Page 126 of Dr. Stone
“Baby, stop. You’re telling me this like you’re explaining why you made a huge mistake,” I cut her off. “Don’t ever apologize to me for a gift that is so beautiful, amazing, and completely unexpected.”
“I know, but?—”
“Andie, I’mnothim,” I reminded her, knowing this situation must be triggering her fears of being walked out on the last time she told her boyfriend she was pregnant. “I know that situation was traumatizing for you, but I’m not him. I want this, I wantyou, and I want Brandon. This is the most beautiful miracle we could ask for.”
I pulled her tightly into my arms when she buried her tears into her hands, and I just kissed the top of her head and held her.
After a few moments, I turned her gently in my arms. “This isourlife now. I swear to God, since you and Brandon have been in my life, I’ve never felt more complete. I never asked for any of this because I never knew I needed it.” I smiled into her glassy eyes, “Yet here I am, the happiest mother fucker on the planet, and I just leveled up with this amazing news. You’re a gift to me, and now,” I placed my hand over her stomach, “you’re giving me another gift.” I exhaled, “You know, I wanted to do this differently, but the plan I had—no matter how beautifullyromantic I’d planned—wouldn’t compare to how you and I seem to just work so effortlessly and perfectly.”
“Jace, you don’t have to?—”
“I want to, more than anything in this world, gorgeous,” I said, taking her left hand and kissing her ring finger. “Marry me, Andie. That is all that’s left to complete this whirlwind of a perfect romance and life.”
She shook her head, crying and smiling.
“No?” I said with a laugh.
“Yes!” she answered through tears. “Yes. You make me so happy, baby. I swear, if someone had told me before I met you that this would be my life now, I would’ve never believed them.”
“Those days are over now, beautiful,” he said. “You’re mine now.” I smiled and ran my hand over her stomach again, “This beautiful baby growing inside of you is mine, and that handsome baby boy was born so he could be mine too.” I reached for her face, kissed her perfect lips, and smiled, “You’re the best thing I never knew I needed, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that to you.” I scooped her up into my arms, “Starting right now.”
My lips found hers, claiming them and thanking her with a heated kiss that said everything. She embodied the very essence of who I was, and my excitement for our future together nearly overwhelmed me. So, I planned to channel that energy by pulling my fiancée into my arms and worshiping her goddess-like body until she begged me to stop.
Andie
Brandonand I were moved into Jace’s place within the month, and if I didn’t stop calling itJace’s place, I was starting to really believe he wasn’t lying when he said we’d be buying a new place together, so that I would fully understand the house was mine, too.
It was surreal, though. Most relationships didn’t work as effortlessly as ours seemed to. That made it both exciting and unsettling at the same time. I tried not to dwell on that because I wasn’t a fool. I knew every relationship was different. And Ash practically demanded I finally accept that Jace and I were soulmates and stop comparing us to anyone else. But damn, it was hard.
Reality hit when we officially moved Duke into Jace’s house the week after Brandon and I moved in. We used the same determination to make our relationship work to help Duke adjust, too. Sometimes it was as hilarious as it was frustrating, like when Duke got passive-aggressive toward me whenever Jace even tried to hug me. And having sex? That was a whole other challenge that Jace was determined to conquer with the little guy. Instead of letting Duke’s barking from his crate across the room bother him, Jace found a perfect, almost hypnotic thrusting rhythm that matched each bark. However, it was all becoming too obnoxious, so I wasn’t surprised when Jace told me he’d found a guy like Cesar Milan to help all of us get to the bottom of Duke’s issues, and maybe the problems between us that were fueling Duke’s possessiveness over women and their men.
About an hour after Brandon fell asleep, Jace joined me on the lounge chairs to watch the last of the sunset. “This is the guy…”
I took his phone and studied the website he’d been looking at for the past hour when I thought he’d been reading a medical article.
“Okay,” I said as I stared at the website on his phone.
“It seems this guy might have the extra magic we need,” he said with humor.
The background was a looping video of waves crashing against a lavender coastline, except the water ran in slow motion and reversed every few seconds, as if time itself obeyed this man.
My eyes scanned the website, reading about the man that Jace had discoveredmighthelp with Duke’s dominance issues:
Canine Behavioral Harmonizer
“Because your dogisn’t disobedient… he’s misunderstood.”
For over thirteen years, Orin Rhylor has guided both humans and their companion animals through energetic realignment and behavioral reintegration using nonverbal intuitive feedback, vibration-centric dialogue, and elemental recalibration practices.
He doesnottrain dogs. Hecommuneswith them.
Orin holds certifications in Emotional Resonance Therapy, Human-Canine Harmonic Tuning (HCHT), and is a Level III Reiki Facilitator for Mammals. He is currently developing his own proprietary method of Bark Frequency Interpretation™, which involves attuning the client’s aura to their canine’s unresolved ancestral distress.
Sessions often include:
—Breathwork with your canine
—Sage-assisted leash detachment
