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He leans in and kisses me deeply, grabbing my neck, as his thumb strokes my jaw.

“I have no problem with you riding me, Ayla,” he growls against my lips.

“So long as you’re in control,” I whisper back.

He shrugs.

“So your super-sperm will probably trump everything about my genetics, and we’ll end up with Christian clones and we’ll have pregnancy scares until the kids are thirty.”

“We only have to worry about the girls if they look like you.”

“Well played, Honey. Well played.” I wink.

“I’m serious. What happens if we have a girl who looks like you? She can’t date until she’s thirty? I think that’s fair. Are chastity belts still a thing?”

“Whatever you do for her, we’ll do for the boys too.”

He looks stricken. “But?—”

“But nothing. We’re equal opportunity people. If the boys get to be players, so do the girls.”

His face is priceless. I’d say he’s stuttering but no words are coming out. “You can’t say the boys can be man whores while the girls are on some purity protocol.”

“We can’t have girls then. I’ll never make it.”

“But you want me to deal with pregnancy scares from our boys?”

“So no girls and no boys. Got it.”

“And here I was just hoping we’d not shame one sex for what we celebrate in the other.

But if you want no boys and no girls, so be it.

” My voice is sing-songy. I can’t imagine not carrying his babies.

I can’t imagine not having a brood that looks just like him, or the best parts of both of us.

But we’ll see. “I guess we’ll just have to get a dog. ”

“If you say so, Princess.” He rises from the chair and extends a hand to me for my coffee cup. “I’ll start the dishwasher and be right back.”

I hand over my mug and breathe in the peace of this place, sad that we have to go soon. “You almost ready?” I shout over my shoulder.

“Not quite.” His voice is closer than I expect.

He comes back onto the porch with a legal envelope and takes a seat. “We never did talk about Aspen & Evergreen…” He extends the folder to me. Inside is a smaller envelope.

It’s labeled with the shop’s name. I flip open the brads and slide out what remains of the contract I left on the kitchen island before shit hit the fan. It’s torn in half and half again. My brows furrow.

“I reject your proposal.” He leans back in his chair and levels me with his eyes.

“Watching your success is a dream come true for me. I appreciate the gesture, but that’s the reward for your ambition and hard work.

You deserve everything you’ve earned. Nothing I did made it the success it is. That was all you.”

It was a gesture. I couldn’t think of anything more significant to offer of myself to show him I meant it when I’d said I loved him.

“Thank you. I am so proud of what it’s become.”

“You’d be successful in any arena you set your mind to. Your passion and energy married with your smarts is a winning combination.”

I let the praise wash through me. To hear those words, and from someone who kicks ass in business, fills me up.

I slide the smaller envelope into the larger one but meet some resistance. Peering inside, I see another envelope I hadn’t noticed before.

This one says simply Ayla Barone .

I’m not prepared for what I find inside.

It’s paperwork negating any need for guardianship and requesting reinstatement legally.

My therapist, Joanie, has included a letter of recommendation, as has my physician.

Lastly, Christian has documented why he took the drastic measures to start and why he feels those circumstances no longer play into my fitness.

He leans forward, elbows to knees. “It was never about my concern for your mental fitness. You know that. But with Seamus no longer looming over you, I can step back from this manner of protection, and return to simply being an overprotective ass.” A small smile plays on his lips.

“Not an overprotective ass with paperwork.”

I drop my hands into my face and release the stress of months of anxiety. The constant questions that plagued me. Whether they had been right, even a little bit. Whether I’d ever be restored to myself.

My mind. My body. My agency. Mine .

“This place is magical. I wish we didn’t have to leave.” My voice is low.

“I’m with you there, Princess. But we need to get on the road… when you’re ready.”

“I’m ready. I’ll grab my purse and meet you in the car.”

We drive home, not using the company jet either way, because we had the time and enjoy the drive. The weather is perfect, and the scenery is sublime. The time flies and, before I know it, we’re pulling up at Cian’s.

“I know he’s capable and smart, but thanks for letting me check on him.” I get out of the SUV a little disappointed that Eleanor doesn’t rush me at the car door to slather me with kisses.

In fact, there’s barking when I knock. Ellie never barks at me. Geez, her whole routine must’ve gotten out of whack when she stayed with us.

“Knock, knock,” I say as I tap on the door and let myself in.

Eleanor finds me quickly and hot on her heels is another baby, who instantly bites at her ears and tries to stand against her back to reach his nose toward us.

“Hello, gorgeous.” I give Eleanor a scratch behind her ears and around her neck. “Who is your new friend?” I squat to look the little one in the face. He’s brown with very little fur, a black muzzle, and black ear tips. He stretches for me and snaps his little baby teeth like an alligator.

I stand, barely avoiding stealing the little guy and running for the car, but just so Eleanor doesn’t feel slighted. She’s my girl, after all.

“Ci, you got a puppy?”

He comes into view from the kitchen.

“I didn’t know you were such a glutton for punishment. Upcoming surgeries. Starting a business. You’ve been home for twenty-four hours and you got a new furball? Is it a boy or girl? And how’s my girl doing with the little one?” I wrap him in a hug, as the untrained pup stands against my leg.

“Nein,” my husband says firmly.

The dog pulls back enough to stand, but whimpers .

I twist my head in curiosity to look at Christian, my brows pinching together in confusion.

He looks to my brother who says, “He’s yours, sis. Couldn’t have you stealing my girl.”

“Our girl,” I correct.

The look on his face is one I haven’t seen in a while. It’s relaxation mixed with humor.

“Fine, our girl, but maybe you don’t take her on your bear adventures anymore.”

“It was one time. I swear I’ll never hear the end of this.”

Then it hits me. I have a puppy. I squat then fall to my butt on the floor, scooping up the little fluff ball and smelling his puppy breath.

“Who are you? What’s your name? Are you perfect like Ellie is?

I bet you’ll be great in photos. You might need your own Picstagram account.

Who wouldn’t want to see you on your adventures? ”

I look up to my husband who has a grin plastered on his face. A grin!

“Did you know about this?”

He shakes his head. “Princess, I orchestrated this. He’s a Malinois. He’s with us to bond then he’ll go for training.”

“You’re sending my baby to boot camp?” To the dog I say, “You don’t need that, do you? You’re probably already perfect and don’t need any help. Is that right?”

“Training is a must,” Christian says in all seriousness. “They’re fearless and highly intelligent. He’ll need that honed, and you’ll need to work with him.”

“What’s his name?” I ask.

“You tell me. He’s yours, Ayla.”

I look from my husband to my brother to Ellie. “I don’t know, but you have to be strong enough to keep up with Eleanor, so I’m going with Franklin. Not Frank, maybe Frankie, but I like Franklin.”

“Franklin it is,” Christian puts in.

“Only you,” Cian offers. “Do you know anything about the Roosevelts?

“Not a thing. But it’s a good name, a strong name, and it honors my girl.

” I extend a hand to Ellie. Leaving Franklin in my lap, I reach for her and coo, “Who’s the bestest good girl in the whole world?

” I stroke her and kiss her forehead. She responds with a kiss to my chin that Franklin promptly tries to imitate, but instead uses his teeth. “Ellie wouldn’t bite me. Would you?”

“That’s because Eleanor is trained.” That’s Cian being practical.

“Franklin will be, too.” Christian offers. “You can count on it.”

“How long have you known?” I stare at my brother.

“Not as long as your husband. I’d forgotten puppy stage exhaustion. Ellie and I will sleep well tonight.”

“You planned this?” Still sitting on the floor, I look to my husband before dropping my gaze to the pup who snuggles in and rolls to his back, exposing his belly and throat to me. “You’re going to make me fall in love with you, aren’t you, little dude?”

Eleanor bumps her head under my hand and stares. I give her pets and hold her gaze. “You’ll always be my number one, sweet girl. Your dad is just annoyed about the bears and helping Christian make a point. That’s all. It’s still me and you against the world.”

She sets her head on my leg as I rub her flank. That picture, me with a sleeping pup in one arm, my brother’s girl snuggled in on my other side, never makes it to Picstagram. But it is does become my phone’s home screen. Perfection in one photo.