Page 116 of Arranged Obsession
“Yes and no.” I raise a little hex screw. “I took this from your couch.”
She makes a face. “Is that why it started creaking?”
“Probably.”
“You really are a monster.”
“I’m aware.” I show her a matchbook, a shampoo bottle, and a single piece of gum. “It’s all just… stuff now. It pales compared to the real thing. I was thinking maybe it’s time to put this room to better use.”
“Doing what?” Her eyebrows raise curiously.
“It would make a good nursery.”
She doesn’t move. Her brow wrinkles in surprise, and she fidgets with her shirt. “Do you really mean that?”
“I never thought children would be a part of my life.” I gesture around me. “I’m not exactly the father type.”
“When did you change your mind?”
“The second you put my ring on your finger.”
She snorts softly, shaking her head. “Come on, don’t be cheesy.”
“I mean it. You’ll make a wonderful mother. And if I’m even half as good at being a father, our kids might have a chance.”
“You’d really want to raise them in all this?” She gestures back outside the room. “Your family? My family?”
“I know you hate what they do.” I walk to her slowly, holding her gaze. “But what they do isn’t the important part. It’s what they mean to us.”
“Deep stuff for a psychopath.”
“I’m starting to learn things about myself. I like having brothers. I like having parents. I want to be a part of their lives, and I want them in mine.”
“Is that why you’ve been working with Seamus more often?”
I nod, stopping in front of her. I gently tug her against me. A thrill runs down my spine as she looks up into my eyes. God, that never gets old. She’s so fucking perfect it breaks me.
“We can teach our kids to be better. Or at least you can. But they’ll always have the family. That’s important.”
She sighs and leans her cheek against my chest. “I know what you’re trying to say, and I’m open to the idea. I just need some time.”
“Take as long as you want.”
I hold her there in my shrine to her. Somehow, the reality of my wife is better than the fantasy I built in this place.
“You can keep it, you know.” She looks up at me again. “We’ve got other rooms. We don’t need this one.”
“I’m not sure I should.”
“Keep it.” She gets on her toes and kisses me.
I reach back to her hair and pluck one out. She yelps in surprise. “Since you’re so insistent, I might as well add to my collection.”
“Jesus, Cormac, you could’ve warned me.” She rubs the back of her head as I gently lay the hair down on a shelf next to an empty tube of Chapstick.
“What’s the fun in that?”
“You’re nuts, you know that?”
