Page 56 of Promised Summer
“Papa!” Karla called as I let her out of her seat. She charged at Jones, but he was ready and scooped her into his arms.
“There’s my baby girl!” Jones said with a laugh. He pressed kisses onto her cheeks, which made her even more giggly as she tried to evade his curly beard.
“Where’s Lily?” she asked when his attacks stopped.
“She’s resting inside. Do you want to go see her?” Jones asked, and she nodded. “Okay, but you have to be gentle, all right? Our mama is gonna have her babies any day now.”
Karla nodded again and wiggled to be let down. She rocketed inside as soon as her feet touched the ground. Jones and I watched, both of us shaking our heads.
When she’d disappeared inside, Jones turned to me. “Hey you,” he said, looping an arm around my waist. “I missed you this morning.” He trailed kisses along my chin before snatching my lips for his own.
“I was with you this morning,” I replied breathlessly after he’d stolen his kiss.
“Mmhmm, it wasn’t nearly long enough,” he replied, lips finding mine again. His hands slipped under my shirt, but I caught them before he could go any further.
“Karla’s waiting for us,” I said with a hiss, and glanced towards the door to make sure she hadn’t caught us in the act.
Jones chuckled, released me, and held his hands in the air, palms facing me. “Fine, I’ll be good,” he said, then rounded to the trunk to grab our things.
“Is Lily okay?” I asked as I grabbed my computer bag and Karla’s bag that was full of toys. He took the duffel, then closedthe trunk.
“She’s been staying near her nest. I think she might give birth today or tomorrow,” he said, a worried frown creasing his eyebrows. I knew he was still scared about his little fur baby going through labor.
“Should I stay with her tomorrow while you’re at work?” I offered.
“Yeah? I’d really like that,” he replied, the corners of his mouth twitching up. I wasn’t sure if he meant he liked me watching Lily or me being at his place.
We carried our things inside and found Karla lying beside Lily. She was having a full-blown, one-sided conversation with the dog, who looked back at the tiny human with clear indulgence in her eyes.
Jones and I smiled at each other, then I pulled him into the guest room to drop off the bags. I checked through the door to make sure Karla was still preoccupied before telling Jones, in hushed whispers, about stargazing tonight to find Karla’s mommy in the stars.
Jones pulled me into his chest and told me he’d love to join us. I happily agreed. I didn’t want to let Karla’s memories of Kassy fade, but talking about my best friend wasn’t always easy. She was a piece of my heart that would never return, and it was bittersweet. Having Jones by my side would help ease the heartache.
“There’s one more thing we need to talk about,” I said, after cuddling in his arms for a few minutes.
“Is it about this pearl in your hair?” he teased and gently flicked the hair ornament. “It looks good on you.”
I’d completely forgotten it was there and quicklypulled it from my locks, grumbling that Karla put it there. Jones just laughed and swept my hair back.
“What should we do about Karla calling youPapa?” I asked, laying it right out there.
“Do we need to do something about that?” he asked, sounding genuinely bemused.
“We can’t keep having her call you that, right? What if she gets confused?”
“She started calling youDaddyas soon as she learned how to talk. You told me that yourself,” he argued.
“Yeah, but that’s different. I was her godfather, and I knew I’d always be in her life.”
“I don’t see how it’s any different. I’ll always be in her life, too, and if I may be presumptuous, I hope to be her future stepfather,” Jones said smoothly.
His words stopped whatever rebuttal I had in my throat.
“Jones…”
He pressed his lips to mine to swallow the rest of the sentence.
“You don’t have to reply right now. I know it’s too early and I’m thinking too far in the future, but you’re it for me, Ryan. I’ve loved you since we were kids, and I don’t think that’s ever changing. And that sweet little girl, she claimed my heart so long ago. I wasn’t kidding when I said I want us to be a family: you, me, and Karla.”
