Cassandra’s cheeks flush red. “How about you make me one that says bae. That means girlfriend, right?”
“Dakota, can we do a Bae T-shirt for Cozy?” Everly calls out loudly, thankfully letting go of the mommy talk.
“Absolutely!” Dakota yells from her place at the front counter where she’s packing up orders.
I exhale heavily when the conversation shifts to Everly’s boyfriend, Hilow.
I was maybe a tad impulsive on the ring buying situation a few days ago. I don’t really know what happened. I was drinking whiskey after work one night with Josh, telling him all about how in love I am with Cassandra and how I didn’t go through my normal round of depression when Everly went to spend time with her moms after they got back because I had Cozy filling up all my nights.
Next thing I know, I stumble into a jewelry shop and put a twenty-thousand-dollar diamond on my credit card.
Like I said…impulsive. And maybe a little drunk.
In fairness, she did apply for the position of future wife. So it’s not like this is out of left field. And at least I didn’t get the fifty-thousand-dollar ring. I know Cassandra enough to know better than that. She’d kill me if I tried to give her a monstrosity of an engagement ring.
But we are settling in nicely together. I love having her in my home and in my bed. Last weekend we even went to her old storage unit and unpacked a bunch of her stuff from Denver. It went well, which was further proof for Cassandra that she is ready to move on from her old life and is done harboring the resentment she had toward her former company.
And she has her own cock-board making endeavors she’s happily pursuing. Which reminds me, I need to get that coded lock on Cassandra’s door. We both agreed that we don’t really need to explain the ins and outs of erotic romance authors and these cocktuterie boards to my almost twelve-year-old. No judgment, just…boundaries.
Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the right time to get down on one knee. I don’t want to totally freak Cassandra out, but I’ve had some good talks with Everly about it and she has made it clear she is one-hundred-percent Team Cozy. Although in her eyes we’ve only been an item for a couple of weeks.
However, in my eyes, Cassandra was mine the second she moved into that tiny house. It’s why I worked from home that first week. It’s why I kissed her like a starved man that night of the storm. It’s why I freaked out when she tried to go on a date. It’s why I couldn’t stay away from her after tasting her. She is mine in all the ways I’ve ever wanted a woman to be mine. And I want to be hers forever.
I watch her talk easily to Jessica, the two of them already acting like old friends. The day they arrived home, Jess and Kailey sat by my pool with us and heard the whole parent trap story straight from Everly’s animated mouth. She is very proud of her little scheme with my brothers. She has since decided she’s going to be a matchmaker when she grows up and help people find love. I think she’d be just the kind of person to pull it off.
Jessica and Cassandra knew each other already from their brief chats over FaceTime, but I could tell instantly that Jess was bonding with her. Maybe it’s because she actually likes her, maybe it’s just because she knew she makes me happy and that was all the approval she needed. Either way, I can see our families blending together in the future in a way that made buying that ring feel right.
I don’t think I fully realized how stunted I was emotionally until Cozy came along. She pushed all my boundaries and shook me in ways that I needed to be shook. And vice versa. I don’t need months to know that Cassandra is the one for me. There’s never been anyone else. And there never will be.
“Cozy, I need help,” Everly whines and Cassandra instantly drops what she’s doing to stand behind Everly and assist her with bagging up the newly dyed shirt to soak overnight.
“This one is going to be awesome,” Cassandra says into Everly’s ear, who smiles happily.
She smiles a lot these days. Since Jess came home and Cassandra moved in, it’s like Everly got all her favorite people right where she wanted them. And she never had to say goodbye to her nanny because she slipped easily into the role of her father’s girlfriend—like she was always supposed to be there.
Last night when I was tucking Everly in, she looked up at me and touched the corner of my eyes to say, “You’re getting wrinkles here, Daddy.”
I laughed and replied, “That’s because I’m getting old, kid.”
“No, you’re not. These are smile lines because you’re finally getting happy.”