I didn’t have time to really explore everything as we continued to follow the rose petals that led to a gazebo where there was a bucket with chilled champagne in it. Two glasses sat there waiting for someone to use them, and there were blankets laid out on the floor that were also covered in the fragrant rose petals. “What is this?”

“I told you that you stole my thunder today. It seems like we both had some good news to deliver.” Tucker tugged me into his arms as we stood there in the middle of the gazebo and looked back toward the house we had just walked through. “I brought you here, to our new home, to tell you how very much I love you and want to make this the place where I keep on loving you, for as long as we’re alive. I want to love you through raising our kids here, we’re going to teach them to swim right over there,” he told me while pointing to the pool. “I’m going to push them on the swing over there until they learn to do it themselves, then I’m going to sit here in this gazebo and complain to you about how they’re growing too fast.”

My tear-filled eyes glanced up to meet his. “I don’t know how you could possibly think I stole your thunder, Tucker.”

“Because you told me you loved me first,” he insisted.

“You just told me about our future children and loving me through them growing up and not needing us any longer,” I corrected.

“I meant every word.” He leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose before swiping away the tears that continued to fall down my face. “I don’t like to see you cry, Mina, but I’ll take these tears because I think they mean you’re actually happy with me.”

“I love you so freaking much,” I managed to choke out. Then I turned and glanced over the yard where my husband just painted our future for me. “This is really all ours?”

“All of it, even the dream of the future here,” he promised.

“I want that,” I whispered, daring to give my hopes and dreams up to fate, as I prayed that I finally got to live a little bit of my own happily ever after.

Chapter 23

“Come on,” Tucker told me as we both got up and stood there with our champagne in hand.

“Where are we going now?” I asked as he tucked me underneath his arm – the one that had been stabbed repeatedly not too long ago. “You just showed me my whole world and our future dreams, how could you possibly want me to move away from that?”

Tucker laughed. “I promise, it will be worth it. I only showed you part of this place. Plus, if I’m being honest, I didn’t account for the weather, sweetheart. It’s hot as balls out here.” I giggled at his description. “I’m trying to be romantic, really, I swear, but I don’t think I can do that if I’m a fucking puddle of sweat all over you, especially when we aren’t even getting down and dirty to work up that sweat.”