Chapter 15 Austin Graham

The Least I Can Do

A Week and a Half Until Christmas

Workouts fly by, and before I know it, I’m knocking on Kelly’s door with a box of food. I texted her to let her know I was bringing dinner over. After last night and this morning, it just felt like the right thing to do. Like I’m going home even though I just invited her to move in with me.

My own home doesn’t feel very homey —at least not in the way hers does. I stopped by to change for workouts this morning, and it’s missing the warmth Kelly’s place has. It’s missing the laughter, the smiles, the smell of pine. The decorations, the lights, the tree…the wreaths.

It’s missing Kelly and Mia, the two most important people in my life.

I looked around the bare walls, the sparse furniture, the half-empty rooms, and I realized that what it needs are the two of them.

It feels like everything is finally coming together for me, and now I just need an answer to the question I asked this morning. And as I lower my hand after knocking, I draw in a deep breath as I brace myself for whatever her answer may be.

She’s smiling when she answers the door, and she bypasses the box in my arms, steps onto her tiptoes, and presses a kiss to my mouth. She drops back down to flat feet as her eyes meet mine. “Hi.”

I grin at her. “Hey.” I nod toward the box. “Dinner’s here.”

“Oh, well, if dinner’s here, then by all means, come on in.” She gestures for me to go first, and she closes the door behind me. I head into the kitchen and set the box down, and I beeline over to Mia, who’s currently lying on her back, kicking a piano that’s arched in the air over her mat.

“I think I recognize ‘Jingle Bells,’” I tease, and I get down on the floor to press a kiss to the top of her head.

“Dadada,” she squeals, and I lift her up off the floor and pull her into my arms.

“Hi Mimi.”

“I love that you call her that,” Kelly says absently from the kitchen, peeking into the box to see what I brought. “Oh my God, is that Chinese from my favorite place?”

I nod, not hiding the fact that I’m proud I remembered. After all, we had one of our greatest dates ever at that Chinese place.

“This is amazing,” she says, and she starts opening all the lids. “And I’m starving.” She grabs some plates from a cabinet along with a variety of forks and serving spoons, and she dishes out a full plate for herself.

I set Mia in her highchair. “What’s for dinner for Mimi?”

“I have a delicious vegetable chicken entrée for her this evening,” she says, and she disappears into her pantry for a second before she emerges with the container. She gets a spoon and starts feeding Mia while I get my own plate of food, and I join them at the table.

She’s scarfing down an egg roll, and she’s fidgeting with the wrapper on the rather orange-looking delight that will be Mia’s dinner tonight as Mia makes little noises in her chair that sound an awful lot like yum-yum-yum .

I can’t imagine that vegetable chicken thing is yum-yum , but we’ll see what the verdict is in a second.

“May I?” I ask while Kelly continues to fidget, and she looks surprised as she hands over the container. I put a little on the spoon while Kelly eats her egg roll, and I give Mia the first taste.

She doesn’t grimace the way I’m expecting, and I end up feeding her the entire container.

“She was hungry, too, I think.”

Kelly nods, and she stands. “I have a yogurt pouch for her, too.” She grabs it from the refrigerator, and it’s hard to pretend like I’m not sitting at the edge of my seat for an answer to the question I asked this morning.

I don’t know how to bring it up. I don’t want to push her…but I also want her to know how badly I want this.

“Oh, guess what?” she says after Mia takes the pouch between her hands and starts to suck on it.

I glance up at her. “What?”

“Ava said she took orders for six more wreaths, and there were a bunch of other inquiries.”

My brows shoot up. “Wow, Kel. That’s incredible. I told you they’d sell.”

“I know you did, and I probably should’ve priced them even higher. But now I need to make six more wreaths, but I have no time to do it.”

“I can help tomorrow on your day off,” I say. “Unless you have something else going on.”

“I need to get to the craft store to get more supplies, but yeah, that’s my plan for the day.”

“What if we got someone to watch Mimi so I could actually help you instead of keeping her occupied? Would you be okay with that?”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” she says, and she glances at Mia before she promptly bursts into tears.

“About what?” I ask gently, not really sure how to handle this situation sensitively since I’m not sure what she’s upset about.

“I just feel so guilty, like I’m pawning her off on someone else, you know?” She wipes her tears and draws in a shuddering breath.

I set my fork down, walk around the table, and kneel on the floor. I pull her into my arms and hold her while she cries, and then I pull back and look at her. “You’re not. At all. You’re an amazing mom, but you’re also an amazing woman. You’re a teacher at heart. You’re crafty, and you’re talented. You’re kind and positive and fun to be around. There’s a Kelly in there, too, someone who is more than just a mother, someone who deserves some time to herself, whether it’s to make wreaths or sit in a bathtub with a glass of wine or have her world rocked by a football star.”

She giggles a little at the end, and I press my lips to hers for a second.

I pull back, and I search her eyes for a beat.

“I want to move in with you,” she blurts, and my heart soars. Before I get the chance to tell her that, she adds, “After the start of the year. Things are too crazy to even think about moving now, you know? Between the wreaths and the bakery, life is just insane. Would I love to just make wreaths all day? Of course, but I have a job. And with heading to Chicago with Mia for Christmas, let’s get through the holidays, and then I might have some time to breathe and focus.”

“Kel, you can breathe and focus now. You don’t have to work at the bakery. You know that, right?”

“Of course I do. I need a paycheck,” she says, and I shake my head.

“No, you don’t. I want to help however I can, and I guess I haven’t made that clear. You could stay home with Mia, or you could start a wreath business and sell wreaths at every holiday, or you could do none of that and stay home and watch game shows all day. I want you to be happy. You’re the mother of my child. It’s the least I can do.”

She clings on around my neck and hugs me tightly, and it’s as if I feel the stress rolling off her shoulders as I hold onto her.

I want to be here to shoulder the stress with her…not make it worse on her. And I don’t think I’ve done a very good job of that over the last year.

But all that changes now.

For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m coming in first.

And, to be honest, I’m not quite sure what to do with that. But I can’t wait to try to figure it out with the woman in my arms.