The kids jostled each other hopping down the hallway-turned-raceway. Giggling. So much giggling.
For a few fall weekends, she and Hannah joined Theo on his treks up to Fort Worth so Andres could get to know them. Not every time, because Andres deserved his dad’s undivided attention no matter what else was happening in Theo’s life. In September, the kids thought dashing through the connecting doors of their hotel rooms to leap onto each other’s beds was a glorious game. In October, they’d insisted on a sleepover. Neither of them could settle down that night, and in the end Rachel curled up with Hannah and Theo with Andres. In November, they didn’t spend money on a second room.
Over Thanksgiving, when both kids were with their other parents, Rachel moved into Theo’s townhouse. He’d given Andres’s big bed to his aunt and uncle after their house flooded, leaving room for twin beds and an influx of Hannah’s possessions in the kids’ bedroom.
It wasn’t yet a squeeze. But they’d only just now stacked a messy, towering pile of gifts from Colorado under the Christmas tree. There was plenty of time for Andres and Hannah to get sick of being together all the time. She watched them go back to their starting line. Hannah wanted to race crab-style like Andres. Every time he came up with a new way to slow himself, she copied him and the playing field was uneven again.
“You’re borrowing trouble,” Theo said, bumping his hip to hers.
“Open the oven for me?”
He did, and she slid in a tray of cookies. They’d already mailed tins full of baked goods to Aunt Johnston and her parents and Blythe’s family. And Annalisa and Theo’s sisters and his parents. So much more holiday baking now. Good thing her beloved was an excellent dessert maker. They’d turned down the invites to visit Austin and Plainview; their first Christmas as a family was for the four of them.
“I’m not borrowing trouble. I’m monitoring in case trouble arrives, so I can jump in first thing.”
“Pretty sure that’s the same thing.” He stopped massaging her back long enough to pass her a towel so she could wipe the flour from her shirt. The baby bump was nothing but an expanse waiting to be covered in spills.
Little One kicked at her to protest the characterization. “She wants more of your pecan pie.”
“Does she now?” Theo reached around and splayed a hand over their child, who seemed to be copying her siblings, crab walking around inside of Rachel. “Nope. That’s not what she wants.”
“Oh, really?” Her in-house expert. All his organizational drive, now he’d gotten Elixir back up and profitable, seemed focused on the stages of the baby’s development. Every day another tidbit about how she was growing. “What does she want? A green smoothie? A walk?”
“A wedding.”
She spun to face him. He wrapped a hand round her nape and pulled her in for a deep kiss. Well, as deep as he could manage with her trying to talk through it. And with his grin. And with the kids suctioning themselves to their legs. And with the oven timer going off.
“Theodoros Andreas Melis, did you just propose to me?”
“Everyone back up so we can get the cookies before they burn.” He winked at her while scooping up Hannah. Winked!
She gave Andres the potholders and set a steadying palm on his crown while he leaned in to slide out the baking sheet. If her hand trembled a little, no one mentioned it. If she stared at the golden edges of the pfeffernüsse longer than necessary, everyone let it slide. Tears under control, wobbly smile in place, she faced her family. “Is that a yes?”
“I think that’s my line,” he said, pulling her in to his side. Hannah pushed away and he let her wriggle to the ground. “Out of the kitchen, you two. Go wash up for dinner.”
“Is dinner even ready?”
He moved so she could see the timer on the Instant Pot.
“Is that a yes?” She laughed a little while repeating herself.
“Yes, dinner is ready. Yes, I’m proposing. Yes, I want you to say yes. Yes, I want to spend forever with you and our children. Yes, my heart belongs to you. Yes, I’m thinking about a summer wedding, if you and Little One are up for it by then. Yes, there’s more pecan pie. Does that cover everything?”
She was nodding, because words were tricky things. Hard for her shallow lungs to push through her tight throat. The easiest decision she’d ever made, but hard to say.
“So. Rachel. My goddess, my companion, my love. Is that a yes?”
She swallowed. Whispered, “Yes.”
“Yes? Serious?” He voice was rough around the edges, too.
“So serious.”
The dinner timer went off, Hannah got obstinate about sitting in Andres’s favorite seat, Little One opted to sit on her bladder. She could not stop grinning.
“I was going to ask you, you know.”
Theo lowered his fork. “What?”
“Already put a ring in your stocking and everything.”
“You did?”
“Andres, go get your dad’s stocking, can you?”
Hannah trailed after him. While they waited, Rachel twined her fingers with Theo’s. “Don’t get too excited about the ring. I found it in the dress-up section of the toy store. But I wanted you to know—want you to know, in case you ever wondered, how much I want to spend my life with you. Not because of Little One, or because Hannah loves you or because I love Andres. It’s you, Theo. You’re everything to me, and I’m choosing you.”
She didn’t know which of them was trembling, and which of them was holding the other up. Maybe a lot of both on both sides. But together they made a solid unit, and together, they’d keep supporting their family through whatever adventures lay ahead.