Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
He looked amazing. And nervous.
“I’ll be right back.”
She watched as he went into the kitchen, and minutes later came back carrying two plates.
She loved chicken as well as mac-and-cheese, which is what he had cooked for her. The chicken smelled amazing, and she was pretty sure he’d put a spice blend on it.
Picking up her knife and fork, she cut into the chicken as Hawk sat opposite her. She wanted to appreciate the food he’d brought out, but she wanted to tell him how she felt.
“I love you,” she said.
Hawk looked up.
“I know, I know, this might be moving a little too fast, and I am sorry about that. It’s not what I intended.” She frowned. “To be honest, I don’t exactly know what I intended, but I love you, and I want to have this baby with you.”
He sunk to his knee, and she gasped as he suddenly had a velvet box in his hand, already opening it for her.
“I love you, Katie. I have loved you for a long time, even before I came back to Hope. I’ve loved you when we were kids, and I didn’t know how to say it or what to do. I’ve loved you for a lifetime, and you telling me today that you are pregnant was the best damn news I’ve heard. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
She opened her mouth. “When we were kids?”
“Yeah, I didn’t know what to say to you and I acted like a total dick, because it was easier. I used to watch you all the time, whenever you came into a classroom. I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”
“I had no idea.”
“I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. All of this, it’s for you,” he said. “There’s nowhere else I want to be.”
She threw her arms around him and kissed him hard.
He laughed, and she felt his arms go around her. She felt safe, she felt loved, she felt ... whole.
“I hope you know I’m going to want a dozen kids,” he said.
This made her giggle. “A dozen?”
“Hell, yeah, I want an army of kids. A family, for us.”
“You’re on,” she said, and then kissed him hard again.
Epilogue
Ten Years Later
Hawk looked down at the lunch boxes he was preparing. Ten lunch boxes were spread out before him, and he had to assess each one. There was a sandwich, snacks, a fruit cup, a drink, and then he added in some additional candy, as it was Halloween after all. With the lunches done, he zipped them all up, then gave the whistle for his herd to come and collect.
Ten years married to the most amazing woman, and they had ten children.
They had six children together, all twins. Yeah, twins had been a shock, but he had three sets of them. One set were twin boys, another twin girls, and the other, a boy and a girl. Then, they had adopted four other children.
They were one big happy family.
And it was crazy to think that ten years ago, his life would change forever.
One by one, all his children came in and took their lunch boxes. All of them were labeled. That had been his job.
Once they all had their lunches, Katie walked into the kitchen and smiled at him. This week, he was the one getting them ready for school. Katie took next week. They shared the duties, and it made life a lot easier. He had learned from Sarah and Harry, who had taught them how to function with very energetic kids, and it was a lot to take in.
Hawk checked each one, straightening up a collar, or wiping toothpaste from a mouth, and then he heard the sound of the bus coming up the driveway. That was their grandpa, who had reconditioned a bus and nominated himself to come every morning throughout the week and drive them all to school.
They had moved out of Katie’s house after the third set of twins, as there was just not enough room. Hawk hadn’t known was his father had been building them a house right here on the ranch. At first, Hawk was not going to take it, until he saw how much the kids and Katie loved the place. It had a lot of rooms, a lot of space, and it was a house for them to make their mark, which they did.
They both still worked at Palmer’s Gifts. Katie had offered to rebrand, but he didn’t want to. Adam was a memory he didn’t want to let go. He’d been a friend he had lost touch with, Katie’s husband, and he made sure the kids knew about him. It did surprise his family and hers that he kept the wedding picture of Katie and Adam. It was a part of her life he was not going to let go. He wasn’t jealous of it. Katie was his. He loved her.