Page 189 of Santa Daddies
“That’s enough.” Kace glances atPlan Dand grumbles.
“Know your options. Study the pros and cons.” I write a P and a C below each set of stick figures.
Kace has heard this before, but he’s too instinctual to appreciate getting this granular. He stretches his neck. “Don't drag this out, Loren. Let's get her over here. If she wants to go through the pros and cons, we’ll finish filling them in.”
“We have to be on the same page so we don’t confuse her.”
“Fine, give me the marker.” Kace yanks it out of my hand.
“Wait!”
He holds the marker out of reach, but that’s not what I want. I’m diving a hand into my pocket. “There's something I need to tell you before we invite her over.”
I pull out Grandma's ring, taking the engagement and wedding bands apart to show him. “Bellamie’s always loved this set. Are you prepared to make a commitment, an engagement?”
“You sure you’re ready for that?” He doesn’t have to spell out how hard this is for me.
“I want you to understand how serious I am. We can use this as a promise ring.”
“Doesn’t scare me.”
“When the time is right, we can get another band made to match this one, so that the ring has a piece for each of us.
“Let’s do this.” Kace leaves me to contact Bellamie while he adds to the pages I’ve started.
Chapter Sixteen
Bellamie
When I show up at their Airbnb, I’m shocked that Kace and Loren seem to have made peace. Then I notice the stick figure drawings hung on the wall. Definitely Loren’s doing, except for the messier drawings at the bottom of the pages. Did Kace do those?
I suppose it’s fair to use a K… Kace, Krampus… but not the nickname I most love for him. I resist changing the letters to Ds.
Wishing this felt a little less awkward, I carry the wild rice and mushroom casserole to the kitchen and put it in the fridge, then try to sound casual as I call out, “Remember how annoyed I used to get when you hung all of your thought processes in the hallways?”
“I hope that’s my biggest fault.”
I return to the room they’re in and stare at the sheet with Kace’s name atop a list that includes daycare. Crap! Loren doesn’t, or didn’t, know about my daycare plan. All he knows is what I’ve told our parents. “You still suck at drawing.”
“Damn, now I’m up to two faults.” Loren clears his throat. “But seriously Belle, Kace and I have thought this through.”
“You mean you made up?” I try to keep the situation light because the heaviness of what I think they’re about to ask me, based on the plans, is massive… in a good way. In a way that makes my dreams come true.
“We did,” Kace and Loren say at the same time. They step forward, one on either side of me, just like in the drawings.
I’m so shocked by the possibility of having them both, I resist taking their hands to denote my choice.
Loren says, “I’ve spent so long protecting you and putting my feelings aside because I didn’t want to hurt our family, that when Kace tried to open my eyes, I almost hurt the person that mattered the most. You.”
Kace goes next. “I thought he was just being the overprotective older brother. That he was hurt by my ability to just go for what I want. He got in my head when I thought he was stealing you from me. But I'm 100% over that.”
As a good Daddy would be. Gah! Now that I have both of them, I need to let that nickname go.
Loren adds. “We want to offer you what I think you went to the Christmas Cherry Auction for… a magical relationship where more than one guy is there for you because neither of them can bear the thought of making you choose. We’ll provide everything you ever need.”
I can’t speak. I can’t do anything. I’m waiting to wake up from the dream.
“Am I totally off track, Belle?” Concern has replaced Loren’s confidence. “I'm not used to jumping in without a plan, making myself vulnerable, but when I thought someone was going to win you in the auction, I broke.”
