They picked up Emma at Patty’s and headed home. Jonas listened to his daughter chatter about chicken nuggets and fries and how they’d gone home and roasted marshmallows at Lisa’s firepit. She had the sticky fingers to show for it. Jonas was completely under her spell. His daughter was a miracle, and it was all because of Shannyn. She was a hell of a mother.
And now she would be his wife.
“Hey Emma, your mum and I want to talk to you about something. Sit with us on the sofa for a minute?”
“Okay, Daddy.” She reached up for his hand. “Can I sit in the middle?”
“Of course.”
He remembered that first day when she’d called him Daddy, and the word had filled him with panic and fear. Now it was the sweetest word in the world.
He looked over at Shannyn. She looked happy, too. And without the pinched look around her eyes she’d had so often. He’d put her through so much, but no more. They’d face the future with open communication and love. He was done holding things in where they festered.
“Honey, your daddy and I had a big talk tonight,” Shannyn said. She was looking at Emma, but she reached over and took Jonas’s hand. “And we decided that we would like to get married.”
Emma’s eyes got wide and she looked from Shannyn to Jonas. “You mean you would be here all the time, Daddy?”
He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “That’s right, sugar. I love your mommy. And she loves me, too. Would that be okay with you?”
She nodded, her dark curls bouncing. “Yes, but now I have to think of something else for my letter.”
Jonas frowned. “Your letter?”
She nodded, an adorable smile on her lips. “My letter to Santa! Last year I asked him for a daddy, and he was late but you came anyway. This year I was going to ask him to make you live here all the time, but now I’ll have to think of something else. Santa is an overa…overa…”
Shannyn snorted. “An overachiever?”
“Yes!” Emma popped up onto her feet. “Mama! Did Daddy give you a ring and everything?”
He looked into Shannyn’s eyes and felt like a giant.
“He did.” She held out her hand.
“Oh, Mama. That’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” Jonas said. “But it’s getting late. I think it’s pajama time.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
“Wash your face!” Shannyn called after her.
When she was gone, Jonas reached out a hand and pulled Shannyn closer. “She is such a treasure,” he whispered holding the woman he loved close in his arms. “Thank you for giving her to me.”
Shannyn turned her gorgeous eyes up to his. “You gave her to me, too, you know.” She bit down on her lip, and looked down, but then back up again. “Did you mean what you said earlier?”
“Every word, but you might want to be more specific.”
“About a bigger family.”
“If that’s what you want.” He cupped her cheek. “I’d like to be part of it all this time around.”
“I’d like that too.” She turned her head and kissed her palm. “But you know what that means…”
He shook his head, unsure of what she was getting at.
“It’s going to require time in bed. Lots of time in bed.”
“Damn, I like the sounds of that.” He leaned forward and kissed her, until the sound of giggles reached his ears.
“You guys are kissing!”
“Save it for later?” Shannyn whispered against his lips.
“Forever,” he corrected, and for the first time in nearly two years, felt his life was truly beginning again.
THE END