Page 76 of Force

Beau and I had spent the last several months on a perpetual vacation, rediscovering who we were and how devoted each of us were to our family. I’d learned again about the effortless commitment, friendship, and understanding he and I had shared since day one.

The best part of the case ending successfully was my win also being my family’s win. It took a village to get here. All of us had mucked through the scum to be standing here together.

Beau extended a hand, and I readily took it, separating the space between us. “I’d love you becoming a house husband. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“Come on, guy,” Beau said, chuckling at me, not with me. He released my hand to wrap an arm around my back, walking side by side with me to the front. “I don’t wanna be a house husband like theReal Housewives, but I do want to permanently slow down. I want you to too. We lived way too much life on the front end of our relationship, let’s keep the backend low-key.”

Before I could respond, Hunter’s triumphant yell drew our attention. He stood atop a mound of flowers, fists raised high, while Fisher lay face down, trapped under Hunter’s tennis shoe.

Ava stood to the side, glaring at Beau and I, her finger pointing at the boys. “See what they do? You can’t go anywhere with them. Why do we keep trying?”

“What’s wrong with those boys?” Beau muttered, quickening his pace toward the kids. To my surprise, Amelia appeared beside me, keeping stride with me.

“You did it, Dasham,” she said, her voice soft and encouraging. “You made a better life. We know love.”

My arm anchored around her shoulders, slowing our way to the entrance. “You were always my strength, Amelia. I wouldn’t be here without you. You keep this life moving for us. Especially over the last couple years. You kept me emotionally afloat.”

“All that sweetness, and you’re still good at keeping secrets.” Not necessarily the conversational direction I’d expected. I ran through the words again before turning my head to her. Based on all that accusation on her face, the sweet moment I thought we shared, turned darker.

Okay.

She knew.

Dammit.

Amelia was the secret-whisperer. She read me like a book, a toddler-level read. “Don’t tell Beau. I will after the party. I don’t know that he knows we’ve moved past the figuring it out stage.”

“How far along is she?” Amelia asked, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

“Six weeks,” I lied, but Amelia wasn’t fooled. “I’ve been waiting because Beau’s nervous about handling the load. He doesn’t understand I’m almost forty-one years old, and we need to wrap all this up.”

With only a look, she suddenly reduced me into a young boy, explaining why I wasn’t wrong.

“Seven weeks and three days,” she said and pulled the sonogram picture out of her bag. “Don’t leave things lying around if you don’t want them seen.”

The way she held the picture to her heart zipped my lips. The photo was an email attachment which meant she was poking around where she shouldn’t have been and printing things that definitely needed to stay hidden. It didn’t matter. Amelia loved my newest little nugget just like I did, just as Beau would after he finished freaking out.

“I was planning to tell Beau tonight,” I called.

Every dream I’d had as a young man was a reality. My life partner, Beau, our beautiful children, the normal life with normal people we created, all happened for me. The overwhelming contentment squeezed my heart.

With belief, work, and nurturing, dreams did come true.

My lips quirked up in the corners as I tucked my hands into my pockets. She didn’t catch my other lie. I figured forty-five years old was a good age to stop having children. We still had lots of time.

The End