Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
“I’ll stop when she’s older,” he promised. “Now fucking kiss me and tell me you love me.”
My laughter was swallowed in his kiss as he maneuvered around Millie to take my mouth. It was short but beautiful and when he released me, I told him what he already knew. “I love you too.” My gaze dropped to Millie. “I love you both.”
I kissed Millie’s cheek and then reached up to kiss Fyfe again.
His voice was gruff as he announced, “Move in with us.”
“What?”
“We’re already living together. You know we’re meant to be a family, so why wait?”
I didn’t think it was possible to get any happier than when he’d told me he loved me, but there I was. So giddy, my cheeks hurt from smiling. “Okay.”
Fyfe’s return smile was so big, it made my heart swell. “Aye?”
“Aye. But I’m buying rugs and throws and cushions and putting up—” He cut me off with another kiss. Millie broke our connection by slapping us as she let out a high-pitched squeal. Laughing, we pulled apart.
“You can do what you want to the house,” Fyfe assured me. “It’s yours now too.”
The bliss was just a wee bit too much and tears blurred my vision.
Fyfe was used to the fact that I’d become a crier. Whether happy, sad, frustrated, or stressed, I was now a big old crier and I couldn’t care less. Neither could he. He just pressed a tender kiss to my forehead and laced our fingers together. “Let’s go home. Ready to go home, wee yin?” he asked Millie as we climbed up the incline.
“Dada Ae!” she squealed.
And there went my heart, bursting all over the place.
Thirty-Nine
FYFE
Iwas only twelve when Lewis first invited me to his parents’ house for a family dinner. I’d walked into the beautiful coastal home and looked past the impressive architecture, the privilege, the view … because I was overwhelmed by the energy in the room. Lewis’s aunts and uncles and cousins were like an overfilled fruit bowl. So much color and vibrancy spilling out everywhere.
I’d never known the warmth of camaraderie, teasing banter, the hilarity of multiple conversations going on at once as food was traded up and down two tables. That first dinner was one of the happiest days of my young life, but when I’d returned home to an empty cottage, it had also been the worst.
It was at that moment I’d realized how much was missing from my life, and I’d never resented my mother more.
However, I’d rarely turned down the opportunity to sit in on an Adair family dinner. Eilidh’s parents had been attempting to organize a large dinner Millie and I could attend since I’d started seeing their daughter. My girlfriend had been putting it off because she didn’t want the scrutiny when we were so new. After I’d finally gotten up the courage to tell her I loved her, I hadn’t realized how much insecurity she’d been hoarding. I think I only realized when she immediately started planning all these family events. An official Sunday dinner with the Adairs was the first on the agenda.
Considering how protective the Adair men were, I’d expected threats and warnings. Instead, Eilidh’s uncles, much like her father, Thane, gave me big man hugs and relieved grins while thumping me on the back in welcome.
Lewis must have seen my bemusement because he’d leaned in to explain, “They know you. They trust you with her. I do too. And being with you means she’s more likely to stick around. You’re officially an Adair now. But you always were, mate.”
Honestly, I was grateful I didn’t start bawling in front of the entire family.
The best part, though, was watching Millie light up under so much attention. I was concerned this many people might be too much for her, but her unintelligible baby words and giggles floated toward me as the Adairs lavished their affection upon her. The only people not in attendance who usually were, were Callie’s mum and dad and brother. They were in Italy for ten days’ vacation.
The eldest of Lewis and Eilidh’s younger cousins were Lachlan and Robyn’s daughter, Vivien, and Arrochar and Mac’s daughter, Skye. Eilidh had told me the girls were going into their final year of high school after the summer, which seemed mind-boggling because they were toddlers when I’d first met them. Vivien and Skye couldn’t be more different, but I’d noticed how close they were at all of these dinners, and I knew from Eils that the cousins were best friends.
All the Adair kids were teens now. Arran and Eredine’s twin girls were the youngest along with Robyn and Lachlan’s boy, Brechin. They were fourteen, but Keely and Kia (the twins) were turning fifteen this year. Lennox (Nox) Brodan and Monroe’s son was sixteen.
Watching them from a father’s standpoint felt very different. I could see how quickly the years would pass. I had to make sure I didn’t miss a second of Millie’s childhood because clearly it would be over before I knew it.