Page 107 of Second Start: Family
She gave the statistics the new dad hadn’t bothered with.
Kenzie wiped her eyes, able to pretend they were all for the new life in this world and not for Hall and his son.
*
Their talk came later that night. In her trailer, with Gramps and Pauline looking after the kids at the house.
They were both exhausted.
Kenzie knew they should wait for this — and that they couldn’t.
Not when he pressed against her like this. Not when she … wanted.
“What if I want to have your baby, Hall? Or babies?”
He broke away and took three quick, jerky breaths.
“Would you swear not to die on me?”
Wanting so badly to touch him, she could only send out her voice, and her truth. “I won’t swear to a promise I don’t have the power to keep.”
He got out of her bed and went to the small window. She knew he was going to face her even before he started the motion, and her heart hammered with each drawn-out emotion-jumbled second of it.
From across the small room, he stared at her, his arms folded across his chest, his hands tucked underneath.
“Would you swear to keep teaching me how to be a father?”
“Yes, I swear.”
He nodded. “Okay, then.”
Joy and relief bubbled together with residual fear and a dose of irritation. “Okay, then?What does that mean?”
“It means we’ll get married. You’ll keep schooling me in being a parent. The kids’ll think I’ve done the first smart thing in my life by being with you. And we’ll keep building our family.”
“Oh.”
He opened his arms and took a step forward. She met him, knowing if he wasn’t there, she’d splatter on the floor. But he was there, and she was folded against a broad warm chest by strong, secure arms.
“That’s okay then,” she murmured against his throat.
“Yeah.” Head tipped back, he smiled. “That’s okay then.”
EPILOGUE
The owner of the haunted bus not only hauled it away for them on the flatbed, but decided to keep it decorated, using it for ads —If this is what your ride looks like, it’s time to shake off the ghosts and see the new vehicle we can put you in.
Even better, he found a replacement mid-sized bus for them at a dealer in Minnesota and arranged a transfer. The heater in it worked. So did the rest of it.
Vicky’s trailer proved the right size for two. Ned had started working with another veteran who’d lost his hands decades ago and now ranched and fixed machinery with the best of them.
Dan’s score on the scholarship test left no doubt he’d be offered it.
Hall met with Naomi one-on-one, then the two of them with Dan, then the entire family, including Kenzie, Gramps, and Pauline. It wasn’tLeave it to Beaver, but it wasn’tGame of Thrones, either.
Hall achieved something else that shocked and delighted Kenzie.
He asked for help.
