She leans down to kiss me as I sit on the edge of the couch with her standing between my legs.
For a long time, I felt a bit broken from trying to be enough for everyone else. But once this woman walked into my life, she made me realize that not only am I enough for Max, but I’m also enough for myself. And now I know, without a shred of doubt, that I’m enough for Miller too.
“Quite the party out there,” she says, gesturing towards the back door. “Why aren’t you dancing?”
My eyes track every inch of her face, basking in the knowledge that I’m going to have the privilege to see it every day for the rest of my life. “Because I only want to dance with you.”
She leans back as if she were ready for us to join our friends, but I pull her into my lap, letting her know I need a few more moments with just her.
I grab the magazine off the couch.
“You featured a dessert for my mom.”
“Do you think she would’ve liked it?”
“She would’ve loved it.” My attention bounces back to her. “And you.”
“Cute girl on the cover, don’t you think?”
“Cute?” I scoff. “How dare you call her cute.” I flip through the pages, finding her article. “This means so much to me, Mills.”
She smiles in a way that is so sexy, so seductive, all I can think about is getting her out of here, peeling her out of that sinfully tight dress, and letting my body tell her just how much I fucking missed her.
“And you look stunning tonight.”
“I’m sorry I’m late,” she says. “I was hoping to meet you at the house before the ceremony, but the drive took me so much longer than I expected. I hit traffic in Nebraska. Who hits traffic in Nebraska?” She toys with the hair at the back of my neck. “I did the interview on Monday, but then I had to stay in LA for the photographer to take new photos and Violet was able to slip me an early copy before I left. I wanted to surprise you with it.”
“This is the best surprise I could’ve asked for, but how much does Violet hate me?”
She bobs her head from side to side. “She’s not stoked about losing her top-earning client, but she’s happy for me. She apparently had her suspicions all summer long.”
“And your contracts?”
“The only one that was set in stone was with Maven and she dissolved it on the spot when I told her I wanted to leave.”
I can’t hold back my smile. “This is really what you want?”
I know it is, but fuck if I don’t love to hear her say it.
“This is what I want. This life together. The three of us. You keep me grounded, Kai, and I’ll keep you wild.”
I nod before sealing it with a kiss. “Deal.”
A knock sounds at the back door of the house and we both turn to find Isaiah, Zanders, Stevie, Ryan, Indy, and Rio with their faces pressed up to the glass, watching us.
“Jesus, fuck,” I exhale as Miller waves at them. “Did they all know?”
“Only Indy. I couldn’t show up to someone’s wedding without RSVPing.”
“Mama!” Max calls out from the other side of the glass, and when we look back, Ryan’s got him hoisted on his arm to get a good view.
His blue eyes are wide with excitement, looking right at the woman he and I love so much. He smacks the glass as if he it’ll help him get to her.
“Max is here?” Miller asks on a gasp.
He claps in excitement. “Mama! Mama!”
Miller drops her forehead to mine, eyes closed in relief, speaking quietly. “Today was a good day.”
There were so many times I said that this summer with the fear that they were going to all end, but now . . .
“They’re all going to be good days, Miller.”
I hold her, this girl I’m hopelessly in love with, and I only fall further when she places a soft kiss on the corner of my mouth and whispers, “Let’s go get our boy.”
With her hand in mine, I lead her to the back door, opening it to let her out first.
The small crowd is excited to see her, but she doesn’t hesitate to go right to my son, and just like the first day they met, Max is eager to get in her arms, throwing himself off Ryan’s body in her direction.
“Hi, baby,” Miller whispers to him, a bit emotional as her forehead falls to his. “Oh, how I missed you.”
She slightly bounces with him, taking her time. Our friends give them space, heading back to the dance floor with a squeeze of her arm or a wave of acknowledgment in her direction.
She smiles at them all, clearly looking forward to catching up, but right now her attention is solely on my son.
“Mama,” Max whispers, his little fingers tracing her inked arm.
“I’m here, Bug, and I promise I’m not going anywhere.”
Standing on the back porch, I lean against a pillar and watch them, trying not to cry. But this moment is everything to me. I watch as everything falls into place, when our family becomes whole. How do I not get emotional over seeing the two people I love more than anything, find that same love in each other?
Max doesn’t have the vocabulary to express how much he missed her, how much he loves her, but you can see it in the way he looks at her, the way he melts onto her shoulder to hug her.
She’s everything to him, in the same way she is to me.
Miller sways with him, dotting soft kisses against his hair.
“Kai! Miller!” my brother calls out from the dance floor, waving us over to join.
Miller’s sparkling eyes bounce back to mine.
“You coming, Baseball Daddy?”
I chuckle but need a moment to gather myself, needing to let the realizations sink in. “Yeah. Give me a second, and I’ll be right there.”
She leans up to kiss my lips before the two of them bound down the stairs to join our friends on the dance floor. With couples pairing off and the space filled, Miller helps my son stand his feet on the tops of hers. Holding his hands, she starts to move, the two of them dancing together.
Max is looking up at her as if she were his entire world.
Those two, this life . . . I don’t know how I got so lucky that I now get to call those two mine.
The fear that once consumed me, that Max wouldn’t have enough, that he wouldn’t feel loved unless he was with me, it’s gone. He has so much love in his life, and so do I.
Miller finds me over her shoulder, happy green eyes sparkling under the string lights. She gestures me to the dance floor, and though I love this view, I can’t keep myself from them.
I scoop Max up, holding him on my hip before sliding a hand against Miller’s lower back. Pulling her into us, she snakes one arm over my shoulder, the other over my son, pressing her cheek to my chest as we dance together.
“I love you,” I remind her once again.
She smiles up at me, so content, so at peace. “I love you.” Miller runs a soothing hand over my Max’s hair, her attention drifting to him. “And I love you.”
With our friends surrounding us, I finally got my family.
Epilogue
Kai
Six months later
“Max, which color pants do you want to wear today? Red, blue, or green?”
My son lays on his back in only his diaper and a T-shirt that says “Two Wild” in bold black letters, looking up at the three pant selections I’ve got on display.
“Gween!”
“Nice choice, my guy.”
“Mama, gween.”
As he lays on the floor, I slip his legs through his olive-green pants. “You’re right. Green is your mama’s favorite color, huh?”
“Yeah.”
While I’ve got him sitting still in one place, and most likely the only time he’ll be this way today, I take the opportunity to slip on his socks and checkered Vans.
“Who are you going to see today, Bug?”
“Mama.”
I chuckle. “Yes, but you get to see her every day. Who else?”
“Zaya.”
“Yep, your uncle Isaiah will be here. And . . .”
“Monny.”
“Yeah. I think Grandpa Monty will be here any minute.” I lift him off his back, placing him on his feet, all decked out for his second birthday party. “And why are all our favorite people coming over today?”