Page 91 of Almost Paradise

Chapter 51

Drake

“What the hell is he doing?” I whisper to Nia.

Carter just jumped from the couch to the floor. He does a series of somersaults and flicks his wrist at us. He does a maniacal laugh that takes me off guard. “What kind of laugh was that? Isn’t Spiderman a good guy?” I whisper again.

We’re in the family room upstairs. Nia is on top of me on the couch. There’s a silly cartoon about a pack of firefighter dogs on, and every few minutes, Carter will forget he’s supposed to be Spiderman and will sing and dance along with the characters on the screen. Right now, he’s in his Spiderman pajamas and singing as offkey as his mother.

“Sometimes he’ll say Spiderman does bad things. Like when he takes one of Kyle’s toys. He’ll say it was bad Spiderman,” she says to me.

The song on the television ends and Carter sits on the floor, totally engrossed.

“I was thinking for our birthday, we can throw a party here. Nothing too big. Just your family and mine.” I can feel her tense on top of me. “Maybe in a few weeks we can go to the Bahamas for Spring Break. I haven’t had a vacation in a while, and it can be our little honeymoon.”

“Um, yes to spring break, but our family here together? I don’t know about that.”

“I want my family to meet yours,” I tell her. Maybe if they see with their own eyes that my mother and siblings love Carter, some of the tension will die down. I don’t expect an overnight miracle but baby steps. One thing I know for sure is how much Nia’s family loves her and Carter. They would never do anything to upset either one of them.

“Um, Okay,” she says, not sounding the least bit convinced. “I’ll be sure to have another chat with my dad and Audrey,” she says.

“Well, Audrey doesn’t need to come if she has such a problem with me.”

“Yes, she does. We’re very close, and she—”

“I’m not the one who has a problem with her. Fine, she can come. I just won’t speak to her.”

“I don’t want that either. Can we promise to at least try? I’m willing to try with your family. Can you try with mine?” I don’t remind her that I have. I’ve apologized to her father, but he won’t give me an inch. I have made progress with her mother and brother though, so I’ll take that as a win.

“Of course, I can. Anything for you.”

“For us, not just me.”

“I like the sound of that. How about you come back to work at Paradise Construction for us? You can have your job back.” She turns over and ends up looking into my eyes. “Or you don’t have to work at all if you don’t want to.”

She raises both eyebrows. “Oh, and what would I do?”

“There’s the Paradise Foundation or various charities. You can be a full-time wife and mother. We haven’t talked about it, but I want more kids.” Just as I say that, our son does another somersault.

“A full-time wife and mother? But I didn’t major in that in college. Or graduate school for that matter, Paradise.” She grins down at me.

“Yeah, I know, but it’s an option.”

“I want to work,” she insists. “I like what I do.”

“Come back to work at Paradise. I like the idea of having you nearby, and you never should have been let go.” I glide my hand down her back and caress her butt.

“I’ll think about it, but my memories at Paradise are bittersweet. I don’t know if—”

“Let me undo every wrong that was done to you. Let me—”

She puts a hand up, silencing me. “We’re together and happy. You don’t have to undo anything.”

Chapter 52

Drake

I flip through the pictures my mom has been sending to my phone all morning. It’s ridiculous and over the top, and Carter will love it. Without telling me first, Mother had a room made for him in my childhood home. It’s everything Spiderman, and I worry he’ll get sick of that superhero soon enough. But who am I kidding? Even if that happens, Mother will just redo the room to his liking.

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