Page 78 of Keeping Promises

“Iwill travel around the world to give you anything you want. My heart will always be yours.” I stare into the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen.

“You know, if I didn’t know you were talking to our daughter, I might be jealous or something.” I look up to see the second most beautiful pair of blue eyes I have ever seen, where our daughter gets them from. Hadley leans against the doorframe of Olivia’s nursery.

We came home from the hospital two days ago, and even though she is still sore and exhausted, Hadley has never looked better. Even with a spit-up stain down the middle of her long-sleeve shirt.

“You know my world revolves aroundbothof you.” I wink at Hadley before looking back down at Olivia, who is currently sleeping, snuggled against my chest as I rock us back and forth in the rocking chair.

“I know, and I love you so much for it.” Hadley enters the room, approaching us. “But you know it’s rude to ignore your guests out there.”

I brought Olivia in here to change her diaper a while ago, and I guess I just lost track of time.

“Guests? Those people are all family out there. They don’t count. Plus, Olivia wanted daddy-daughter time. Who am I to deny her?” Olivia is only days old and already has me wrapped around her tiny fingers. She is one hundred percent a daddy’s girl and not just because her current pink onesie says so. She only ever wants to be in my arms, and I am one hundred percent okay with that.

“Oh, that’s what she wanted, huh,” Hadley says with sass in her tone. “Did she use her words to tell you that?”

I nod. “Yup, not even a week old, and already she talks. This girl is a genius. Anyways, I bet they don’t even notice we’re gone. We could sneak away and bang, and I bet they wouldn’t know the difference.”

“No,” she shouts before cowering at her volume. “No sex for six weeks,” she whispers. “The diner is closed for business.” I laugh at the nickname for her pussy after confessing that I was as addicted to her taste as she was to the bacon cheeseburgers from Johnny’s.

“Now, come on. Brynn texted, and she’s finally on her way. She’s bringing some new guy she met at the gym.” She twists her lips in a curve. “Steven, Simon, Silas, I don’t remember what she said. Plus, there are four people out there that are dying to get their hands on that baby.”

I pout, but when Hadley places her hands on her hips, I carefully rise from the rocker.

“I’ll go out there, but I’m not letting her out of my arms.”

I join Hadley by her side and head out of the nursery. When we reach the end of the hallway, where it leads into the living room, we both pause. “See, I told you, they didn’t even notice we’re gone.”

Ben is sitting on one end of the couch with Lexi perched up in his lap while Zoe and Cal sit on the love seat, awfully close to each other. I notice Cal’s arm stretches out over the back of the love seat behind Zoe.

The morning after the bachelor party, Cal gave Zoe his number so she could let him know that she arrived on campus safely and has since kept in touch.

“Do we have to wait for Brynn, or can we dive into food now?” Cal asks from the love seat.

“You’re always thinking with your stomach,” Lexi teases playfully. She smacks Ben’s thigh. “Come on, babe, come help me carry it all in.”

“I can help you,” Hadley chimes in as I take a seat in the open spot Ben just vacated.

Lexi and Ben stop her, though. “You sit down. You get a free pass for now after popping out my beautiful niece.” Lexi smiles as Ben leads her toward the kitchen.

Hadley takes a seat next to me, and I carefully wrap one arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to me and Olivia.

Cal leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You know she said that so she and Ben could just make out in the kitchen, right?”

Smack!You can hear the sound of Lexi’s palm connecting with the back of Cal’s head as she passes. Even though I laugh, I’m not sure he’s entirely wrong, so I make a mental note to wipe down the counters tomorrow.

Could my world get any better right now? I have both my girls in my arms, surrounded by my family and friends. Life is good.

Hadley presses a soft kiss to Olivia’s forehead before turning her attention to me. Her blue eyes sparkle like sapphires. “Thank you,” she whispers so she doesn’t disturb our daughter.

“For what?” Not that I care and need praise, but I’m honestly curious.

“For this. For giving me all of this.” She glances around the room, and I notice the slight twinkle of tears filling her eyes. “For giving me the life that I never thought I could even dream about.” She rests her head on my shoulder, and I lean mine against the top of hers. “For giving me this perfect little angel.” I smirk because I’m not sure I would call Livy a perfect angel when she was exercising her lungs at 3:00 a.m. this morning.

“Thank you, Asher, for loving me. I love you so much,” she breathes against my lips.

“I love you, too, baby.” I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our little family as we make memories in our apartment—yes,ourapartment. Today, Ben and Cal helped me pack up the rest of my belongings at the town house and bring them here. I haven’t left Hadley’s side since Olivia was born, and I don’t ever plan to. Lexi spent the day with my girls to assist, and Zoe stopped over after her last class.

Things have smoothed over since the bachelor party—and once Hadley finally put her stubbornness aside, she did thank me for taking care of Zoe. If only she had seen it from the beginning, but it’s a thing of the past now. Zoe is a sweet girl, and it means a lot to me that she had taken the time to talk to Hadley to try to fix things because she was so upset about what happened and the consequences.

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