“Hey!” Audrey called out. She walked into my view and held out her arms for Braden. “It’s the big day, huh?”
“Yeah! That’s my name, Aunt Audrey. It’s gonna be there for-ev-er!” I loved how he had enunciated that last word.
“That’s right, you’re stuck with me for the rest of your life, bud,” I said.
“Hey doll, guess what?” Braden asked. The whole room burst into laughter. Braden had taken to using my nickname for her a few months ago and it still made us all laugh.
“What, love?” Audrey responded.
“Mama and I get new last names now! I get to be Braden Parker!” he cried.
Braden really had opened up and was becoming quite outgoing, just like his sister. Who, by the way, was currently cuddled up in Jaxon’s arms. Those two had built a pretty solid bond and anytime they were both in the same room, she suckered him into holding her until I would finally have to go steal my daughter back.
“That’s right, buddy, you’re mom is finally admitting who she belongs to.” I eyed Raegan playfully and tried to tamp down my libido. When Raegan and I had said our vows, she decided not to take my last name until Braden could officially have it as well. I couldn’t argue with the idea of not leaving Braden behind, but I also couldn’t help the caveman inside of me that wanted his woman to be branded with his last name. When I thought about her being Raegan Parker, I needed to rip her clothes off and christen the marriage all over again.
“I think the tattoo around her ring finger pretty much covered that for you,” Audrey chuckled.
I looked down at the ink around my own ring finger and smiled. I’d proposed to Raegan less than a week after we left the hotel, but I didn’t have a ring ready because I wanted her to pick it out.
She hadn’t had any freedom to make choices for herself during the years that she was gone. So every chance I got, I wanted her to be able to have the option to make her own choices. I remember frowning when she told me she didn’t want a ring because she would more than likely lose it.
What she did ask for made me smile like crazy though. She wanted to be branded. I jumped at the opportunity to do the same for her. Wrapped around our left ring fingers were the words, I Promise.
She didn’t have enough skin on her body for me to mark all of the promises I had made to her. All the promises I would keep. And if for some reason someone forced me to break those promises, Raegan knew that I would fight like hell—I would take on the world, if need be—to keep my family safe and happy. They were my everything.
“…build sand castles, and go swimming, and eat cake, and go sporkeling,” I heard Kate chatting Jaxon’s ear off.
“You mean snorkeling?” he laughed. She nodded her head and he said, “I can’t wait!”
James patted my back and mumbled, “Finished.” He turned toward his black bag and began efficiently packing everything away. “Keep it covered from the sun, out of the water, away from sand, blah, blah, blah. I doubt you’ll listen to anything I’m telling you, so more than likely I’ll see you in a month for a re-do.” He shrugged. I had a feeling he didn’t care because that was more money for him.
“Thanks, man,” I laughed.
“Is everyone packed?” Raegan asked the group.
“Oh, keep rubbing it my face!” Quinn’s annoyed voice called out. I found her leaning against Cole’s chest and he chuckled at her discomfort. His hands reached forward and rubbed her bulging belly. “Y’all really should have told me eight months ago you were planning on going on an awesome trip together… before I had unprotected sex with this guy.” She pointed back to her husband.
“Hey, this is my son you’re complaining about,” Cole scolded, kneeling down to kiss her belly. “She doesn’t mean it, buddy,” he whispered.
Every once in a while, I thought about what Raegan would look like with a belly like that. I couldn’t even imagine knowing that I had filled her with that growing life, but then I got worried because I already had a daughter and a son. How would I love another one as much as I loved those two? Surprisingly, Raegan had been putting these ideas in my head of maybe having a baby in the future. I think Kate and Braden were breaking her down for a little brother or sister. I wanted whatever Raegan wanted, but that didn’t mean it didn’t scare me any less. For now, I’d enjoy the perfection that is my family.
“Hey, this is our family vacation,” Raegan chided. “Everyone else is just tagging along.”
She may try to act cool in front of me and everyone else, but she was just as excited for this trip as I was. We had also more than welcomed our friends to join along. More babysitters meant more alone time with Raegan. We had been waiting a long time for this trip. The legal costs for Kate and Braden’s adoptions were pretty outrageous, and therefore we hadn’t been able to take a family trip like I’d originally planned last fall.
Now, summer was in full swing, we had a resort booked in the middle of the Caribbean, and for six whole days we would be carefree and living the island life. No work. No school. No responsibilities. I could play with the kids all day and then play with Raegan all night. My kind of heaven.
“Babe,” I heard Rae call out from down the hall.
“Yeah?” I asked, while crouching down so Braden could get a closer inspection of my new ink.
“I need your help for a second,” she hollered back.
“You like it, buddy?” I asked Braden before standing fully upright.
“It’s awesome, dad.”
“It’s all for you, bud. You know I love you, right?” He nodded his head and repeated the sentiment back to me before he ran off to play with Kate.
I padded on bare feet down the hallway and found Rae in the laundry room, tossing a few extra clothes into our suitcases. Her back was to the door, so I walked up behind her and slipped my hands around her waist.
“I can’t wait to see you sprawled out on a beach chair with the sun kissing your gorgeous skin,” I whispered into her neck.
“Lane…” she moaned. “I think you’re more excited than the kids.”
“That’s probably true,” I chuckled. “Come on! It’s our first family vacation… this is epic!”
“You’re adorable,” she giggled. “Okay, let me have my turn at looking at it. Turn around, please.”
I spun around and once again crouched, so she could see the back of my neck. Her finger grazed around the gauze-covered tattooed skin, not touching the new ink but getting close enough that I could feel her appreciation.
“I love it,” she whispered.
“Baby, I love you guys so much.”
“Hey, guess what?” Her tone changed so quickly that my eyebrow automatically cocked in question. “I accidently overheard Jaxon and Em talking earlier.”
“You were eavesdropping?” I laughed.
“I didn’t mean to! But guess what? He asked her if she packed her birth control for the trip.” I had an idea where this was going. “And she said no!” she whisper-shouted in excitement. Raegan had recently jumped on the get-Em-pregnant train with Audrey and Quinn. Girls were funny creatures.
“We knew it was coming, babe.” I smiled at her excitement, even though I’d known it wouldn’t be too much longer. Ever since Jaxon had laid into Adam that day in the parking lot about how he would worship the ground Em walked on if she were carrying his child, he had become more and more open to the idea of kids. I actually wondered if he wasn’t the one now trying to convince Em they were ready, but I wouldn’t tell Raegan that.
I dipped down to take her lips against mine. The soft plump of her lower lip pushed in and I gently grazed my teeth across it. She whimpered as my hands pulled her in closer to my body.