Page 41 of From Angel to Rogue (Four Foxes #6)

KATY

I tossed and turned after that flood of memory, but no sleep came.

I was sad and lonely. And I wanted my Lan back.

I just couldn’t sleep properly without him.

Giving up, I kissed Luka’s forehead and padded out of the room.

I could probably spend my sleepless night finishing the last rows of stitches on Lan’s ugly sweater.

My feet halted to a stop at the sight of the huge shadow on the living room couch. My heart almost gave up for a second thinking we’d been invaded by an intruder, till I noticed the familiar lines of his jaw and nose.

“Lan?” I frowned, glancing at the microwave clock. It was 3 a.m. What the hell was he doing here in the middle of the night?

I knew for a fact that he drove off to the Twins this morning.

“Katy?” The shadow stood, approaching me. Finally, his frame was illuminated by the low kitchen light, and his distraught face came into view.

“I’m sorry, angel,” he whispered. A whisper that held so much sadness and pain, and regret. “I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know what happened that night, and I don’t care. In my heart, the twins are already mine. They are mine, and I’m their father. Nothing else matters, Katy. I’m sorry.”

I inhaled, my heart softening. “I’m sorry too,” I muttered, lips trembling. “For getting mad. For accusing you—”

Lan held a finger to my lips. “Don’t. It’s me who should be sorry. What I said was unacceptable, and I didn’t really mean it. You believe me, right? Please tell me you believe me.” His hands cupped my cheeks as his frantic eyes searched mine.

“I do,” I said softly. “But I remember—what happened. I remember it now.”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t matter.” Lan offered a gentle smile. “I don’t want to know.”

“But Lan.” I sighed. “It’s not what you think…” Despite his protests, I started to tell him, and Lan listened quietly while he softly rubbed my back.

“I don’t know if an episode like that is normal,” I confessed. “Do you think I should see a doctor or something?”

His eyes softened. “But it’s behind you, Katy and you were drunk and in a bad state. Whatever happened, happened, and here we are. We’ll get help if it bothers you, so don’t overthink it, okay?”

“Okay,” I mumbled, nuzzling my nose on his chest.

I was so happy that he was here and that he came back for us even though I asked him to leave.

“I won’t let anything happen to you or Luka or our boys.”

“Hmm.” I smiled widely. “I also forgot, I got an email from Naomi,” I told him. “It said the adoption is approved.”

Luka, Lan, and I had a little meeting with his social worker and two other people a week ago to finalize the adoption and we’d been anxiously waiting on the news since.

Lan gave me the widest smile that made his eyes gleam. “Thank fuck. I love you both so fucking much. I knew I was only gone for hours, but all I could think about was you two.”

I chuckled. We had him wrapped around our little fingers.

Soon, Lan dragged me to the bedroom and apologized to me once again, only this time with his talented tongue and his marvelous body. And I never felt so light and free.

“Let’s get married,” I whispered, my hot breath fanning on the crook of his neck. “I can’t wait any longer.”

We were cuddling naked under the sheets later that night, his protective palm on my belly.

“Woman, I wanted to marry you for a long fucking time,” Lan huffed, tucking my hair back. “I even gave you that big-ass fucking ring you wanted, remember?”

“I want to confess something, though,” I said shyly, looking at him over my lashes. “I might have, kind of lost it.”

His jaw fell, but it only lasted a second before he threw his head back laughing.

“That’s not the reaction one would expect when you tell them you lost an expensive ring,” I mumbled.

“Thought you fucking loved that monstrosity.” He chuckled. “But don’t worry, I’ll buy you a bigger one. Maybe the third time’s a charm.”

“But what if I said it worked the first time?” My eyes met his confused ones. I inhaled a breath before rolling over to my side of the nightstand and pulling out the tiny blue box I kept there like it was a sacred treasure.

Lan frowned. “What’s that?”

“Open it,” I whispered.

Shock flashed in his eyes when he took out the exact ring he proposed with. “But this... this—”

“Shush.” I pressed a chaste kiss on his lips. “I lied when I said I didn’t like it. I lied when I said I didn’t want it. I wanted it more than anything in the world. Ask me again, Lan.” We were nose to nose. “Please.”

His eyes softened with so much love, and he nodded, taking my left hand in his.

So warm and perfect.

“Will you marry me, Katy Evans?”

“Yes, Landon Greige.”

Lan and I decided it was time to tell Luka about the adoption and make him an official part of our little family, not like he already wasn’t.

“Luka buddy, Katy and I want to ask you something.”

He nodded, too busy making whooshing sounds while he flew his dino on top of an airplane.

“Luka, can you please put that away, baby?” I suggested softly. “What Lan and I have to say is important.”

Like the good boy he was, he said yes and set his toys aside.

“Luka, you know the babies are going to come out of Katy in a little while, right?” Lan asked him to which Luka smiled. “Yes, Lawndon. Katiew told me, and I can’t wait. But I don’t know how they’ll come out, though.” He frowned.

I ran a soft hand through his hair. “So when they come out, they can’t really speak in the start but when they start to talk, they are going to call Katy and Lan as Mom and Dad.”

Luka’s lips formed an “O.”

“So Lan and I wanted to ask if you want to call us that too? Would you like for Katy to be your mom and Landon to be your daddy?”

My heart thudded while I waited for his answer.

“Does that mean you’ll no longer be my best friends?” he asked sadly.

“No, buddy.” Lan chuckled. “Katy and I will always be your best friends. But we also want to be your parents too. We love you so much. We aren’t your birth parents, but we promise to be the best mom and dad.”

Luka pensively thought for a while, and I held my breath.

His precious brown eyes found mine first as he nodded. “Mom,” he whispered almost hesitantly. “Mom,” he said loudly this time. My heart burst, and tears filled my eyes.

I wanted to hear that for the longest time

I couldn’t help but crash him into a hug. “I love you, Luka.”

“I love you too, Mom,” he muttered before darting his eyes back to Lan who was watching us with so much emotion.

“I get to call you Dad, Lawndon?”

“Yes, buddy.” Lan pulled both of us into our arms for a big family hug.

My belly squashed Luka, and when he started to feel the babies’ kicks, he giggled like it was the funniest thing ever. It made Lan and me laugh along with him.

We were a bundle of joy and happiness.

I was once a victim of this failed society.

I gave in to the glamour of lies and turned into something so perfect to the outside eye but a crumbling, dying mess on the inside.

Like a veil I put on to mask my true desires.

But because of love and understanding, I found the family I wanted.

The life I wanted.

With my Lan.

With my boys.