Mom pats his hand. “Someone special indeed, then. That Holden is something else, huh?”
Eli looks up at her and takes stock of her calm and kind facial expression. Sometimes I think Mom should quit her job and work with Roman full-time instead of just sometimes. She’s always been able to calm scared kids. Sure, some of it is just the job, but part of it is that she radiates kindness. It oozes from her pores and makes everyone around her feel safe and comfortable. When she gives you her undivided attention, it makes you feel like you’re on top of the world. Like nothing can hurt you. Like she’ll take care of everything. Eli gives her a little grin. “Yeah, he’s going to take me shopping soon.”
Mom’s eyes light up. “Oh, I’m sure that will be fun. I love shopping with Holden. It’s better than these two,” she says, gesturing toward me and Roman. And you knowwhat? With the way he laughs when she does? I’ll take it. I can’t even be upset about it. Not that I would be. I hate shopping, unless it’s for other people. I can spend money all day long on the kids at the center, or for Wren and Warren. Hell, even Roman. Though, he prefers homemade gifts. Well, he prefers my sketches.
I’ll definitely be sending my credit card with Holden when he takes Eli. Because if there’s anyone who can convince him to get stuff to decorate his room, it’ll be Holden. I have a feeling that I’ll get a death glare for even implying that I’m paying for their shopping trip. But I’m still going to try.
“To the living room, then,” Dad says, standing up from the chair.
When everyone’s in the living room and Roman is settled in my lap, my soul feels at peace. The only thing that could possibly make it better would be if Hold and Julian were here with the kids. I can’t wait for them to meet Eli. Wren is going to be so excited.
I lose myself in the comfort of Roman’s weight in my lap and close my eyes, listening to Mom, Dad, and Eli talk back and forth. Every once in a while, she says something that has him giggling. I love it. I love everything about it. I sigh. “I can’t wait to marry you, beautiful.”
Roman lets out a shaky exhalation. “I can’t wait either, baby. I’m so happy, it feels unreal.”
I let my fingers dance up his spine as he melts further into me. He got over his dislike of cuddling in front of my parents early on. He said that he went too long without me to worry about what anyone thinks, especially people who love him so unconditionally. It felt like a hallelujah moment for me when he said it. I wanted to jump for joy and throw my fist in the air.
“Do I get to be in the wedding?”
I open my eyes to find Eli looking at us with a hopeful expression on his face. “You want to?”
He nods. “Yeah, is there anything for me to do? Lydia said Holden will be standing for Roman and Julian for you, but I’d like to be in it too. If that’s okay. I know you don’t know me well yet. I’d understand if you didn’t want me in it.” His face falls, taking all the hope with it. “Actually, no. I’m so sorry. That was a stupid question for me to ask. Of course you don’t want me in your—”
“Eli.” He stops talking and sucks in a quick breath. “We’d love to have you in the wedding.”
Roman nods against me. “We really would.”
Eli takes another breath. “Okay, yeah. Okay. So, uh, whatwould I do?”
I shrug. “Whatever you’d like. Wren is our flower girl, and Warren is supposed to be the ring bearer, but we’ll have to see how that works out. You can stand with one of us if you want.”
He thinks that over for a second. “Would it… um, would it be rude for me to stand with Roman? He saved me…”
I can’t help but smile. “No. It wouldn’t be rude to stand with Roman. You can do whatever you’d like.”
He hesitates, nibbling on his bottom lip. “You won’t be sad or mad at me?”
“Nope. I’ll just be happy to have you there in any way.”
He seems to think about that for a second, studying my face. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
Hallelujah. “I really do.”
He nods, almost to himself. “Okay. Yeah. I think I’d like to stand with Roman, then.”
Roman lets out a little breath against my neck, his body shuddering. I smile, holding my hand firmly against his lower back. My sweet man. “Sounds perfect. We need to get you a matching tux.”
Roman chuckles. “Let Hold do it. He picked ours out. I couldn’t even tell you anything about them apart from the fact that they look good.”
Fuck yeah, they do. Especially on him. All form-fitting and fucking perfect on his body and—nope. That’senough of that. I clear my throat. “Yeah. I’ll let Hold take care of that. He’ll love it. You should have seen how mean he was to us when he was picking them out for us. Acting like we had no idea how to dress ourselves.” I finish my statement with an eye roll to let him know I’m being silly.
Eli grins. “Okay. I’ll text him and tell him I need help.”
He turns back to Mom with a bright smile that she gives him right back.
As soon as we climb into bed, Roman worms his way into my arms, not dissimilar to the way Kassie does when we aren’t giving her enough attention. We sent her to sleep with Eli tonight, hoping that she would help him sleep easier and feel more safe. Time will tell if it works.
Roman settles his entire body on top of mine, tucking his face into the crook of my neck. I love the feel of his skin against mine. I love everything about him, truthfully. His big heart, his ability to read people and their needs, how solid and steady he is. “I love you,” I whisper.
