Page 64 of His Determined Bear

“We’re finally here,” I whispered, finishing his statement.

“Indeed we are.” Graham leaned in and brushed a kiss on my lips. “I bet your mother was ecstatic when she got the news.”

I snickered, thinking back to the day I called her.

You’re what? Are you just kidding me right now? It’d be a dirty trick if this were a joke. After an hour of trying to convince her that I wasn’t joking, she finally relented and believed me.

“She was overjoyed. Shocked but overjoyed,” I laughed.

“I think shock is the initial reaction we all had,” Graham teased. “Then we ultimately came with the same reaction—pure exuberance. No regrets?”

“Not even one,” I replied. “Well, I’ll take that back. I do have one tiny regret.”

Graham arched an eyebrow, and I turned to him, then smirked. “My only regret is that I didn’t do this sooner. I shouldn’t have held back from taking this leap. I should have gone all-in with you from day one.”

“I don’t blame you, babe. I could have done things differently, too. We’re here now, so that’s truly what matters.”

“Attention passengers, the captain has turned off the seatbelt light, and you may use your electronic devices. In a few moments, we’ll be ready to open up the doors. We thank you for flying with us today and hope you all had a pleasant flight.”

We waited for the doors to open and then waited for the other passengers to exit the plane before I waddled out with Graham close behind me. Hand in hand, we walked down the long corridor before exiting into the airport terminal. When we approached baggage claim, Graham’s younger brother, an older cousin of his, and my mother stood at the entrance holding up a welcome home sign. Graham and I made our way to them, finally relieved to be home where I belonged. My mother was the first to grab me from Graham.

“Welcome home, Son,” my mother whispered against my ear. “I am so glad you decided to make this journey.”

“So am I, Mom.” I then hugged Graham’s brother and cousin before we walked to the baggage carousel to get our luggage. Everyone was so excited to see us and talked all at once, making it hard to keep up with each conversation.

I shot Graham a look, and it became obvious that we were both in eternal bliss, thrilled that our loved ones decided to greet us at the airport. What we didn’t know at the time, though, was that wasn’t the only welcome home party we would encounter.

As we drove closer to the house, banners and signs graced the whole front yard. There were also ten to fifteen cars in the driveway and in front of the house.

“What’s all this?” Graham asked, chuckling.

“Just a few friends and family that wanted to welcome you both home.”

Graham looked at me, and tears formed in the corners of my eyes. When Graham’s brother pulled into our driveway, we got out and carefully made our way up to the front door. Graham took me by the hand, opened the door, and pulled me in after him. Myriads of people were standing throughout the house shouting, “Welcome home!”

I covered my mouth and felt an overwhelming rush of love cascading over us. “Are you okay?” Graham asked, unable to stop the tears from falling. Hormones.

“I’m better than okay. I never thought your family would welcome me into their arms like this, but they surprise me every day. I feel like this is my home.”

“ It is. And it always will be.” Graham kissed me, and I leaned into him. Now I just needed to remember that I deserved it.

Chapter 29

Graham

Cooper was busy typing away on his laptop as I entered the kitchen. My workaholic was in full swing. I groaned. “Cooper, darling…”

“Just one more paragraph,” he said, without bothering to look up from his computer screen. I touched the top of the laptop and continued to look at him.

“You promised you would start taking it easy. There’s only one more week until your due date, and you’re still working too much. That’s not good for you or our little guy,” I scolded without any heat.

“I’m fine,” Cooper said, looking up with those soft eyes of his. “I promise you, I am.” He batted those eyelashes at me, and I shook my head. There were times when he could be impossible, but I loved him for that.

“Come with me. You’re putting your feet up and relaxing.” I knew just what he needed for him to relax. He reluctantly stood up, but I could practically hear the disappointment in his sighs as we headed out the back door.

“What are we doing?” he asked.

“You’ll see. You sit down here on the chaisse lounge and prop up your feet.”

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