Page 117 of Surrender

My purse lands on the bench with a thud. I smile at the tiny pile of kid shoes. In a few years, the mess will probably drive me crazy, and I’ll probably yell at Lucy and Bennett and whoever else to pick them up, but for right now, it feels like we’re making our house a home.

The smile on my face freezes as I turn around. Cooper meanders off the couch to greet me, his nails clicking across the hardwood. A small ball of black-and-white fur squeaks along behind him in a clumsy frolic.

“Jack?” I call into the emptiness, my voice bouncing off the high ceiling.

“Momma!” Lucy barrels into the room from our main floor primary bedroom. Behind her, Bennett stomps slowly on wobbly feet, having learned to walk just the week before.

“Hey, Peanut.” I scoop her up and dip her low as I kiss her face.

“We gots a puppy!” She palms my cheeks. Her brown eyes bore seriously into mine. “His name is Bo!”

“I see him. Bo is very cute.”

“Mr. Jack said he is my doggy!”

“He did, did he?” I flick my gaze beyond her ear and find Jack leaning a shoulder against the wall as Bennett teeters around his legs. A humorous smirk tilts his lips that traced my body late into the previous night.

“Technically, he’s a family dog, but I couldn’t say no when she asked if he was hers.”

Lordy, we are in trouble if he’s already giving her whatever she wants.

Lucy wiggles in my arms. I set her down, and she falls to her knees and scoops Bo into her lap. He licks her face, and she giggles.

I quirk an eyebrow. “I thought I was supposed to be the one to bring home random animals?”

“Kind of hard when my brother owns a dog rescue. These guys came in yesterday, and I just couldn’t help but take one.”

“Is that why you pleasured me within an inch of my life last night?” I say low so Lucy can’t hear.

“I had to soften you up somehow.” He moves into me, hands settling low on my hips with a squeeze that has my belly flipping. “Besides, you said we could fill this place up. I figured this was a good start before we fill it up in other ways.”

I have just enough time to see his eyes darken before he dips his head and kisses me, cutting off my response and making me forget to argue.

* * *

A year and a half later

Jack

The full moon cuts through the darkness as I stare off into the barren trees beyond the deck, nursing a beer. Leaves crinkle where Bo and Cooper wander through the night. The approaching autumn brings a chill I grew numb to about thirty minutes ago.

Almost two years have passed since Whitney appeared in my life. Two incredible, thrilling, unexpected years. Despite the amount of time, I’m still getting used to having her.

We purchased this house after renting for a full year, and I still wake up most mornings surprised to find her warm body curled against me, the scent of her floral perfume permeating the sheets. Surprised at the way her hand reaches for me as if she can’t stand the few inches between us.

It’s me she’s reaching for. It’s me who she wants.

And her kids—our kids—because that’s what they are. Her ex agreed to sign away his custody rights, and I moved to adopt them at the first chance, officially making me a father.

Fuck, that word still feels foreign even six months later.

With the single flourish of a pen, we removed the final traces of her ex as the three of them became Powells.

Every first moment I’ve been lucky enough to experience with them I want to remember forever.

I was there for Bennett’s first steps. His first word. His first time trying green beans, and when he spit them out all over my shirt with a look of toddler betrayal on his face.

Just last week, I brought Lucy to her first day of kindergarten, brimming with pride at the tag on her desk that read Lucy Powell.

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