Page 128 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

‘Is Owen going to call you Mom?’

Iris glanced at Archer before answering. ‘He will, yes.’

Olive sat quietly thinking and they let her. They’d talked about it, he and Iris, over the months as they waited for the baby. Olive was officially his now, the permanent custody paperwork had all been signed. But they’d decided to let Olive take the lead on her relationship with Iris. They never wanted to erase Cate from Olive’s life, but they wanted her to know that she was just as much a part of the family as the new baby.

‘Can I call you Mom, too?’ Olive asked, after a while.

‘Of course. I love you both. You’re mine, too, Olive.’

Olive crawled up the bed to snuggle closer to Iris’s side. And with his son in his arms and his girls cuddled together Archer didn’t think he could be happier.

Then Olive looked at him with a grin and asked,

‘Dad, what’s for dinner?’

He couldn’t wait to get his family home to cook for them. A flood of images came to his mind: school-morning breakfasts and family dinners, holidays and Sunday brunches, cooking and baking for his kids, for his family. A lifetime of showing his family he loved them.

‘How about you cook it with me, Liv?’

‘Like your sous chef?’ she asked, her face lighting up. He’d taught her that word last week and she’d loved it.

‘Yep, like my sous chef.’

‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Me and you will cook for Mommy and Owen.’

He definitely wasn’t the only one with tears in his eyes when Olive called IrisMommyfor the first time, but he let them fall. They were happy tears.

‘I love that idea.’

Olive beamed.

And that smile was worth so much more than any five-star review. Archer was the best chef in his kid’s eyes and that was enough for him.

That was everything.