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“Well, that’s true,” Eli said with a smile.

“And I owe it all to you.”

“You don’t owe it all to me.”

“Eli, none of this would be happening if not for you. Of course I owe you for what you’ve given me.”

“You’ve given me everything too,” Eli reminded her. “I had almost no relationship with my son when you came into our lives. I will never be able to fully repay you for what you did forme and Charlie. And then there’s Leanne, of course. You gave me a daughter. I thought it would be me and Charlie alone for the rest of my life, and because of you, that’s not true. I have a whole family now. What could possibly be any better?”

“I still can’t quite believe it all worked out sometimes,” Maddie admitted. “I was so sure it wouldn’t.”

“I know. I thought the same,” Eli said. “But here we are, and I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t be any happier.”

“Let me go get Charlie,” she said. “We can head over to the studio now.”

“No, I’ll get him,” Eli said. “You’ve got your hands full.”

Maddie smiled gratefully. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll get Leanne into the car.”

Eli went out back and found Charlie on the patio. He stood and watched for a moment, not wanting to interrupt, but Charlie sensed his presence and looked over.

“Hey, Dad,” he called, jumping down from the skateboard. “Where’s Leanne?”

Eli felt a sense of warmth. He was still getting used to how much it delighted him when his children wanted to be around each other — which they usually did. They had already formed a tight bond, and it was hard to believe he had so nearly missed out on the chance to see Charlie become a big brother. It would have been tragic if he’d lost this chance and never realized it.

“Maddie’s putting Leanne in the car,” he told Charlie. “It’s opening day for the dance studio, remember?”

“Are you going to sign me up for ballet lessons?”

“Do you want to take ballet lessons?”

“Yeah, I want to try it,” Charlie said.

Eli was pleased. At eight years old, Charlie was starting to discover the idea that he was too cool to hang around with his parents, though Eli suspected they still had a couple more years before that really set in. He had wondered if Charlie would avoid a dance class taught by Maddie, and it was good to see that that wasn’t the case.

“We can sign you up,” Eli said. “I’m sure Maddie would love it if you were the first person to sign up for her classes. Put your board up and let’s go out to the car. You and Leanne can play at the studio while we get things going.”

“Fun.” Charlie propped his board against the side of the house. He had been able to play at the dance studio a few times already, once the construction had been finished, and he and Leanne always had a fun time with the giant mirrors. “Hey, Dad, maybe you should work at the dance studio.”

Eli had to laugh. “What would I do there?” he asked. “I couldn’t teach lessons. I don’t know how to dance. All the students would get worse if they tried to copy my moves.” He’d never thought he would see the day when Charlie suggested he take on additional work, but he had been home so often lately that his son’s fear of losing him to the office seemed finally to have disappeared.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Charlie agreed. “You’re a terrible dancer.”

Eli chuckled. “Go get in the car,” he said. “Maddie is waiting on us, and she’s pretty excited, so let’s not make her wait any longer than necessary.”

They went out to the car. Charlie got into the backseat next to Leanne and began to play with her. Maddie was waiting beside the car, and Eli went up to her and put his arms around her.

“Are you ready for this?” he murmured.

“Ready as I’ll ever be. I haven’t feltreadyfor anything since the day I met you.”

“I hope that’s not a bad thing.”

“Trust me, it’s the best thing possible,” she said. “Every moment has taken me by surprise, and I hope those surprises keep on coming for as long as we know each other.”

“I feel exactly the same,” Eli assured her. Every moment, he was stunned by how much joy he found in Maddie and in the family they had created together. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this much happiness, but he did know that he would never stop feeling grateful that he had found it. It was impossible to imagine a moment when he would take this for granted.

“I’m so proud of you,” he told Maddie.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she replied.

They’d said those words to one another countless times over the past few months, but the truth had never gone out of them. And when he kissed her, the passion was as bright and potent as it had ever been — and Eli knew that it always would be.

The End