about wanting you to be my wife multiple times since yesterday and even before then. I want to be clear that that’s where this is headed for me. Is that okay with you?”

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