30. Nate

THIRTY

NATE

I n the almost two months since Walt’s had caught fire, life seemed to speed by in double time.

I had held multiple meetings with contractors and insurance agents about the future of the bar. It had sustained a lot of damage, but nothing that was completely irreparable, though it would be quite extensive to get it back to working order. Tabby and I had spent many long nights discussing the options, but we ultimately decided on selling it and brought all the staff over to Tabby Cat.

It was a difficult decision. After all, Walt’s was my first baby. It was the place Tabitha and I met, the reason we even had a relationship to begin with, but having the bar and the bistro was a lot for me. Maybe splitting my attention would have been possible if I were still single, but I had Tabby and the baby now. I wanted to focus on them. I had to focus on them, and in doing so, something else had to go.

I used the insurance payout to install a new HVAC system and complete some of the aesthetic repairs. Currently, I was in the middle of getting it ready to go on the market in the new year, and since Walt’s was a well-known bar with a good location, my real estate agent already had some interest.

The day we would have to officially say goodbye would be hard, but it was time to start the next chapter of my life. Today. With the woman up onstage.

I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face as I watched Tabby cross the platform to accept her diploma in her black gown, purple sash, and mortarboard. She shook a few hands then turned to look out over the audience, and when she spotted me standing at the end of the aisle, she smiled, waving her fingers.

Her cheeks flushed pink as I whooped and cheered with pride, hollering and clapping louder than anyone else in the crowd. Even George gurgled and kicked his feet in the carrier strapped to my chest.

“You see your mama?” I held his hand and pointed. “You see her? Aren’t you proud?”

Because I sure as shit was.

“That’s your mama!” I told him, even though he was too young to understand how long and hard she had worked for this moment. Trauma and grief and new motherhood.

She was incredible, and I was so goddamn proud.

Prouder than I’d ever been of anyone.

My fierce, resilient Tabby. The woman I loved with my entire being.

My gaze followed her as she walked offstage, back to her spot, and I wiped a loose tear from my cheek. Because, yes, I was emotional .

Frogger and I stayed standing through the end of the ceremony because the little guy preferred motion over anything else lately. Tabby met us, and I swallowed the lump in my throat when she flung her arms around my neck, careful not to squeeze George between us.

“I’m so proud of you,” I said against her hair and then once more against her mouth. Pulling back, I brushed away the moisture from her cheeks before kissing her again.

When we separated, she playfully tweaked George’s tiny foot. “What did you think, baby? Did you see Mama graduate?”

He blew a few bubbles in response, and her answering laugh made my heart swell. She laughed often now. She was so much lighter than she used to be. I knew it wasn’t all because of me, although my ego liked to believe so.

She was merely safe now. She felt secure enough to let go, to smile and giggle and ask for help if she needed it. She wasn’t on her own anymore, and I was determined to keep it that way.

With her hand in mine, I towed her away from the crowd. I folded her hands between mine as I stared into those dark eyes of hers that were once as mysterious as the ocean but now so easy to read, like peering in through a window. “You amaze me every day with your strength and heart and willingness to show me all the parts of yourself you don’t like others to see. I am honored to be the man you chose, and now…”

I reached into my pocket to present her with the simple diamond on the plain white gold band. She gasped when she realized what it was and what I was doing. I sank onto one knee, George waving his fists in the air. “Tabitha Reynolds, I want to spend the rest of my life being amazed by you. Will you do me another honor of becoming Tabitha Kozlowski?”

She nodded. “Yes! Yes, please.”

I popped up, laughing into a kiss, parting only because George forced us to with his kicking. I slipped the ring on the fourth finger of her left hand to a smattering of applause, and I held her hand in front of our son. “What do you think, Frog? You ready to be a flower boy?”

He gurgled happily, and Tabby bent to kiss his head, murmuring an “I love you, Georgie” to him before rising on her toes to kiss the words into my mouth. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I said. Those words still hadn’t lost their glow.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, heading out of the gymnasium and into the parking lot, where we’d get into our car, so I could drive us to Tabby Cat to celebrate with our friends—our chosen family.

With my family.