“Does Jayla know about this?” Lila asked.
“No. I wanted your approval before I asked.”
They looked at each other. “If she’s willing, we won’t stand in the way of that,” Roger replied. “I know you love my daughter, and I trust you to not only prioritize and protect her but care for her and give her the life and marriage she deserves. And if you get those kids, I’m expecting you to do the same thing for them too. If you’re ready for that responsibility, you have my blessing.”
“You haveourblessing,” Lila countered, covering his hand with hers.
Though I knew there was a greater chance that they’d say yes than no, I was still pleasantly surprised and happy they said yes. I thanked them both before Lila burst into happy tears and hugged me. As amused as I was, I held back my laughter. We talked for a little while longer before I left to meet with my realtor. Plans for our future needed to be made.
Iappreciated having date night with Kayne today. My energy had been low ever since we found out the kids would be moving to Virginia. I knew there wasn’t really anything we could do to stop it. Honestly, I felt like I’d played myself getting so close to them, but I’d do it a million times over if I could. We may not have had our little family for long, but I’d appreciate the memories we’d built with them forever.
The good thing was Stacy and her husband weren’t leaving until right before Christmas, so the kids would remain in Rose Valley Hills until Christmas break. They’d start fresh in the new year at their new school. It broke my heart when Pearl told them, and they cried. They both cried, but Miley really sobbed. She yelled about losing her mommy and daddy and now losing us too. I couldn’t imagine how much that hurt. How unfair it felt. Mateo had shut down emotionally. He only talked to his sisterand gave everyone else attitude if he did talk to them. I knew them staying with family was for the best, but that didn’t make this any easier.
I was so deep in my thoughts I didn’t really pay attention to where we were going until we pulled up in front of a house I’d never seen before.
“Whose house is this?” I asked as Kayne cut the car off.
“If you like it . . . ours. We have three to look at today. I told the realtor what I knew you liked. If none of these fit, you can give her more details.”
I heard his words, but they weren’t completely registering in my brain because they were so unexpected.
“Ours?” was all I could focus on.
Kayne chuckled as he opened his door. “Yes, bae. Ours.”
He got out of the car and walked to my side. Holding his hand out for mine, Kayne patiently waited with a soft smile. I placed my hand inside his and allowed him to lead me up the driveway to the front door. It was a beautiful, traditional, brick home. From the outside, I could tell it was two stories and newly built.
We walked inside, and I immediately smiled from the foyer at the open concept.
“Okay, so I chose this one because it has a lot of what you said you wanted in a home. And for the price, it’ll be less expensive for us to make changes to this versus trying to have something built from the ground up.”
He looked at me expectantly, but I was still speechless. After a few seconds, I requested, “Show me around.”
The more we walked, the more I was in awe. This home was almost perfect. It had an open concept and large main rooms with a beautiful kitchen. The master bedroom and one guest bedroom was downstairs along with a small study. Three bedrooms were upstairs along with a small stairway that led toa huge bonus room. The only thing I would have preferred was carpet, and I laughed when Kayne said . . .
“I know you want carpet, so I’ve already started getting estimates to have it added to the bedrooms and the living room and sitting room.”
When we made it to the backyard and I saw the pool and basketball court, I was no longer able to hold back my tears.
“It even has your pool,” he said quietly.
As I wiped my face, I sniggled. “Yeah, it’s perfect, baby. I really do love it. How’s the neighborhood?”
“Family neighborhood with kids that go to RV elementary, middle, and high. It’s safe and quiet, but they do have community events monthly based on their HOA website. They don’t seem annoyingly strict, so that’s a plus.”
“And this can really be our home?” I confirmed, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
“Yep. I can see you in the sunroom every morning and on this patio every night.”
I had no choice but to laugh because I could see that too. “Yeah, you’ll have to drag me from this backyard, especially while it’s warm.”
“This will be ours, so we can do whatever. I can build you a firepit and put some glass windows up so the smoke won’t get in the house.”
“Ooh, I love that idea. I love that the patio is attached to the master bedroom and that we can walk straight out to it. That and the pool is what is selling me on this house.”
“Well, we can look at a few others and then decide. I just need to know you want this with me.”
“Of course I do,” I confirmed, turning in his arms. “I’m shocked you took the initiative, but I shouldn’t be surprised. You finding houses for us . . . it just shows how willing you are to make sure we have what we want and need. It shows you’recommitted to a future for us. That makes me love, appreciate, and respect you more.”
