Page 121 of Forever Mine
I press the cold bottle to my sunburned neck. “Grant wants to do the stargazing thing at Panorama Point.”
We’ve kept up the Barnes’ men camping tradition for the boys. It’s become this massive annual event, kind of like a family reunion. Me, Elijah, and the boys. Liz, Ry, and their kids. Jessi and Pixie. Ash, Mei, and their daughter. My folks. Elijah’s dad and his wife, Pamela. Shaun, Yo, and their two girls. This summer, we’re heading to Utah to visit Arches and Canyonlands.
“Summers go by way too quickly,” I comment.
“Old age does as well.”
I balk at her implication. “We’re forty, not old.”
“Forty-two. And speak for yourself. You’re not experiencing the joys of perimenopause.”
“Thank God.”
I laugh when she glowers at me.
“Dad! Dad! Watch!” Nicholas shouts.
I know he’s calling me because the boys call me Dad. Elijah is Daddy.
My eyes train on Nicholas as he and Elijah ride a wave to shore. Nicki wobbles a few times, but E is standing behind him, holding onto him so he doesn’t fall off.
I cup my hands around my mouth and shout, “Way to go, Nicki!”
The smile that splits his face is absolutely beautiful.
Grant lets out a whoop and runs out into the breakers to meet them. As soon as Nicki jumps off the board, Grant jumps on him in celebration.
It’s funny to see the boys’ personalities grow as they do. Grant is more like me. Confident, take-charge, and a phenom on his little league soccer field. Nicholas is basically Elijah’s mini me. His little heart is huge. So sweet and empathetic. But you get him in the water, and Nicki is a beast, just like his daddy.
Fuck, how I love our two boys. I didn’t know my heart could love so much or be so full, but Elijah, Grant, and Nicholas fill it to overflowing.
Liz is right. The years are soaring by way too quickly. It feels like only yesterday when I told her the big news.
“Hey, pretty girl,” I say to Liz, pushing open the screened door and stepping onto the back deck. “You look deep in thought.”
“Just eye-fucking my husband,” she says, watching Elijah and Ry kick a soccer ball back and forth in the backyard.
She waves to Ry when he looks our way and blows him a kiss. He pretends to catch it with a dramatic flourish.
“Four years married, and you guys still act like teenagers.”
“Oh please. You and Elijah are just as bad,” she retorts.
My grin is full of mischief, and I can’t help but chuckle, my mind flashing back to our earlier escapade in the laundry room. Elijah was wearing those fucking sexy gray sweatpantsagain. I pounced him, then pantsed him, then fucked him bent over the washing machine.
“Can I get your opinion about something?” I ask her.
Despite our close bond, nerves twist my stomach into knots. The conversation we’re about to have feels monumental.It doesn’t matter that she’s my best friend, and I can tell her anything. What I’m about to say is one of those life-altering moments.
Her gaze turns quizzical as she shifts in her seat and gives me her full attention. “Go for it.”
“E and I are thinking about adopting.”
Her reaction is immediate and exactly what I was hoping for. Leaping out of the rocking chair, she almost topples me backward when she jumps into my lap. Her arms wrap around me in a tight embrace, her joy palpable and infectious.
“Julien, that’s wonderful!”
“I’m so fucking excited.” There’s also a sliver of doubt that I’ll suck at being a dad.
