“I bet that damn seagull’s long dead by now,” I said savagely. “And I’m happy about it. That motherfucker had it out for me. I hope it got eaten by a shark.”

“I don’t think sharks eat seagulls.”

“What? Of course they do. They’re right there on the water. How could they not? They’re floating appetizers.”

“You know what? We’re going to look this up—goddammit. No, Bear. Stop it.”

“Stop what? You started all of this by telling me you loved me!”

He huffed out a breath and squeezed my hand. “And somehow we ended up on seagull appetizers.”

“It didn’t even take that long,” I said with a frown. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or worried.”

“I’m sure there’s medication for that, but that’s not the point.”

“Oh good. I would be concerned if it was. And also slightly offended that you got me drunk to tell me I needed to be on medication.”

“Seriously. You’re drunk already.”

I grinned at him. “Eh. Buzzed. But it’ll be easier for you to have your way with me.”

He sighed, but I saw the way his lips twitched, and I knew I was so getting laid later. It put me at ease, at least a little bit. “I’ll keep that in mind. Can I finish?”

I nodded.

“Okay. It’s… just….”

“Otter,” I said quietly. “You know you can tell me anything. We’re a team, okay? That’s what we do.”

“I know,” he said, eyes darting away before coming back to me. “We’ve been through a lot.”

“Yeah. But we’ve gotten this far.”

He smiled at me, and I thought it was possible I’d do anything for this man. “Yeah. Yeah, we have. Which is why I think we’re ready.”

“Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but we kind of already did the whole marriage proposal thing, remember? It was really rather overly dramatic, what with you waking up in a hospital and everything like we’re in some kind of goddamn overwrought romance novel or something.”

“I’m pretty much the bad boy to your plucky heroine.”

“Ass,” I said, turning my hand over so I could hold his hand properly. “But I mean, if you want to ask me again, I’m okay with—”

“I want to be a dad.”

I did the absolute worst possible thing I could do then. I laughed. And the hurt look on his face tore me to shreds. “No,” I said quickly. “No, I’m not laughing at you. That was just… a knee-jerk reaction. It’s not—god, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. Okay? You’re—”

“I’m ready, Bear,” he said, interrupting me. “I know we’ve… danced around the topic, and I haven’t pushed. I knew you needed time with everything. I mean, with the Kid and Dom and that whole… thing. The move. Trying to protect him as best you could—it’s admirable. You’ve done well by him, Bear. Really good. Maybe better than anyone else could have done if they’d been in your same position.”