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CAMILLE
when I woke up in the morning, it took a minute to adjust to my surroundings and the arm draped over my waist.
At first, my mind was too foggy to focus, but when I finally could, I nestled back into Drew’s embrace. He laughed lowly, his fingers trailing up and down my stomach. As if the babies could feel his hand, they started kicking.
“That still feels weird,” he said as the babies continued to play soccer with my bladder.
“I need to pee.” I wriggled my way out from his embrace and hurried to the bathroom.
When I came back, Drew was leaning back against the headboard. He smiled, the sheet slipping lower on his waist. I licked my bottom lip as my gaze drifted over his body.
“We don’t have time for that right now,” he said, grinning as he shook his head. ‘There’s still the backyard to show you and then we have to go get the rest of your things.”
“I’m still worried about where this is going to go,” I said as I gathered my clothes from the day before.
“I know you are. I am too. The best that we can do is plan for the future but take it one day at a time.”
I got dressed, his stare lighting me on fire. Once I was ready, he finally made his way out of bed and into the closet.
“Come on.” He took my hand and laced his fingers with mine.
I followed him through the house, trying to take everything in. There were more windows than I could count. I loved the natural lighting that lit the home. It was painted in pale gray tones with black windows and doors. The entire house looked modern, but Drew’s furniture added a cozy vibe.
“If there’s something you don’t like about the house, it will be easy enough to change. I already have a renovation team at the ready.”
“I like it,” I said as we moved into the kitchen.
The cabinets were a dark blue and the appliances were disguised with false fronts. I grinned, running my hand over the white granite counter and eyeing the brass accents. The kitchen was everything that I had ever dreamed of.
As I looked around at the house, it was easy to see that this was a place where we could raise our children.
Though we had our problems, there wasn’t a couple in the world who didn’t. We were going to be able to work through them.
Drew was the one person in the world that I could count on to put our children first. Even though I didn’t like how we had gotten here, he had left me because he thought it was the best way to protect his children.
The damaged part of me understood that better than anyone else.
We were two broken pieces of two very different puzzles that somehow managed to fit together perfectly.
“This house is stunning.”
“If you think this is nice, just wait until we get to the backyard.”
He led me to a hidden door in the wall of cabinets that led to the laundry room. There was a door against one wall with a large window that showed a small portion of the backyard.
“Close your eyes.”
I did as he said, smirking when his hands clamped down over my eyes. It was almost as if he knew I had every intention of peeking at his surprise.
The door opened and Drew guided me from the hard tile floor to the soft grass. We walked a few more steps before he pulled his hands off my eyes.
Tears gathered in my eyes as I looked around the backyard. The backyard was even bigger than the front. There was a pool sunk into the ground with a fence surrounding it. The girls wouldn’t be able to fall in when they got older.
Near the pool, there was a large entertaining area with a barbecue and a pizza oven. As I stared at the amazing stonework and the comfy-looking furniture, it was easy to picture our friends gathering around for cookouts.
I could see our children running and laughing together. Growing up together.
It was more than I’d ever had as a child.
There was a large playground built to look like a little replica of the house. It had a twisting slide and a couple different swings. I walked over to the treehouse and looked inside, laughing when I saw miniature patio furniture inside.
I turned and looked at the little treehouse already painted a pale shade of purple. I wondered how he had managed to find the perfect house in a matter of a few short days. None of it made sense to me.
But I was glad that he had. It showed me that he was ready for the rest of our lives together.
We were both done running from our pasts.
The longer I looked at everything, the more my chest started to constrict.
This was everything that I had dreamed of for our girls and so much more.
“I can’t believe you did all this,” I said as I turned to Drew with tears in my eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because I’m so happy. I never thought that this would ever happen. It was always career first and family was never a thought in my mind.”
“I know. I was the same way. And then the morning you left I realized how screwed up that mindset was. I thought a lot about what I want my future to look like. Every time I picture it, you are there front and center with our daughters.”
“So, we’re going to do this?”
“We’re going to do this.” He pulled me into his embrace and kissed me softly. “No matter how many times it feels like we fucked up, I promise to keep trying.”
“I love you so much.” “I love you too.”
As we stood there in the backyard, I knew I was staring at the start of my forever.
EPILOGUE - DREW
e never talked about what to name them,” I said as I looked at the babies in my arms. Our daughters were both perfect, even though
they were born a couple weeks early.
They were sleeping, swaddled in soft pink blankets, as I held them. Camille laughed and shook her head. “We never did talk about names.”
I looked down at our daughters, trying to come up with the perfect names. As I tried to remember every name I had ever heard, my mind went blank. It was hard to think of anything when I was looking at the two most perfect people in the world.
In that moment, I knew that nothing would ever compare to the love I had for my family.
“I can’t believe that I was going to let all of this go.”
Camille grinned and closed her eyes, leaning back against her pillows. There was a pink tinge to her cheeks and she looked like she was exhausted. I was going to let her sleep but I could see that she was fighting it.
“Go to sleep if you’re tired.”
She opened her eyes and lifted her head. “I can’t. Mama’s going to be here in a few hours to meet them. I can’t be asleep when she gets here. I want to see her reaction.”
I chuckled and shook my head. It didn’t surprise me that she wasn’t going to go to sleep. Camille and her mom had started to reconnect over the last couple months. Her mother was still clean and had found a small apartment in the small town we had moved to.
There were some days that were still rough between them, but they were both working together. From what I had seen, the pregnancy had done an excellent job of reuniting the pair.
“She’s been doing good lately. Are you still thinking about going to that meeting with her?”
Camille nodded. “I am. I think there’s a lot that she and I need to talk about but we need a safe space to do it. We’re not getting into that right now though. No bad vibes on our daughters’ birthday.”
“Think of any names yet?” I asked as I got up and set them in their bassinets.
Walking with the twins in my arms terrified me. Even though the nurses had shown me several times how to hold them at the same time, I was still worried. I didn’t think that fear would ever go away.
“You’re a good dad,” Camille said, giving me a lazy grin as I moved to sit on the edge of her bed.
“Those are words that I never thought I would ever hear.”
“You are.” She smirked and reached out to take my hand, lacing our fingers together. “Now, be a good dad and pick names for at least one of your daughters.”
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. I looked over at the girls and
tried to think of something that would be good enough for the rest of their lives.
Nobody ever talked about how hard it was to pick a name. All I ever heard was how parents had names picked before the baby was born. Or how they looked at their child for the first time and they just knew.
“What about Everly Mae and Thea Grace?” Camille asked after a moment. I looked at the girls. A slow smile spread across my face as I nodded.
“Those are perfect.”
“Good. Now that’s out of the way. Whose last name are they getting?” “Well, actually, I had some thoughts about that.”
I got up from the bed and walked over to the bassinets. As I leaned over our daughters, I smiled and shook my head. It was hard to believe that they were finally here after a little over eight months of waiting for them.
When I walked back to the bed, I pulled out a small box and handed it to Camille. Her eyes widened as she looked down at the box before looking up at me. There was a glassy look to her eyes as she opened the box and saw the ring nestled inside.
“I want you all to have my last name. Or we can all take yours. Hell, we could even pick a brand new one together. Whatever we decide, I want all of us to have the same last name.”
“I kind of like the idea of taking yours.” A light blush spread across her cheeks.
“I never knew that I was capable of having a family until I met you. You were the driving force behind getting my shit together. I know that as a team there is nothing we can’t do. I want you to be on my team for the rest of our lives. We’ve done this entire relationship backwards, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Will you marry me?”
Camille laughed and nodded, tears running down her cheeks. She wiped the tears away as I took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger.
“I have a condition,” she said as she looked down at the ring.
“Anything.” I leaned forward and kissed her softly. “Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
“I want to wait until the girls are old enough to walk down the aisle with us.”
“I love that idea,” I said, kissing her again. “And I love you.” “I love you too. I can’t believe that this is our lives.”
I smoothed a hand over her hair, pushing the rogue strands out of her face. “Get some sleep, I’ll wake you up before your mom gets here. We have more good news to share with her now.”
“Move the girls closer and cuddle with me until I fall asleep?”
I nodded and got out of bed, moving the bassinets closer before grabbing the remote and turning off the lights. I climbed into bed with her and pulled her into my arms.
If I got to spend every night for the rest of my life like this, I would die a happy man.