Page 55 of Cedarwood Manny

“No, but it’s over.” He pulled out of the lot. “I have so much to tell you, but I can’t with small ears close.”

“I’m listening,” Kyle said in his sing-song voice.

“I know you are.” He glanced up at Kyle’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “Did you have fun with Nathan?”

“Nate, Daddy.” Kyle folded his arms and kicked his feet. “I did. Next time we should get ice cream first.”

“Maybe.” He reached across the console and grasped Nathan’s hand. “When is your mother coming over?”

“Seven.” Nathan checked his watch. “She should be there now. I gave her the combination to the garage, so she’ll probably have let herself in.”

“Okay.” He drove home. When Kyle and Nancy, Nathan’s mother, went to check out the playroom for the hundredth time, Adrien would speak to Nathan.

When he pulled into the driveway ten minutes later, Nancy’s car took up the space behind Nathan’s. Adrien parked in the garage, then closed the main door. “Everyone out. We’re here.”

Nancy strode into the garage. “There are my boys.” She waited in the doorway. When Kyle freed himself from his car seat, he left the vehicle and threw himself into her arms. “Hi,” she said. “I missed you.”

Nathan chuckled. “Mom…you were just here three days ago.”

“But now I have a grandbaby.” She grinned, then allowed Kyle to direct her into the house.

Nathan waited beside the car and balled his hand on the roof of the vehicle. “I wish she hadn’t gone to that place already. Grandbaby…”

Adrien shrugged and rounded the hood. “It was going to happen eventually.”

“Aren’t you upset? It’s fast.” Nathan sighed. “But everything with us is fast.”

“It is,” he said. “If I weren’t in love with you and living with you, then it would bother me. But I love you and you’re sharing my bed, so it’s okay.” He kissed Nathan. “I want to marry you one day.”

“You do?” Nathan’s lips parted. “Adrien.”

“Don’t you want to marry me?”

“I want it more than anything—when we’re ready.” Nathan rested his forehead against Adrien’s. “On our timeline.”

“Agreed.” He slid his hands into Nathan’s back pockets. “I’m sorry about Gerry and his friend. She was the one who outed us to the training center. She might have gotten her info through Gerry, but she did the damage.”

“I don’t care.”

“No?” Adrien stared into Nathan’s eyes. “I don’t really, either. We have what we want. That’s what matters.”

“True.” Nathan splayed his palm on Adrien’s chest. “I’ll marry you.” He bumped noses with him. “What about your ex?”

“We had the split we finally needed. I thought I was over him, but this was the slice to cut everything clean away,” Adrien said. “I’m done giving him chances. He doesn’t know Kyle and Kyle doesn’t know him. I don’t need him in my life and I’d rather have you, so why fuck with the past when I’ve got the best future?”

“He’ll show up again. So will the Coalition,” Nathan said. “We’re playing with danger.”

“Only if we let it scare us.” Adrien sighed and breathed Nathan in. “I’m done hiding and worrying. We have a life to live and a son to raise.”

“We do.” Nathan chuckled. “We should also go inside before my mother thinks we’re doing something naughty out here.”

“Or she understands we need a moment of privacy.” He kissed Nathan. “Let’s go.” He’d have to make a trip to the jewelers soon. Nathan was his other half—the man he’d wanted for so long and thought didn’t exist. Sure, there would be intrusions by the Coalition and Gerry would pop up again—the man never did know how to say goodbye for good—but they’d survive. Adrien had the family he wanted, the life he’d worked so hard to achieve and love to last his lifetime.Who could ask for more?