Page 128 of In The Game

I lean forward and kiss her neck. “So am I. I would marry you today, Ral.”

Her eyes study my face, as if she’s waiting for me to give a serious answer, but I wasn’t joking.

“It’s only been a couple months!”

“All I know is there’s no ring on your finger,”—I point out toward the door—“that’s our son, and we have time to make up for. Since the moment I laid eyes on you two, I’ve been all in. I want to make a home for you,bea home for you—and Arthur—the three of us… And maybe add a fourth or fifth.”

God, I hope she wants more kids.

The soft pads of her fingers run over my lips, down to my jaw, and circle behind my neck. “How can you be so sure about us?”

“All these years, you were never far from my thoughts. I think I fell in love with you while we were apart.” I nip at her shoulder. “And then again when you did that thing with your tongue…”

She giggles and kisses me. “I fell in love with you when I saw your work with Camp Conway. And Arthur did when he saw the cereal dispenser.”

I swallow.

“Do you think he’ll ever forgive me for being absent in his life? Love me like a real dad?” I know Arthur feels comfortable around me, but I’ve never verbally expressed to him that I love him. Never told him how badly I want to say he’s my son. To hear him call me dad.

Her eyes soften. “Let’s tell him today.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Yeah?”

“He already loves you like a dad. You both need this.”

I crash my lips to hers and pull her close.

Thinking about it makes me nervous as hell, so I push the thought aside and thrust harder to finish the job.

“Yeah, right there,” she whispers. I keep the rhythm she likes. “God, Bear...” Her knees quiver and she purrs when I thumb her clit as she comes. It triggers my own orgasm, and I fall after her, spilling inside, and stealing every moan from her lips.

I love Raleigh and Arthur more than words could ever say. And today, I get to say I’m his dad.

After taking the fastest shower ever, we go out to the kitchen, where Arthur is on his, at least, second bowl of cereal. I couldn’t wait any longer. I’ve been wanting to say it since I first discovered I was a father. Raleigh and I each fill a bowl of cereal, then I sidle up next to him on one of the barstools.

I hold up my spoon, and he clinks his to it. “Cheers.”

How the hell do I say it?I’ve had plenty of time to think about it, but my brain is blank. How do you explain something like this—to a five-year-old?

“Can we talk about something important, Mini Bear?”

“Is this about the koala chlamydia thing?”

I bark out a laugh. “No, nothing about koalas. Or…that.” I continue, “Um, so I want to discuss us. Have you ever wondered where you came from?”

“They opened Mom’s belly and pulled me out. Like when you open Easter eggs and candy falls out. Except it was a baby.”

There’s an image.Raleigh rolls her lips together, holding back a giggle. She seems as eager to hear what I’ve got to say.

“Well, I knew your mom before you were born, the night I first saw her, I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen—she still is. But after the night we met, we didn’t know how to find each other again. We were lost.

“Then you were born. It’s been you and your mom for a long time, but it shouldn’t have been that way. I was supposed to be with you too.”

He stares at me wide-eyed and blinking.Okay, new tactic.

“Um…” I rub the back of my neck. “Have you ever seen Cinderella?”

“Uh-huh.”

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