Cooper and I climb under the covers on our respective sides of the bed. His scars are on the inside and a little harder to reach. I think Reed and I are doing a good job, though. Cooper’s right. He’s more than the label of my boyfriend, Mommy’s friend, or Reed’s buddy. But as he said, there’s an unspoken understanding between the three of us. We know what we are to each other, and that’s all that matters.
I sink into the bed next to him, my body tired from the day, but my mind is going full speed. “Cooper?” I ask, peeking over at him. “Why didn’t we just get married back then? It would have ended any opportunity for that contract.”
“That’s true. It would have taken away any ammunition they had to make me get married.” His eyes meet mine. “But would you have married me? Would you have said yes?”
“To put an end to that nightmare. Yes, I would have.”
“And otherwise?”
I don’t have to think about it because I already know the answer. “Yes.”
He rolls to his side to face me. “What about now?”
I roll to my side to face him, already grinning. “Are you asking?”
“I could be. Depends on your answer.” He smirks, but I get the bonus wink as well. “I was planning to do it this weekend.”
Screw the butterflies, my happiness bursts like fireworks in my chest. “Don’t you think three months is a little fast.”
He leans forward and kisses me. “Since when did we ever take anything slow?”
Angling onto my back, I invite him over. He moves quickly, settling between my legs and cups my cheeks. I caress his, and say, “The answer is yes.”
We seal it with a kiss . . . and then I score an orgasm before he slides back up my body ready for the main event. Feeling light as air, I ask, “Do you want to play doctor tonight?”
“I’m not really into that role play.”
“What are you into, Cooper Haywood?”
“Financial analysts with a passion for photography.”
I burst out laughing before I remember I need to keep it down. “That’s oddly specific.” I play coy because it’s fun with him and blink my eyelashes.
“Well, how about this?” He kisses the base of my neck and then says, “My real kink—I’m really into Story Salenger.”
“An engagement that involves sex—”
“Great sex,” he interjects.
“Valid point. An engagement that involves great sex is not really a story we can tell our grandkids or kids of any sort. It’s rated R for eighteen plus, but even if our kids are older teens, this is not—”
“Hey,” he says, then kisses me. Left breathless and wanting more, he says, “You’re not just great sex to me. You’re also the love of my life. That’s our story, and I’m sticking to it.”
I kiss him just as our bodies align to come together again, and then whisper, “I’m that good, huh?”
Chuckling, he says, “Best I ever had.”
44
Story
Sunday . . .
* * *
“Five feet,” I remind my Tigger of a kid. He’s so excited he’s practically bouncing like his favorite fictional character. Reed is leading us straight to the tigers. He knows the path from the entrance of the Bronx Zoo to the exhibit.
I keep him close for safety but give the five-year-old enough freedom to feel he’s pushing boundaries. Cooper and I usually hold hands, but overly crowded places, like the zoo on Sundays, have us prepared to dart.
Shifting the backpack he’s wearing with our day’s supply of necessities, he glances at me. “How are you feeling?”
My amazing man. He’s worried about me right now? “I’m good.”
His arm comes around my shoulders, and he squeezes me close to kiss my head. “It’s going to be a change. I don’t think a big one, but a change from one parent to having two. I know you’re okay with that, but more so that you’re ready for it.”
“I’m ready.” I hate losing the contact when he lunges forward right before a family comes between us and our kid. Already the protective dad, always has been with Reed, and protective of me in other ways.
Cooper doesn’t need to work, but he shares with others what he does for us—cares for us and our needs. I saw it when he first met Reed and the way he kneeled to give our son eye contact and to speak on his level, to listen to him and let our son’s imagination soar.
I caught a glimpse of that on graduation day when Cooper and Jake walked ahead of Lila and me. Jake was around Reed’s age now and totally looked up to this amazing man who talked to him with respect, but also listened to him. I see Cooper treat Reed the same.
And although it was a fleeting time in our lives, Cooper braved a storm and floods to get medicine for me. He took care of me when I was basically a stranger. Well, a stranger who he’d just slept with, but he could have left. He came back. He came back to take care of me. I have doubt that he’ll spend his life caring for his family.
I catch up to them ahead at the exhibit. We didn’t discuss who would say what or rehearse it, so I’m not surprised that Cooper is waiting for me to take the lead. I wait for my little monkey to climb onto the ledge of the viewing window and then point at the smaller tigers lounging in the sun. “Which one is the mommy?”
“That one,” Reed says, pointing.
I had no plan, but this seems like one that works for him. “Why that one?”
“Because the smaller one is only five feet away.”
Cooper and I exchange a knowing smile when he kneels on the other side of Reed. I ask, “And which one is the daddy tiger?”
He looks between the ones we see but doesn’t answer. I don’t know why I feel a knot in my stomach, but it’s growing bigger every second.
Reed turns to eye Cooper and then he touches the faint lines on the side of his right eye. Turning back to the tigers, he points at one I hadn’t noticed before. The large animal sits regally on top of a rock overseeing his pride. That’s our Cooper, the king of our hearts, protector of all things Salenger. He says, “That one because he has stripes like Cooper.”
I avoid looking at Cooper altogether because he’ll only make me cry. Struggling to keep my voice from shaking when my emotions take over, I take a deep breath and rub his back. “Hey buddy, I wanted to tell you something important.”
“What?” Reed looks at me and then at Cooper. He promptly sits on Cooper’s knee like its sole purpose is to be a seat for him.
Looking more at home than ever, I know this is it. Some might be sad, but I’m about to give him something that I used to wish I had. I say, “Cooper’s your dad.”
Reed stretches his arms over his shoulders and starts touching Cooper’s face. Cooper pretends to bite his fingers. Giggling, Reed says, “Okay.”
“Yes, it is okay, but I want you to really listen and understand.” With his eyes looking into mine, I smile. “You know how you grew like a weed in my belly?”
“Mmhm.”
I pause, realizing I don’t want to talk about how Cooper planted the seed. That’s a whole other conversation that I’ll leave for the professional. “Actually, don’t think about weeds. Think about blood. We share blood—”
“Ew.”
Saving me, Cooper says, “You and your Mommy are related. What she’s saying is that we’re also related.”
“You and Mommy?”
“No . . .” His head wobbles. “Yes, but different from you and me. We come from the same family, like how you come from Mommy.”
“You, me, and Mommy are a family.”
Cooper grins. “Yes, we are. I’m your dad.”
Reed looks at me like he’s bored, and he’s definitely antsy. “Will you do Dad Duty at school?”
“What’s Dad Duty?” Cooper asks.
Feeling a huge sense of relief to get that secret released, I reply, “Dad Duty is when the dads volunteer at the school. It’s a shift once a month during lunch. You play four square or a game of basketball. You just spend time with all the kids.”
“Mom comes, but I got laughed at last time.”
“You fill in at Dad Duty?” Cooper asks, already smiling.
“A lot of the fathers in the community can’t take off work. Since I always pulled double duty anyway, I wanted to be there for the kids. And I have a really good free throw. The kids are impressed when I nail it.”
“Oh, yeah?” He laughs. “You’ll have to show me sometime.” He lifts Reed and angles him his way. “I’ll be at Dad Duty every month, but what do you think about me being on Dad duty every day in your life?”
“All the time?”
“All the time.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”