Page 51 of Accidentally Falling For My Best Friend (Chicago Awakenings #2)

A Few Months Later

T urns out we had nothing to worry about at work.

Our wedding was a huge success and did in fact go viral.

Our professional pictures of the day, along with all of the videos from the guests blew up on social media, and the resort quickly booked all open dates for the next two years.

Everyone at the company was thrilled, and if anyone had anything negative to say about the relationship, Oakley’s dad shut it down before we could even begin the first board meeting after the ceremony.

He had loudly congratulated us on our marriage before launching into a speech about how proud he is that his family’s companies continue to be such safe and accepting places for queer relationships.

The Caldwell Corporation has been able to successfully launch the resort with a same-sex wedding in the same year that the Werewolves have had their first player come out.

It was all really dramatic and over-the-top if you ask me, but no one was going to dare question the validity of our working relationship after that.

HR had already helped us complete the necessary paperwork, so we didn’t need to worry about that.

I think it also helped avoid drama with the other board members when they saw that nothing changed as far as our work dynamic goes.

That was a few months ago now, and I’m still the first to rein in Oakley’s wild ideas and keep him on budget, and the financial success of our first major expansion since I took over my position hasn’t hurt either.

We’re already exploring other places to revive exclusive destination venues, and Oakley is very excited about the possibilities.

I’m more excited about the things that have been happening close to home, though.

We were able to come to an agreement with the owners of the house next to Cody and Beck’s in Oakley’s grandparents’ neighborhood before they even listed it.

They casually mentioned wanting to sell to Beck, and Oakley and I were touring the place a few hours later.

It’s perfect. Six bedrooms with a large office on the main floor that we can both work out of since we still don’t like to spend much time apart.

We’ve converted the finished basement into a large home gym, but a few of the rooms upstairs remain unfurnished.

Oakley and I have talked about both wanting to have kids sooner rather than later, and he’s made a few offhand comments about waiting to decorate until they can be nurseries.

I know he probably wanted to come across like he was joking, but I don’t think he was, which is fine by me.

We moved in quickly and the best part has been that we finally adopted a dog from the same shelter that Beck and Cody found Duke at.

Buddy is a scrappy little thing, probably only half the size of Duke or Spot, but he clearly hasn’t caught on about that.

He’s a pretty chill dog most of the time.

He enjoys our walks and loves fetch, but he’s also content to hang out in the office with us if we’re working.

But get him around other dogs, and it’s like he wants to prove that he’s the biggest and baddest. It’s adorable to see him try to bark louder than them, or try to chase after something like he could possibly be faster when his legs are half the size.

We still have our condo in the city for when we need to work super late, and Buddy seems happy enough there, but we usually have him hangout with Duke next door if Cody and Beck are around, and we’ve been watching Duke when they can’t bring him with them to Montana with all of the work they’re putting in there.

They’re watching Buddy tonight so that we can stay in our condo after our dinner with Aspen and Sage.

They’re finally officially together. Aspen’s family unfortunately did cut her off from her trust fund.

But her company is hers, and she’s assured us that she has no regrets.

They really do seem happy together, and from what they’ve said, it seems like Sage’s family has been more accepting, even if they were surprised and confused by the announcement of their relationship.

We try to see them at least every other week, and they’ve asked us to dinner at their condo tonight.

It’s wild to be walking up to their door, hand in hand with Oakley, coordinating wedding bands and all, when just a few months ago we were walking into this same apartment to find our girlfriends cheating on us with each other.

The road we took to get here was definitely messy, but with how happy we all are now, I wouldn’t change a thing.

“Think they’ll be decent this time?” Oakley jokes, clearly remembering the same night that I am.

“We’d better knock,” I suggest, just in case.

Aspen answers the door with a huge grin, rushing us inside.

Sage is finishing setting the table, bouncing around like she’s excited about something.

Maybe she tried a new recipe? She’s gotten really into cooking lately, and most of what she’s had us taste has been pretty good, but there was a night with some very overcooked salmon that we ended up having to order in .

“You guys seem happy,” Oakley comments with a grin of his own as we sit next to each other at their table.

The girls exchange a knowing look before turning back to us. “We wanted to talk to you both about something,” Aspen starts.

“We don’t want you to feel any pressure at all,” Sage jumps in to assure us. “We just wanted you to have all of the information and present the option.”

“But obviously the decision is yours,” Aspen adds, nodding seriously.

I look at Oakley out of the corner of my eye, and he’s looking at me with the same confused expression I’m sure is on my face.

“Okay…” I say slowly. “What decision?”

The girls join their hands over the table, exchanging another smile before Aspen turns to us. “We’ve decided we don’t want to be parents.”

Not sure how I’m supposed to react here. “Congratulations?” I try, completely unsure if that’s the response they’re looking for.

“That’s a totally valid choice. Not everyone needs to be a parent to be happy and to live a full and fulfilled life,” Oakley adds.

The girls both laugh at his response before Sage looks at him seriously. “But you do, Oakley. You’ve talked about wanting to be a dad since we met you, and now that you guys are married, I’m sure you’ve talked about your options to become parents.”

“We wanted you both to know that we think you’ll be the best dads, and we wanted to offer to donate eggs, if you want to go that route,” Aspen adds.

“We can’t be surrogates because we’ve never completed a pregnancy before and neither of us loves the idea of being pregnant.

This way, if your kids had questions or ever wanted to meet their donor mom, we’d be around.

Again, if you’d rather it’d be anonymous, or you want to take a different route, no pressure. ”

I am stunned speechless by their offer. I’ve been looking into adoption, fostering and surrogacy since before Oakley and I were even officially together.

I look over at Oak, and he doesn’t seem to be processing this any more quickly than I am.

His mouth is hanging open, and his eyes are wider than I’ve ever seen them.

“We’re so grateful to both of you, not only for your friendship and support, but also for the part you played in encouraging us to finally be together. We’re happier than we’ve ever been and we want to share some of that joy with you in this way, if you’d like that,” Sage continues.

Oakley finally snaps out of his stupor, turning to me, eyes full of hope and questions.

He’s obviously fighting a smile, trying to hold back how excited he is by this offer until I can weigh-in on it.

But he should know by now that I want the same things he does, especially when they’ll make him happy.

So I smirk as I give him a small nod, and it’s like his joy explodes out of him all at once.

He’s out of his seat, rounding the table to hug the girls before my brain can even process he’s moving.

“Thank you so much! That would be amazing! I can’t believe this is really happening!

We’re going to be dads!” He’s rambling loudly as he continues to hug them both, alternating between them before rushing back to me and practically jumping into my arms.

I catch him easily, and we laugh while I hold him in the embrace for a long moment.

I know that these arrangements aren’t easy and can take a long time to work, if they do at all.

But everything else has worked out so well for the four of us so far, I have no reason not to hope for everything they’re offering us.

We’ve all been through so much together, but we’re all better off for it.

Now that they’ve made the offer, there’s no one else I would trust more to be the biological mother of our child.

When we first started seeing the girls over a year ago now, I had hoped dating someone who was best friends with Oakley’s girlfriend would be the solution I’d been looking for, a way for me to remain close to him while he still got the happily ever after he’s always wanted.

I’m so glad we didn’t settle for that version of ourselves. Our actual happily ever after is so much better.

THE END