29. Theo

29

THEO

"Do you think she's almost here?" Bonnie asks for what feels like the hundredth time, peeking out the window.

"I'm sure she'll be here any minute now." I try to keep my own impatience in check.

Abigail called nearly an hour ago from her car leaving LaGuardia. Traffic in NYC is mental and unpredictable, but she should be arriving any minute now.

Neither Bonnie nor I can contain our excitement.

"I'm going to go wait at the door." Bonnie rushes away from the window into the hall.

"A watched pot never boils, Bon!" I call after her.

However, if we're going to continue with pot metaphors, I'm the pot calling the kettle black when I go to the window to watch for Abigail's car in Bonnie's stead.

The two of us have been buzzing for the past week, getting the apartment ready for Abigail's return. Her fellowship has officially ended and now, she's coming home.

Central Park looks much different than it did when she left. In February, it was still gray, still gearing up to bud. Now, it's June and the park is green, flowers busting out everywhere, and the air is warm with impending summer.

It's a perfect day for Abigail to come home.

A perfect day for a proposal too, I would say.

My brain has been spiraling since I decided that today would be the day.

It might seem fast, but everything about Abigail and me has been fast. The second I returned from Ireland with Bonnie after spring break, I bought the ring. It took another month for me to bring up the idea of marriage to Abigail and even then, it was just in passing.

"What do you think about getting married someday?" I asked as she lay in bed a world away from me.

"Is that you proposing? Because if it is, I'll be very disappointed I don't even get you on one knee." And her smile made me light up inside.

She might not expect it this soon, but I don't care. It feels right to me.

I've visited Ireland several times over the past few months to see her, giving us more time to develop our relationship. I don't think either of us questions that this is it. We are it.

Might as well make it official with a ring.

My waiting is interrupted by a buzzing in my pocket. A text.

I whip out my phone quickly and am mildly disappointed when it's not Abigail, but Edwin.

Everything's set.

I smile to myself as I reply, Still waiting for her to arrive.

The three dots appear almost immediately. ‘

Shitting yourself? ??

I roll my eyes, but the answer is, Obviously.

There was no way I could plan to propose to Abigail without Edwin's blessing.

I suppose it's a bit counterintuitive to Abigail's wishes, that men don't control her life, but there has to be a balance.

Edwin is still my friend. My relationship with Abigail means Edwin has to straddle the line, do mental work to be comfortable with the future we have together. Asking for his blessing to marry his daughter is a non-negotiable to me.

I think Abigail can handle that.

I draw my gaze back to the window just in time to see Abigail's flash of red hair ducking out of a car.

"Bonnie! She's–she's here!" I shout. I can't help my excitement.

"I'm going to meet her at the elevator!" Bonnie shouts.

She's out the front door before I can reach her. And I can't blame her.

Today is better than Christmas.

When I emerge from the apartment, Bonnie is already standing in front of the elevator, rocking back and forth with her hands tucked behind her back as she waits.

"Bonnie, back up so she has some space," I instruct her, coming up behind her and tugging gently on her shoulders.

I keep her up against me as we wait, staring at the silvery doors.

The elevator starts to groan.

"It's moving…" Bonnie murmurs, looking up at me.

How do I not smile into that darling little face? Her awe and excitement light up her face like the sun. I squeeze her shoulders. "Soon, Bon. So soon."

"Three, two, one…" Bonnie counts down, hoping the door will open on one. She does this twice more. On the third time, she goes, "Three, two–"

The elevator silences, and the doors slide open, revealing Abigail in all her glory. Electricity runs through my body, trying to propel me toward her, but I have to hold myself back to let Bonnie have her reunion first.

Abigail barely gets her bags off the elevator before Bonnie is leaping into her arms.

It's better than I ever could have hoped for, the connection Bonnie has with the woman I've chosen. Although I shouldn't be surprised. Part of the reason I fell so entirely for Abigail was the way she treated Bonnie. How she paid her so much attention, wanted to spend time with her.

Abigail fell in love with Bonnie first. And that was the only way I was ever going to find someone. I know this now.

Accepting Bonnie into her arms, Abigail laughs. "Bonbon!"

I don't know when she started using my nickname for Bonnie, but I love it when she says it.

Abigail hugs Bonnie close, her face pressed into the side of my daughter's head, eyes fluttered shut. Seeing them together tugs at my heartstrings.

This is what I've always wanted. And I realize I've never gotten it. Never had the full experience of fatherhood I wanted to because Esme and I were not good parents together. Esme wasn't the mother I desired for my child, and I wasn't the husband she desired for herself.

Life has a funny way of chewing you up, spitting you out, and putting you back together again.

"I missed you," Abigail says to Bonnie, running her hand over her head.

A lump forms in my throat as I watch this reunion.

"I missed you too!" Bonnie squeaks in return. "And–"

Bonnie turns away from Abigail and reaches for my hand. "Daddy missed you too!"

A devilish grin appears on Abigail's face. "Did he?"

Bonnie connects my hand with Abigail's, and the electricity returns, crackling through me.

I keep myself from throwing my arms around her and kissing her with all my might. Have to be strong, have some semblance of maturity for my child.

Abigail's fingers interlock with mine, her face warm and oh so stunning.

"Welcome home, Abigail," I say, my voice a bit unsteady.

Her eyes sparkle. "It feels so good to be back."

Abigail is going to move in with us. We were good roommates before, and there doesn't seem to be a reason to complicate it.

"Okay, now kiss!" Bonnie demands from between us.

Both Abigail and I laugh, blushing and looking away from each other.

"Bonnie," I admonish, though I'm more entertained by my child than anything.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss!"

Abigail leans in toward me, snagging a closed-mouthed, precious kiss from my lips. A kiss that says forever. A kiss that suggests there's more where that came from.

And boy, I know there is. Our sex life is better than it's ever been. There's less of it, but each time matters more. Deeper and stronger.

"Come on! We have to get you unpacked!" Bonnie exclaims, grabbing the handle of Abigail's humongous suitcase and hefting it down the hallway.

I smile at her. "You got it, Bon?"

"What, you don't think I'm strong enough, Dad?" Bonnie retorts with sass.

My chin drops to the floor.

My daughter is a sweetheart, a ball of emotions. Sassy? Not at all. Until now.

Abigail leans into my ear. "She's starting to take after me."

"Oh, you little devil," I mutter.

Abigail grins.

"You coming?" Bonnie calls out.

"You bet!" Abigail replies and starts to step away.

But I'm going to take every moment I can. I pull her back into my arms and kiss her, deeper than our first one.

Gasping into my mouth, Abigail settles her hands around my back on my shoulder blades. Her arms are the only place I can really let go, the only place I can rest.

I haven't rested in a long time. From having to clean up after my brother, to my marriage ending, to being a father, then onto building my own company, living somewhere completely new…

Abigail is my safe place.

I move my lips to her ear, cradling the side of her face. "I missed you more."

Abigail laughs, then slaps my side with fondness before backing out of my grip. "Prove it."

My dick jumps. "Dammit, Abigail…"

She leaves me in a wake of her giggles as she goes to follow Bonnie inside.

§

The whole afternoon, Bonnie is a whirlwind of enthusiasm as she helps Abigail unpack, her tiny hands eager to dive into every bag. She's on a mission, rifling through the suitcase with a curious sparkle in her eyes.

The room is filled with their shared laughter and the soft rustle of clothes being unpacked. Every item that comes out of the suitcase seems to spark another story from Abigail's trip, and Bonnie listens with rapt attention, absorbing every detail, her little face scrunched in concentration.

We have an assembly line, Bonnie and I. She takes the clothes out, I refold them or put them in the hamper to be washed, and then Bonnie determines the correct drawer to store the clothes in.

I had to buy a new chest of drawers to fit both my clothes and Abigail's. I'm not going to let her feel like a stranger in her own home for even a second.

"Oh, look at this!" Bonnie exclaims, pulling out a bag of various candy bars that were squirreled away in the middle of a packing cube.

"That was supposed to be a surprise," Abigail says with a sheepish smile in my direction from her place sitting crisscross on the bed.

"Can I have some? Please?" Bonnie asks.

I check my watch. T-minus one hour.

Staying busy has settled my nerves, but time is ticking down to what I have planned. "Actually, we should be getting ready for dinner. And you can't be having chocolate unless you want to ruin your appetite."

Bonnie narrows her eyes at me. She knows about the proposal and has been a top-notch secret keeper. In that glare, though, I know she could easily reveal the surprise.

I swallow. We're going to need to have a discussion about bribery. "Okay, a piece."

"Half," she says, crossing her arms over her chest.

Abigail snickers. "Oooh, she's a negotiator."

Eying Abigail, I reply, "Wonder where she gets that from."

She shrugs, but her smile is unmistakable.

"Okay, you have your chocolate, Bonnie, and then we all have to get ready for dinner. We're going out."

Abigail sighs. "Do we have to? I'm tired."

My heart starts pounding.

I got this all wrong, didn't I? Planning a proposal for her right when she gets home. What a fool I am.

"Daddy bought you a new dress," Bonnie says, trying to entice. "I helped pick it out."

Abigail sticks her tongue into her cheek. "He did, did he?"

I go to the walk-in, opening the door. "Bonnie, you go get changed, I'm going to show Abigail her dress."

Bonnie runs out of the room, the whole candy bar in her hand. Dammit.

"Going to spoil her dinner with all that sugar."

"You're only six once," Abigail replies, coming over to meet me. She pats my chest. "Let her have some fun."

We're going to balance each other out well. I already feel it.

Abigail enters the big walk in and finds herself face to face with the white, summery dress Bonnie helped me pick out. "Oh, Theo, it's beautiful."

"You like it?"

Her hands stroke down the material. "Love it." She smiles over her shoulder at me. "Help me put it on?"

So, I do, languishing in the process of removing her clothes and touching her soft skin.

We'll have to wait to join our bodies together until later, but for now, I can worship her in this quiet way.

"Arms up," I tell her, scrunching the dress up in my hands.

She does so.

I pull the dress over her head. "There we go…"

Once she's all the way in, I let the fabric go. It floats down over her lithe body, all the way to her calves. A vision in ivory.

"What do you think?" She steps back, swishing her hips back and forth to twirl the skirt.

For a split second, a vision of her at the end of an aisle comes to me. Walking toward me, ready for our forever.

Then, I remember she has to accept my proposal first.

"Perfect. You look perfect ."