Diamonds Are Forever - Brooke St. James Page 0,57

Dad's guts."

My heart broke a little when he said it. It was almost like hearing Mac say that word made him seem vulnerable. I was instantly afraid he would be letdown. And I almost told him not to say 'Dad' yet. But then I realized there was no reason for me to do that. Drew was going to be a great dad. He wasn't going to let Mac down.

I smiled at my precious boy. "Dad loves your guts too," I said, turning off his light. "Night, see you in the morning," I added.

"Night see you in the morning," he said sleepily.

Drew was watching a movie when I came into the living room. I sat on the couch with him and we finished it together. Both of us were hard workers. He studied diligently for his exam and I worked continually either as a mom, at the hardware store, or writing stories. But every now and then, we would just sit and stare at the television, and this was one of those times. I'd seen the movie before and I didn't care. I really didn't watch it. I thought about the proposal at the dock and all that was said between us tonight.

Things felt different.

There were those rare times in life when something happened during the course of your day, and you just felt different afterward—like getting saved, or finding out you were pregnant. They were rare, but this was one of those days where I was going to bed markedly different than I woke up.

I sat there, absentmindedly staring at the Michael J. Fox movie that was playing on TV, thinking of everything and pondering our future.

"I better head out," Drew said, once the credits started. "I know you have to get up early to get Mac to school."

"Okay," I said. I knew he was going to kiss me goodbye, and I couldn't wait. My body felt alive with sensation because I knew it was coming.

I sprang off of the couch and went to the kitchen where I had a small dish full of candy that I used for occasional bribery. I ate a peppermint. I put it into my mouth and chewed it up. I was still working on it when Drew came into the kitchen, smiling at me mischievously.

"Why are you coming in here eating mints?"

"Because," I said smiling and acting shy. "I wanted one."

"Nu-uh, I have you figured out. You always eat candy when you want to be kissed."

He came up to me, and I went smoothly into his arms, leaning into him gently, being purposefully soft and warm as I got close to him. He held me back, being equally gentle.

He loved me. I could feel it. He wasn't just with me to help me out. He didn't feel bad about me being a single mom. He simply loved me. He wanted to be next to me. I could feel it in my bones. He loved me so much I could feel it coming off of him.

Epilogue

Three years later

The attempt at a Garden City cartoon series was an utter disaster. I had a difficult time working with the studio, and they ended up canceling production before the first three episodes were complete. I got freaked out that they would try to take my work and rebrand it to make something similar, but Drew was with me every step of the way and he assured me that things like this happened all the time and we would just move on.

At the time, it didn't seem that easy. Right then, it felt terrible. I knew God well enough to know that He would use some of our hardest moments for our good, but when it all went down, it was an unexpected, unwelcome blow. One that came at a time when I had a lot of other changes.

The other changes were good, I just had a lot going on. Drew and I got married that spring, and we moved to Houston so that he could start his law practice there. It took a little adjusting for me to live near his parents instead of mine. The Kleins were cordial to me all along, but it took a little time for them to get used to the idea that their son was married and they were suddenly grandparents.

They had warmed up to me as years passed, but that was another thing I was wrestling with right at first. As funny as it sounds, looking back, I could appreciate that