Page 118 of Her Marine
“What do you want to do tonight, baby?” Killian asked, even though he knew how they would end the night. He would let her choose the way they spent it until then.
“We can cook dinner together and watchMa.Aryah watched it while I was home and said it was good.” Her phone signaled a text, she took it from her back pocket, and he saw it was a message from his mother.
“We can do that, speaking of which. I know I’m late, mainly because you weren’t here, but I got you a Mother’s Day gift,” Killian stated.
Journee’s attention snapped to him from her phone, where she’d been responding to his mother’s text—more than likely confirming with each other that they’d made it safely. “Come again. You got me a what?”
“A Mother’s Day gift.”
“I can assure you, that’s one of two holidays we don’t need to celebrate.”
“Yet,” Killian responded with a smirk before standing and walking down the hall. With the way the past day and a half had gone, he wouldn’t be surprised if she told him she was pregnant in a few weeks.
He walked into his bedroom first, getting what he needed and placing it into his front pocket before entering the guest bedroom and picking up the sky-blue box with a lavender bow from the end of the bed. Carrying the box back into the living room, he set it on the coffee table in front of Journee.
“That’s a big box, Killian. What’s in there?”
“Open it and see, Tigress.”
He sat beside her as she scooted to the edge of the couch. Journee removed the bow setting it aside before opening the top and peeking inside. She gasped before turning to him.
“Baby,” she stated as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing before turning back to the box and reaching in—gently picking the sleeping Blue Heeler puppy up and pulling her out of the box.
He’d purposely sat the box on the table with the air holes away from her so she couldn’t readily figure out what it was before she opened it. Killian took the box off the table, pulled the small dog bed from the bottom, and put them both on the floor.
Journee cradled the puppy, who’d barely stirred when picked up in one of her arms as she ran her thumb gently over her head.
“I take it you like her,” he stated.
“She’s beautiful,” she responded. “What’s her name?”
His first thought had been not to name her and allow Journee to do so, but he couldn’t let the opportunity for the name he’d chosen to pass him by. He grabbed the name tag on the collar she wore and rotated it around for her to see. Journee laughed when she saw it.Voyage.
“You’re corny, but it’s cute.”
Killian didn’t mind being corny when it was for her. He figured she’d appreciate the name, and she seemed to. He’d decided to choose that name Saturday when he’d contacted the breeder and inquired about the puppies they were selling. There were seven, and she was the only girl in the bunch. It was like a cosmic sign.
He wasn’t quite sure why he felt that getting her a puppy, gettingthema puppy seemed like the right thing to do, but he’d been driven to. He wanted them to have something that was theirs, that they shared. It would make everything feel complete. Voyage let out a little yawn, tucking her head into the crook of Journee’s arm.
Killian stood, leaving the two of them and returning to the guestroom. He grabbed the bag of puppy food and the sacks that held dog bowls, toys, treats, a leash, training pads, and a pop-up carrier. He dropped a few bags off in the living room, taking the food and the bag with the bowls and treats into the kitchen.
He placed the food down, pulled the bowls from the bag, washed them, and dried the food bowl. He filled the water bowl halfway and put them on the floor against the island. The bags of treats went into a cabinet.
Returning to the living room, he found Journee sitting on the floor cross-legged, pulling toys from the bag. Voyage sat in the opening of her legs, front paws on them, and seemed wide awake now that toys were in play.
Killian opened the carrier, popped it up, and placed it beside the armchair before sitting on the couch. He watched them play for several minutes. Journee held one end of a small toy rope and pretended to pull while Voyage gave it all she had, tail wagging as she attempted to move backward and shake the toy.
“Come here for a second, Tigress,” he requested.
Journee waited until the puppy stopped pulling to let go of the rope. Not concerned that she’d lost her playmate, Voyage pounced on a teething toy and began to gnaw on it. He pulled Journee down onto his lap, her dress riding up her thighs.
“I have something else for you,” he informed her, reaching behind her and unclasping the necklace he’d gotten her for Christmas.
He placed it on the coffee table and reached into his front pocket, grabbing the chain and pulling it out. He put it on her before placing his hands on her waist. Journee brought her hand to her chest, looking down.
“Your dog tags?” she questioned as she took them in her hand.
“Yes. I don’t need them anymore.”
