Page 114 of By Invitation Only

“She should be here soon,” I finally said.

“And she knows we’re getting divorced,” Carrie mentioned.

Amelia and Mark turned to look at my parents.

“They know.”

“Seems I’ve missed a lot these past few months.” Amelia laughed.

“Yeah, mate, you have.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet her.”

I smiled and looked down at the kids. Three-year-old Emily was the spitting image of Amelia with dark, black hair, beautiful green eyes and a smile that lit her face. Eight-year-old Ryder looked more like his father, though he had his mother’s black hair. As I stared at the children, I wondered if kids were in my future. I’d asked Peyton briefly on the phone the night before when she mentioned her mum wanted her to have children. She said she eventually did. I eventually did too, and I couldn’t picture myself without Peyton, so that meant kids together. That was crazy to think about, but I wanted it with her.

Thirty minutes later, my girl arrived. “Hey,” I said walking up to her silver Bimmer.

“Hey.” She smiled as she stepped out, then wrapped her arms around my neck.

I pulled back and kissed her lips. “We have a full house. You good with meeting more people?”

“Yeah. I’m great with kids.”

“Good to know.”

We walked into the house and immediately Peyton’s face lit up as she looked around the living room. “You guys have been busy since I’ve been gone.” She looked around the living room at the twinkling lights.

“It didn’t feel like Christmas without all the decorations,” Mum said, standing and coming to hug Peyton.

Peyton smiled and returned the hug, looking at me as though she didn’t expect it. It might be strange since they’d only been around each other for a few hours, but my mum probably understood how I felt about Peyton. I never made a big deal about Christmas presents or anything of the sorts regarding a woman before.

“You must be Peyton,” Amelia said, standing in line for the hug.

My mum let go of Peyton, and then Amelia stepped in to give her a hug. “And you must be Amelia.”

Amelia broke apart from Peyton but didn’t let her go. As she held her hands on the side of Peyton’s shoulders, she said, “Can I just say that it’s nice to finally meet the one to make Booker settle down?”

“Let’s not start this,love.” I pulled Peyton to me and wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

She immediately looked forward and cooed. “And who are these cuties?”

“I’m Amelia’s husband, Mark,” Mark said and stuck his hand out for Peyton to shake.

Everyone looked over to where he was sitting off to the side.

“Don’t think she’s talking about you, mate.” I laughed.

Peyton chortled. “I wasn’t, but it’s nice to meet you as well.” They shook hands.

“This is my daughter, Emily and my son, Ryder,” Amelia introduced.

The kids looked up from their toys and Peyton bent to their level. “Hi, guys. I’m Peyton. Can I play with you?”

Both kids glanced at Amelia and then back to Peyton. Without a word, they both smiled and nodded.

“Great. What are we playing?” Peyton asked.

“Transformers,” Ryder replied.