Promises (The Kings of Guardian #14) - Kris Michaels Page 0,13

nothing like she’d imagined it would be. Jason had given her the world. More than anyone could ask for, and he loved Reece as much as he loved Royce.

She gazed down at the little one in her arms. Being a mother and wife filled her life with happiness. She had her friends she’d made on the PTA and all the moms on the teams that Reece played on.

Her eyes traveled around the nursery. A big difference from her small trailer in Savannah, Georgia. She didn’t miss that old trailer, even though she was proud of what she’d accomplished and how she’d been able to take care of Reece. No, she missed nothing of her past life, except Helena and Cal. They were still in Savannah. Faith called Helena—or she called Faith—at least once a week. They had promoted Cal to Sergeant, so his hours were better. He’d decided against joining Guardian because he preferred to work at the community level. God, all the worry, the scrimping and saving, getting Reece to school or to daycare, and stressing about how to pay for college was in the past. She lifted her eyes and said a prayer of thanks again. Her life was blessed beyond measure and beyond her wildest dreams.

She heard the front door alarm chirp and the door open. Jason’s low voice as Tippy and Tommy greeted him at the door put a smile on her face. Tommy was the golden retriever that Grandpa Marshall had given the boys last Christmas. He was a wonderful dog with a calm demeanor but was very protective of both boys.

“Is he asleep?” Jason asked in a hushed voice as he entered the nursery.

“Just now.” She handed the toddler to her husband and watched as he lifted Royce and kissed his forehead. He drifted across the room, cuddling his boy as he moved. He carefully laid the little boy down and pulled his blanket over him, kissing his head one more time before he straightened.

He made his way back across the room, and after ushering the dogs out of the way, he helped her up out of the rocker and pulled her into his arms. “Hello, Mrs. King. How are you feeling?” He leaned down and kissed her, pulling her into that massive, tight body. She relaxed in his arms and enjoyed the rare moment of peace.

When he lifted away, she smiled up at him. “Hello, Mr. King. I’m fine. I see you got off work at a decent hour.” She tipped her head toward the door. “Shall we move this conversation so the little man doesn’t wake up?”

He smiled and glanced over at his sleeping son again. “Speaking of my little men, where is Reece?” He released her from his hold but linked their hands as they left the nursery.

“He’s with Frank and Amanda. The boys are having a sleepover at Jacob and Tori’s. Jacob will pick them up from Amanda after he takes all the dogs to doggy daycare. He and Jared are taking the animals to the facility. They should be here to pick up Tippy and Tommy at six.”

“I’m glad they found someone to take care of all of them.”

“Right? The boys wanted to bring them, but Jacob promised he’d find a nice place. They have video cameras that we can tap into that show the boys their puppies are having fun.”

“I never would have believed it. We are one of those couples, Faith. We take our dogs to doggy daycare.” He rolled his eyes.

“We do, but only when we are out of town. The boys are happy and distracted. Amanda was going to find out what they wanted to do on Aruba after their school day is over.”

“Hopefully, they won’t plan a coup and take over the island.” Jason led them into the bedroom and stripped off his tie with his free hand.

“That was not on the list of options she was going to give them, although it may come in a close second to snorkeling. Grandpa Frank has purchased snorkel gear for everyone.”

Jason chuckled. “Of course, he has. That man pretends he’s a cantankerous old fart, but he’s a marshmallow when it comes to his grandchildren.”

“He is.” She sat down on the bed and watched as he stripped out of the suit he wore. He reached for a t-shirt and she cleared her throat. “Reece is out of the house. Royce is asleep.”

Jason looked over his shoulder and blinked at her. “I didn’t want to assume. You’ve been