Page 190 of Rewind It Back

The house is packed, and the backyard is full of our friends, my teammates, and a few neighbors. The renovation got wrapped up about two weeks ago, but between our playoff schedule, Ryan’s playoff schedule, and the Rhodes brothers being in the middle of baseball season, whether they’re playing or coaching, it took some time to land on a date that worked for everyone.

But the house...fuck, the house is stunning.

The renovations were supposed to be done a few weeks earlier, but once we got home from Boston, Hallie and I had some honest conversations about the future we saw in this house. There were no more attempts at roundabout ways to make sure Hallie was designing her dream home. It was straightforward conversations about the kids we hope to have one day, what would work best for us when our families wanted to visit, and what we as a couple wanted our home to be.

The house was already headed into the family-friendly territory with the renovations anyway, but we took a few more weeks to make sure it was right forourfuture family.

On my way to the backyard, I find Hallie in the kitchen with a few of the other players’ wives and girlfriends, showing them all the features she packed into it.

Leaning my shoulder against the wall, I watch her.

She’s wearing this stunning smile as she gives them a tour of the cabinetry she chose, the new appliances, fixtures, and hardware. When they ask, she tells them all about the countertops and backsplash. About the lighting and the floors. She even shows them the coffee corner but gives me full credit for that.

She’s fucking beaming and I love that. I love that she’s proud of herself, and I love that this house is everything she wanted it to be.

I also love that it’s hers.

She catches me watching out of her periphery and those freckled cheeks turn a sweet shade of rose. Slipping away from the group, she finds her way to me.

“I’m showing off your kitchen.”

I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her into me. “Ourkitchen, you mean.”

Hallie finally moved in with me after construction wrapped up, and it’s been like a dream waking up with her each day.

Itisa dream, I suppose. The one we dreamed of years ago that’s finally come to fruition.

“Ourkitchen.” She tilts her head back, chin on my chest. “Have you talked to your mom yet?”

There’s nothing weary in Hallie’s gaze when she mentions my mom, only pure excitement and love. They’ve been so good since that visit to Boston. My mom treats her as her own, just as she used to, and with Hallie’s own mother no longer in the picture, I can see how much it means to her to have that type of relationship back in her life.

I think the two of them talk on the phone more often than my mom and I do, and when she came to visit last month, my mom spent most of that time with my girlfriend instead of me.

It’s been a massive relief to see the two most important women in my life heal their relationship with each other and get to the place they’re at now. The same place they were six years ago.

“I haven’t talked to her yet,” I tell Hallie, running my hand down her spine. “I’m going to go do that now.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“Do you want to come with me?”

She shakes her head no. “I think that conversation should be between you two, but I want to make sure she knows I’m on board for it.”

My smile blooms as I look down at her. I truly could not love this woman more than I already do.

But I thought that yesterday and the day before. Shit, I thought that a decade ago, and daily, I’m proven wrong. Because each new day, I fall for her a little more.

“I’ll make sure she knows.” Leaning down, I kiss her, right there in our kitchen. In our home. “I love you, baby. Keep showing off the house.”

“I love you too.” With one more quick kiss, Hallie slips out of my hold and rejoins the group.

Music is playing as I walk outside, but it’s not so loud that you can’t have a conversation. I find my mom and my uncle Mikey talking with Ryan, Indy, and their kids.

I sling my arm over my mom’s shoulders as I join, but Navy immediately hurls herself off her dad’s body at me.

She drops her head against my shoulder as Indy and my mom continue their conversation.

“If the taste isn’t coming through, it’s most likely too thin. You need to reduce to a simmer and thicken that up to concentrate the flavor.”

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