tries to wriggle away.
I frown.
Cam shrugs. “I want Owen to be near us on our first night as a real family.” He kisses me quickly. “In another room, don’t worry,” he mouths.
Owen puts his head down on his father’s shoulder in relief.
I smile broadly and kiss him softly. “This is why I love you.”
He leans his head against mine and smiles. “We need to leave soon, Bloss, or you’re going to find Owen and me asleep in the car. This wedding shit is exhausting.”
I laugh. “Okay, half an hour it is.”
An hour and a half later we say our final goodbyes to our circle of friends and climb into the back of the limo. Everyone is laughing and cheering as the driver pulls out, and the car rattles and clangs from the tin cans tied to the back of it.
“Here we go.” I smile as I wave to our guests through the window. The car slowly pulls out of the driveway, up around the corner, and out of view from everyone at the wedding, and then the car stops.
I frown. “What’s he doing?”
Cam shrugs. “I don’t know.”
The door opens, and the driver holds out his hand. “We’ve arrived at your destination, Mr. and Mr. Stanton,” he says.
Huh? I look over to Cameron and he’s smiling like a Cheshire cat. “Cam?” I frown. “What’s going on?”
He kisses me quickly. “Owen and I have got a surprise for you, Bloss.”
My eyes flicker to the house in front of us.
“Get out of the car.” He smiles.
“Oh.” I shuffle across and climb out of the car to get out, and he opens the white gate in the screen.
Oh, my God. My hands fly to my mouth. The front veranda has been refloored and the weatherboards have been freshly painted white. “You painted this?” I gasp.
Cam shakes his head. “We started it, but we ran out of time.” He pulls me to the front door and opens it. I peer in. Everything is sheeted off, but the stairs have been re-timbered.
My eyes widen. “You started the house?” I whisper.
Cameron smiles, and with his sleepy son on his hip he leads me up the stairs by the hand. On our arrival upstairs, I peer down the hall to see a light coming out of the master suite. A large red bow is stuck to the door.
Cameron proudly leads me down the hall and opens the bedroom door.
My mouth falls open and my wide eyes flicker to him in shock. The bedroom is finished... and not just finished, but it’s completely amazing.
“What?” I look around, but I don’t know where to look first.
“Cameron…” I whisper. Tears instantly fill my eyes. I’m surrounded by beautiful cream walls and a plush carpet, and he’s fitted coffee-colored drapes to hang over the windows. I stare up at the light. “A chandelier,” I whisper.
A huge king-size bed with padded headboard sits against the wall, the same colors as the drapes. There are two beautiful wingback chairs and ottomans near the window, too.
“You did this?” I whisper. “You did this for me?”
“Yes.”
My tears flow over and run down my cheeks.
“Oh, there’s more.” Cam smiles as he opens a door. “A beautiful cream marble bathroom, too.”
“Cameron…” I whisper. I look around at the perfect room and frown. “How could you have possibly done this?”
“A lot of bickering between Stan, Murph, and me,” he replies dryly.
I laugh as I imagine the three of them here this week working like slaves.
“You did all this?” I whisper.
He nods. “The builder knocked out one of the adjacent bedrooms to make room for the bathroom and walk-in closet, and then the bathroom and plastering we had done professionally, but we did everything else.” He looks around and smiles proudly. “I wanted our first night together as man and wife to be somewhere special.” His eyes search mine. “Do you like it, baby?”
I kiss his lips tenderly. “Oh, I love it. I love you.” I grab him and squeeze him tight. “Thank you, thank you.”
“Oh, and we did your room a little, Owie. But it’s not finished yet.” He leads us to the closest bedroom and opens it. I smile broadly. The room is plastered, and one lone, single bed sits in the middle.
“We didn’t have time to paint it yet.” He shrugs.
I wrap my arms around his neck and start to kiss him all over his face. “I love you.”
Cameron smiles and kisses my neck. “Bed, big boy.” He smiles to his son.
Owen is half-asleep when Cam lies