Page 62 of Due North
“I love that you and Poppy Rose were both born on Valentine’s Day,” Caleb said to break the silence. “It’s the perfect birthday for two feisty redheads.”
I didn’t respond, just leaned into him for a moment as we walked.
“You’re quiet tonight,” Caleb said as we strolled toward the main house. “Everything okay?”
I glanced up at him, and he had Poppy Rose in one arm like she weighed nothing. It was so natural that you’d never know they hadn’t known each other but for a few months. “I was just thinking about how lucky I am to be sharing my birthday with everyone here. I usually shared it with Poppy and Allie, and for that reason, tonight is bittersweet.”
“I’m sure it is,” he agreed with a tickle to Poppy’s belly. “All I can do is kiss you and remind you to remember the middle.”
He winked at me as he stopped long enough to kiss my lips with some smoking hot cowboy lust thrown in. That was a reminder to me that later when the other birthday girl was asleep, he’d be giving me one hell of a birthday and Valentine’s Day present.
The last few months had been spent living, loving, and learning about each other and what our hopes and dreams were for the future. Caleb had decided to partner with Tobi to open a horse therapy school. Now, he and Heaven were working out a new plan for Heavenly Lane. He came alive when he talked about a place where kids and adults like Poppy could go and experience the peacefulness of being with a horse. Where lacking one sense wasn’t a detriment because the other being understood you regardless. It was in those moments that I was sure he’d found the real Caleb North again.
We were falling into a rhythm now that Poppy and I felt more secure with our place at Heavenly Lane. True to his word, Caleb spent every afternoon with Poppy while I worked. They napped together, and then he always spent time teaching her a new skill. He taught her so much in such a short time that it has been hard to keep up. She loved putting her new cowgirl boots on and following him to the barn where she’d brush Dolly’s mane like she was fourteen instead of four. She had blossomed into a completely different child since she came to the ranch, and no one would ever convince me that Caleb wasn’t the reason for that change. He was. Their connection was the reason. He had even found a sign language instructor who taught classes online, so the three of us were learning sign language again. It wasn’t perfect, but it would tide us over until I could find an early childhood program for her.
It was the first of December when Poppy became my daughter officially. As her legal guardian, I petitioned for adoption, and it was granted without question. Amity, Ash, Blaze, Heaven, Eden, Beau, Dawn, and Caleb had come to the hearing to show the judge just how much family support I had behind me. It was overwhelming, to say the least, when he hit that gavel declaring her mine. Her name didn’t change since my sister was also a Douglas, but it wasn’t that name that mattered. The names that mattered to me were Ma and Ba. The judge had made sure to tell me that if I ever married, my new husband could then petition the court to adopt Poppy Rose as well. He probably said it because Caleb held her through the entire hearing with so much love in his eyes for us.
We shared our first Christmas wrapped up in blankets in his cabin next to the tiny tree we’d put up. After we’d opened our gifts, we went to Bison Ridge and spent the day there celebrating with everyone, including a barn dance that welcomed half the county in for holiday cheer. Amity and I had spent the week before prepping food and drinks for the event, and it was a night I would never forget. So much had changed since October, but at the same time, so much hadn’t. That was what I was grateful for at the start of the New Year. I had a new and exciting life to explore, but I also knew that my family and this ranch would always be here to hold me up when times were hard.
The snow crunched under our boots as we walked towards the main house, where everyone was waiting to celebrate. The treatments had returned Caleb’s gait to normal, and he no longer needed a cane unless he worked around the barn for too long. While he was frustrated that he still needed the infusions, his doctors were impressed with his improvement. Whenever he got frustrated about his treatments, I reminded him that we would need him for another sixty or seventy years, so he’d better saddle up.
“What’s for dinner?” I asked, shoulder bumping him carefully, so I didn’t make him lose his balance. “No one would let me cook.”
“Well, duh,” he said, laughter filling his voice. “It’s your birthday. Of course, you’re not doing the cooking. As for the menu, I know what it is, but you can wait to find out.”
“Caleb,” I said with exasperation, “tell me what it is. You know Poppy is picky.”
His laughter filled the night air, and it also brought a smile to my face. “You’re hilarious. Nice try with the whine, but it’s not going to work. Also, Poppy is not picky. Don’t use your daughter to your advantage.”
I huffed and crossed my arms. “Fine, but I’m hungry.”
“Sounds more like you’re hangry,” he said teasingly, leaning down to plant a kiss on the top of my head. “I love you even when you’re hangry.”
“I love you too,” I whispered, the words falling from my lips with ease. “So much. Don’t ever doubt that.”
His smile softened, and he put his arm around me as we approached the back door of the main house. “I would never doubt it because every time you’re near, my world is filled with so much pink, white, red, and yellow that it’s blinding.” He stopped, and the breath of air that escaped his lips could have been heard on the other side of the ranch. It held pure anguish in its grip. “I can’t go back to the blue, Cece. I need you in my life forever. You can never leave me.”
His words were so plaintive and filled with agony that I wrapped my arms around him and gazed into his eyes. Our daughter wrapped her arms around my neck to join in the hug. “Take a deep breath, Caleb,” I said with a smile. “I’m here. Poppy is here. We’re here with you now.”
His chest filled with air, and he let it back out. “I know, but sometimes the thought of going back to the blue terrifies me. The thought of you leaving takes my breath away.”
“Then don’t think about it,” I said calmly. “Just kiss me and then take me inside for some food and fun to celebrate twenty-five years.”
“That I can do,” he whispered, his lips meeting mine again in a tangle of lips and tongue.
“Y’all going to stand there making out, or are you coming in?” Ash asked from the back door.
We broke apart laughing and turned to the door with sheepish grins on our faces. “Sorry, the birthday girl needed a kiss,” Caleb said as he helped me up the stairs. We walked into the kitchen, and I froze in my tracks.
“What the heck?” I asked, taking in the massive spread of food that took up two tables they’d brought in from the bunkhouse. There was pizza, wings, ribs, cornbread, beans, and so much more that I didn’t know where to look first. There were two birthday cakes at the end of one table. There was one in the shape of a heart and covered in frosting roses that said, ‘Happy 25thbirthday Cece!” and the other was decorated withPaw Patrolcharacters and read, ‘Happy 4thBirthday Poppy!’ I put my hand to my chest from the pure sweetness of the people who loved us. “Where did all this food come from?”
Before Ash could respond, everyone burst through the doors of the kitchen, yelling happy birthday at the top of their lungs. I couldn’t stop laughing as they all started to sing the Happy Birthday song.
I turned to Caleb and what I witnessed brought tears to my eyes. Poppy was in Ash’s arms, and Caleb was signing happy birthday to her as everyone sang. She may not know what it meant, but the fact that he had learned how to sign it for her made him deserve the title of Ba. She was so in love with him, and it was written all over her face as the song finished, and she clapped her hands excitedly, joy emanating from her tiny body.
“We hope you’re hungry!” Amity said from the middle of the kitchen. “We have enough food here for three birthday dinners!”
Laughter bubbled up again, and I clapped my hands together, leaving them against my lips. “I’m starving! I can’t believe you did all of this for us. I love you all,” I whispered, holding my arms out and walking to Amity, accepting a hug from a mom who understood everything I was feeling today and just wanted to make it memorable for all the right reasons. When Dawn and Heaven put their arms around me, covered by Blaze and Beau, I was comforted by the love of family. When Caleb wrapped his arms around me, I was comforted by the love of my forever.
