Page 120 of Better Daddy

I give it a few beats before saying, “Are you finished now?”

Lips twitching, he shrugs. “Yes, sweetheart, I think I am. So, what do you say? Will you be my wife again?”

My answer is simple and truer than I could have imagined a few months ago. “A thousand todays would never be enough. Yes, Sully. Of course I’ll be your wife again.”

With a small whoop, he hovers close and presses his lips to mine. With this kiss, we promise to keep showing up. To keep trying. To keep loving one another. Knowing full well that it won’t be easy, that life will get in the way, and that we’ll have to work to keep our marriage going.

That marriage is a daily commitment. An action. A choice.

And I’ll choose him every single day.

When he pulls back, he’s smiling. “You hear that, love? Your mommy agreed to marry me again.” He brushes his lips over her head. “Teej,” he calls, turning around. “She said yes.”

Excitement rushes through me. T.J. was in on the surprise? No wonder he listened to Sully so easily when he gave him that look.

When T.J. doesn’t appear from behind the tree he was just running circles around, a niggle of worry works its way through me.

“T.J.” Sully stands and scans our surroundings. “Did you see which way he went?”

I shake my head. “He was right behind that tree.”

With a nod, he steps off the blanket. “I’ll go look for him.”

“Here, take the baby. I’ll help.”

He’s back in a heartbeat, putting Tia in the stroller. Once he’s helped me to my feet, we wander, calling for our son. As seconds bleed into minutes, panic grips me and my stomach twists more painfully. Each time we yell his name, more bystanders join in our search. I’m pulling my phone from my pocket to find a photo to show the people offering to help, on the verge of hyperventilating, when Sully grabs my arm and mutters, “Oh fuck.”

He points to the middle of the lake, where our precocious son is sitting in a damn white swan boat. Crying.

“How the hell?”

Sully grasps my hand and puts it on the stroller handle, ensuring I’ve got it, and takes off. “Stay right there, bud. Dad’s coming.”

“I wanted the swan,” T.J. cries, “but I don’t like the water.”

Right. The kid doesn’t like heights, yet he scaled a building last fall. And he’s afraid of water, so naturally, he’d jump into a swan boat. It’d be comical if it wasn’t so scary.

My husband rushes toward the dock, and without hesitation, jumps in. He surfaces quickly, covered in mud, and stands, the water hitting him below his waist.

Only once he’s dragged the damn swan boat to the dock andpulled T.J. out of it—T.J. completely dry and my husband covered in muck—do I finally breathe.

My little guy launches himself into my arms, and I squeeze him tight. Unable to let him go, I eye Sully, trying not to laugh as he pulls mud leaves from his shoe.

“You better say thank you to your daddy.”

T.J. turns around in my arms and faces him. “He’s Super Daddy.”

Sully smiles easily. “Better than the firefighters who rescued you?”

“The best,” T.J. agrees.

He’s right. Sully’s not just a better daddy. He’s the best daddy around. And he’s mine.

Epilogue

Sully

There’s nothing more beautiful than my wife nursing my daughter, her lips puffy from the kiss I just gave her, a hickey on her neck, and my ring on her finger.