“Nuh-uh. Serena is sneaky,” Jax said.

“And soon to be ours forever.”

Jax jumped up and covered Gretchen’s mouth. “Don’t jinx it!” They had filed the adoption papers after being Serena’s foster parents for over six months. Serena’s caseworker had promised to contact them soon.

Gretchen kissed Jax’s palm. “You’re very cute, but there’s no such thing as jinxing.”

“That’s exactly what people say before they get jinxed.”

She framed Jax’s face with her hands and looked in her eyes. She examined the lines surrounding the sparkling blue. Jax’s graceful aging and constant wisdom continued to amaze her. “I love you so much.” She kissed Jax sweetly. “Even if you’re crazy.”

“Crazy for you,” Jax said, wiggling her eyebrows. She kissed Gretchen again.

Gretchen kept her lips within a breath of Jax’s mouth. “Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“Be mine forever?”

Jax smirked. “You always make these promises so easy.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“And promise me you’ll get rid of those awful cargo shorts.”

“I love those shorts.”

“They’re dad shorts,” Gretchen said, breaking out into a grin. “If we’re going to have a daughter now, she needs proper fashion influences.”

“And what about Caleb?”

“I will keep him from wearing similar cargo shorts.”

Jax poked her sides, giggling as she pinned her to the mattress. “You’re so mean. You make fun of my shorts like you never went through an olive drab phase.”

“We agreed to never speak of that again.”

“Let me keep one pair of shorts, and I’ll keep your secret.”

She loved these playful moments—the ones where Jax would smile down at her with mischief in her eyes. These were some of her favorite memories. “You sure do drive a hard bargain.”

A faint knock sounded at the bedroom door. Jax moved off Gretchen but allowed no distance between their bodies.

“Come in.”

The door opened slowly and Caleb poked his head in. “Hey, Moms, I know it’s early, but can I play Nintendo in the living room? I don’t want to wake Serena.”

Gretchen’s heart melted into a puddle of pure happiness. “Of course you can—just keep it down. Bug and I want to relax for a little bit longer.”

He nodded and left just as quickly as he came.

“He needs to stop growing,” Jax said through a big yawn.

“Please.” Gretchen fell back into her pillows and stretched her arms over her head. “If he stops growing, maybe I’ll stop getting old. Every time I look in the mirror, I find another wrinkle.”

Jax propped herself up on her elbow. She traced the lines of Gretchen’s face with a delicate touch. “Funny, every time I look at you, I find another reason why you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”