Chapter 34

34

Mack

It's weird being the one away for work, and I've gotta say, a night on my own is luxury. I'll never say that to Davey or the kids, but nabbing myself a ticket for this book fair was a smart choice.

I have a big, fluffy bed and room service, after an entire day spent discussing books. I'm in heaven.

Sure, I miss them, but I'm happy to miss them every once in a while to have an entire day off to myself like this.

The past year has been a fucking blur of upheaval. From the second Davey quit his job, everything changed, and I've never been more happy for that in my life. Instead of clinging to what was familiar, I applied for the library supervisor role and got it, which came with a substantial enough pay raise that, combined with his bonus, we could manage Davey taking a few months off to figure out what his next moves were .

I always knew he was going to take Eric's offer. Davey's made to be busy and have his mind working, so one month into the three he'd planned to take off, he drove back to New York, sat down with Eric and HR, and got a plan put into place. He works three days a week, turns off his cell phone at six, and is uncontactable all weekend. In return, he goes to New York once a month and works his three days in the office before coming home again.

He still hates leaving us, and I maybe have some light PTSD from being left all the time, but having him gone for four days is a lot easier than two whole weeks.

It helps that I'm busy too. The days he's gone are full of school drop-off, work, lunch with one of the DMC guys, planning community events, school pickup before the kids hang out at work with me for an hour, home, dinner, bath, and bed. We still miss Davey, but it's not unbearable the way it once was.

I enjoy my night alone in Boston before getting back in the car and driving home. While it's not something I want to do frequently, the occasional night away here and there sounds like a fun plan. Beau's next book tour is coming up, and he asked if I want to travel with him for a couple of days. I'm considering it. Ever since Davey got him to sign books for me, we've gotten close, and it's great to have someone I can totally geek out with. Between the both of us and the handful of other book lovers we've found, we've started a book club that meets once a month. Payne and Davey like to tease us about our "fantasy porn," but Beau said Payne reads it too.

Davey doesn't pick up when I call, so I assume he's taken Kiera and Van out somewhere, but when I get home, the front door is unlocked.

The house is suspiciously quiet though .

Too quiet.

I dump my keys in the hall and go looking for any hints as to where they all are. The living room and kitchen are both clear, but when I'm about to head upstairs, I see something on the floor.

An arrow made out of LEGOs. I follow the direction it's pointing and find another one. And another.

They lead me to the back door, where there's a LEGO sign sticking up out of the grass with "this way" taped to the front in Kiera's writing, accompanied by Van's scribble.

Whatever this is, it looks fun and was definitely not what I was expecting to come home to. The sign is pointing toward Davey's LEGO hut, so I make my way over, slide open the door, and "What the fuck?" trips out of my mouth before I can stop it.

The LEGO is all gone. The whole room has been cleared out, and instead, my books fill the shelves on three walls, an enormous, comfy-looking chair is in the center, and a few bean bags are on the floor by the door. Keira and Van are giggling from behind the chair, and when I step around it to see them, I find Davey there too.

On his knee.

Holding what looks like my wedding band.

"W-what is this?"

I think my heart has stopped beating.

Davey smiles, and it's beautiful. "This is me, finally, officially, putting our lives back together. When I met you, I knew you were it for me, Mack. Things might have been rough, and we might have lost our way for a little bit there, but you're still forever for me. You always will be. So I want to start over. I want to promise myself to you again because this time, I know exactly what I'm promising. This time, I know what forever means. There's no doubt. Nothing holding me back. My priorities are where they should have always been, and I've worked out what's important. I love you. It's as simple as that."

"I love you too." I think the only reason I'm not crying is because I'm in shock. Davey's never once mentioned wanting to get married again. We call each other husbands out of habit, but I'd been happy to go on exactly as we are so long as it meant we were together.

"Will you marry me, Mack? Umm, again?"

"Yeah." I laugh, nodding hard. "I'll marry you again. And again and again. However many times I need to."

"Jesus." Davey hangs his head. "Why don't we stick with once more and call it a day?"

"Deal."

He surges to his feet and kisses me, Kiera squealing loudly from excitement while Van tries to join our hug with no real idea of what's going on.

"I want to be flower girl!" Kiera shouts.

"There's no one else." I scoop her and Van up, and Davey and I crush them between us.

My eyes scan the room around us, feeling warm and at home immediately. "You made me my own library?"

"Your book collection was getting out of control," Davey says.

"But … your LEGO."

He puts the kids down. "The truth is, I got so into it because it was my way to escape the tension in the house. I don't need to do that anymore, and coming out here to build things just takes me back to that place. So I want you to have this space. And I thought … if there's room at the library, I could set up some of my bigger pieces there, and the rest … mayb e one night a week, I could run a building class with kids or something."

"That's a fucking amazing idea."

"Yeah?" The relief that crosses his face is so sweet. "I want to enjoy it again. Maybe it sounds stupid, but?—"

"Nope. I think it's amazing. Like you."

He rolls his eyes. "There's that word again."

I pointedly look around the room. "Well, you keep on proving me right."

He looks down and lifts my hand to slip the ring back onto my finger. The ring finger. Right where it belongs. "We're doing this again?"

"For the last time," I assure him.

Davey smiles and buries his face in my neck, and I hold him close, breathing in his scent, bathing in his warmth, the anxiousness of the past few years dissolving into nothing.

"Finally," I sigh.

"What?"

"Everything is finally perfect."