Chapter 38

38

NIALL

W aking up engaged felt somehow different. I knew it didn’t make any logical sense, but I felt like a superhero. Like nothing and no one could hold me back, and like I was suddenly lighter than ever before. I also felt complete in a way I never had, and that felt like it opened a whole bunch of doors I’d never even realized were closed.

Like I could lead armies and conquer lands. As long as I had her beside me, I felt like there was nothing we couldn’t do. Nothing I couldn’t be. A husband. A father.

All of it suddenly felt possible even if I never thought I would be either of those things.

Tallulah was still in my arms as my eyes slowly opened, and I grinned. I’m going to be her husband. Eventually, I’m going to be the father of her children.

While I had half a mind to wake her up with another orgasm to celebrate it all once more, I eventually rolled out of bed to surprise her with breakfast instead. The fact that I was listening to my heart over my dick when it was so hard I could hammer nails was strange, but I was also getting used to that organ in my chest making most of the decisions when it came to her.

Carefully extracting myself from her, I rolled out of bed slowly and pulled on only my underwear before I padded quietly out of the room. When I reached the door, I glanced back to make sure I hadn’t woken her and grinned as I watched her sleep for a moment.

With the festival over and the only other events taking place on the plantation being private Thanksgiving dinners that got booked out years in advance, she and I both had the opportunity to just chill for a few weeks. There were a few much smaller events happening at some of my properties around town and work at the office would continue as normal, but ultimately, the month following the Hallow’s Eve Festival was usually a quieter one for me.

This year, it couldn’t have come at a better time since it meant that we could take a few weeks to settle into this whole being-engaged thing. We’d spoken a lot last night about the distant future and what we wanted out of life, but we hadn’t quite gotten around to the immediate future just yet.

The events taking place around town were things like bridal showers and birthday parties, and none of those would keep Tallulah too occupied. In the meantime, the company didn’t desperately need me in the office every day. I was genuinely grateful for a bit of slower time to spend with her.

When I got downstairs, I puttered around a little, digging around the fridge for ingredients for breakfast and then grabbing my phone so I could call my mom while I cooked. I pressed the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I broke eggs in a pan for an omelet, but I paused when my mom finally picked up.

“Niall? Is everything alright? I don’t usually hear from you at this hour of the morning.”

“Everything’s fine, Mom,” I said immediately. “I’m calling because I’ve got some news I thought you might want to hear from me before you read about it in the paper.”

“News?” she asked curiously. “What news?”

“I asked Tallulah to marry me last night and she said yes. We’re engaged.” Saying it out loud made my heart skip and bounce like a tennis ball, and the grin on my face grew wider.

Mom was silent for a beat. Then she let out an uncharacteristically excited squeal. “Oh, Niall. That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you.”

My heart stuttered, but then the tennis ball was back. “You are?”

“Of course, I am,” she said, sounding genuinely delighted. “She’s a good girl, that Tallulah. She’ll make an excellent mother, too.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, she will.”

“Why do you sound so surprised?” Mom asked. “Don’t tell me you haven’t spoken to her about children yet.”

“Of course, I have. I’m not surprised that I think she’ll make a good mother. I’m surprised that you sound so happy about it. I wasn’t sure you would be. I mean, I knew you liked her, but I thought it might bug you that I wasn’t marrying one of your picks after all.”

Mom sighed softly. “All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy, dear boy. Marrying someone I picked for you was simply a matter of convenience. It would also have provided a guarantee that you wouldn’t be committing to someone who only wants you for your name or your money.”

“And Tallulah?”

“Let’s just say she convinced me of that herself. I don’t need any more guarantee than my gut instinct during my conversation with her.”

“Really?” I frowned. “So you’re actually really okay with this?”

“I am,” she confirmed after pausing for a beat. “I know you and I haven’t been close for quite some time, but I do hope things bring us back together at least a little bit. I’d love to be involved with the wedding planning, and of course, once there are children, I’m going to be a very involved grandmother.”

Something odd happened inside me then. A swell of warmth filled my chest that I’d only ever felt with Tallulah, and when I realized that, it occurred to me that this was love. Despite all my differences with my mother, I still loved her and it seemed I also loved the thought of her being more involved in our lives from now on.

I even grinned as I nodded. “We’d both like that, Mom. Grandchildren are still a ways off, but I suspect you’re going to be the only grandmother our kids will know, so we’d better work on our differences before they get here.”

She scoffed. “Grandchildren are my priority, our differences be damned.”

I chuckled. “That sounds more like you, but I feel like I should warn you that I would at least like to be married first before we start working on the grandchildren.”

“Of course, which is why I offered to help with the wedding planning as well,” she said flightily. “Don’t worry, my darling. All will be well. I wasn’t joking about grandchildren being my priority though, so be warned. I’m going to be speaking to you about that often from now on.”

“Yeah, I figured.” I clutched my phone in one hand and reached for a spatula, mixing the eggs for the omelet before I turned on the heat. “Just be gentle with Tallulah, alright? I wasn’t joking either. I really do think you’re going to be the only grandmother involved.”

Mom’s voice gentled then. “You have my word. Thankfully, she and I get along just fine. My hope is that you and I will be the same soon.”

“We will.” I was taken aback by how much I wanted to get along with her all of a sudden.

After hearing all about how awful Tallulah’s parents had been to her, I genuinely had a new appreciation for my mother, and besides, with my having met someone I loved and her approval of that person, most of our issues had worked themselves out.

“I’m really happy for you, Niall,” she said. “I’m glad things have worked out the way they have.”

“Thanks, Mom. So am I.” To my ever-loving surprise, she kept me on the phone for a few minutes longer, just chatting in a way I’d heard her do on the phone to her friends but she’d never done with me.

All the while, I cooked breakfast and slid things into the oven to keep warm as they were done. By the time I finally hung up with my mom, a throat cleared in the doorway and I spun to find Tallulah watching me, a lazy smile on her lips as she leaned against the door.

“Your mom?” she asked.

I nodded, grinning and waving her to me. “She said to tell you she’s sorry about how I turned out, but she tried her best.”

Tallulah chuckled and didn’t stop walking until she was in my arms. Her soft, warm body molded to my own as she pushed herself up on her toes to kiss me. “Good morning, fiancé.”

“Good morning, future Mrs. Morrison.” I nuzzled her cheek, breathing her in before I let go. “Breakfast is ready. Can I make you some coffee first?”

“I’ll get it,” she volunteered, releasing me and sashaying across the room toward the coffeemaker.

I watched her go, my gaze raking all over her as I recalled the first time I’d watched her walk away. “A man could get used to this view.”

In a little nightdress she must’ve put on before she’d come downstairs, I could see the curve of her hips and ass and I ogled her openly, wondering if I’d wanted to eat the food I’d made for breakfast after all.

Tallulah chuckled, shaking her butt at me a little bit before she poured herself some coffee from the pot. When she turned to face me, wrapping her fingers around the steaming mug, she smiled. “How’s your mom doing?”

I groaned, shaking my head sadly as I turned back to the oven. “Way to dump a bucket of ice over my libido. She’s fine. Thank you very much for asking.”

She laughed, and a moment later, I felt her wrapping her arms around me from behind. “I bet I can revive your libido, but I’d like to know what your mom said first.”

I leaned into her. “She’s very happy for us. I’m not sure you’ll want her to, but she offered to help with the wedding and her grandchildren.”

Tallulah stiffened, but then she started laughing again and kept at it for a while. Eventually, she squeezed me and then let go, picking her coffee back up as she went to sit at the counter. “Thank you. I’m pretty sure by the time her grandchildren arrive, we’ll want her help. As for wedding planning, is that what’s next? Do we start planning the wedding?”

I shrugged. “If you want to. That’s going to be my answer to everything actually. Whatever you want, you get. There’s just one thing I really want to do.”

“What’s that?” she asked before waggling her eyebrows at me. “Is it to carry me back upstairs?”

I smirked. “Okay, make that two things.”

“What’s the other one?”

I strode forward until I was pressed against her soft curves once more, but instead of kissing her, I reached around her hips for the set of keys I’d put down on the counter last night. “Move in with me?”

When I pulled back to look at her, sliding the keys into her palm, she blinked hard. “Are these to your house?”

“The Garden District house, yes,” I said. “I’d like us to make that our home, but if you want to look around for a different property, perhaps something more haunted?—”

Silencing me by suddenly mashing her lips against mine, she waited until I kissed her back before she nodded, grinning against my mouth. “I don’t want to look for another property. I love that house and I love you, so that’s a yes from me.”

I flashed her a wide grin of my own before I dropped my hands to her hips and picked her up, tossing her over my shoulder caveman style once more and laughing as she squealed. “Are we really doing this again?”

“You bet we are. In fact, you just agreed to doing this with me for the rest of your life. Sorry. Not sorry. I’m afraid this is what you’re in for as my wife.”

She chuckled, then patted my ass and sighed. “You know, I think I finally get what you were talking about earlier. I could get used to this view, too.”

Some primal part inside me preened. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, baby. Look as much as you want. As long as you know I’m taking my turn once we get up there.”