“I really do appreciate it.”

“Baby,” I murmur, watching her eyes slide half closed, “I’m glad I can help.”

Licking her lips, her eyes go soft then move to the couch again.

“Hope will want her bed.”

“Show me where it is and I’ll put it in the truck now, while you get your clothes and stuff packed up.”

Nodding, she heads down a short hallway and stops at a room that is smaller than my closet at home. There isn’t much in the space, just a small, child size bed and a white dresser, along with stuffed animals scattered over a pink rug. “I’ll get this; you go start packing,” I rumble, rubbing her arms. Looking over her shoulder at me, her lips part when she realizes how close I am.

“I…I’m g-gonna start packing,” she stammers then slips under my arm and heads down the hall. Following her with my eyes until she’s out of sight, I smile. She may not want to admit it, but I know she feels the same pull I do.

Heading into Hope’s room, I pull her pink bedding and mattress off her bed then pick up the frame and move it out to the living room, checking to make sure she’s still sleeping before taking it to the truck.

Once we get started, it doesn’t take long to get everything packed up and in the back of my truck. We will have to come back in a week to clean the rest out but we got everything they will need for now.

“Baby, we’re here,” I whisper, running my finger down Ellie’s cheek, not really wanting to wake her up. She had fallen asleep with her head on my thigh ten minutes after we left the restaurant we stopped at after getting gas. I don’t even think she realized what she was doing when she laid down. I know she has to be exhausted after everything that happened.

Blinking up at me, she wipes the corner of her mouth then sits up quickly, looking around.

“This is your house?”

Looking out the front windshield, I wonder why she looks so scared. It’s not the nicest house on the street, but when it came on the market a year ago for a hundred grand under market value, I had to buy it, and have been slowly fixing it up since then. “Yeah.”

“It’s really nice.” She swallows then looks at the other houses on the block, which look similar to mine.

“It’s your home now too,” I say softly, wanting to get rid of that look on her face, the one saying she feels like she doesn’t belong here.

“Until I have enough money to get somewhere else,” she murmurs, rubbing her eyes.

Ignoring that comment, I grit my teeth and get out of the truck before I can tell her there is no way in hell she’s ever moving out.

“Get a grip before you scare her the fuck off,” I growl under my breath, opening her door and helping her out. I then open Hope’s door and grin when her face lights up.

“You wiv in a castle!” She smiles, unhooking her belt, catching me off guard when she throws herself at me.

Looking back toward my house, I guess it kind of does look like a castle. The old grey brick Victorian with two round rooms on each side of the house gives the look of towers, the white scalloping along the edges, and in the middle is a window that resembles a lookout point.

“I guess I do,” I tell her, setting her on the ground.

“Sooo cooool,” she breathes, peering up at me with her big brown eyes, making my chest ache.

Pulling my hat off, I turn toward Ellie. “Why don’t I take you guys inside and you can look around, while I bring everything in?”

“Are you sure?” she asks, picking up Hope then looking in the back of the truck at all of her stuff, most of which is in black garbage bags.

“I’m sure. Plus, you really should be in bed resting after everything that has happened,” I say quietly, taking her hand and leading her up the front steps, letting her go long enough to open the door and walk over to the keypad to shut off the alarm. “The code is zero-four-zero-three. I want the alarm on anytime I’m not in the house with you.” Watching her nod, I take her hand again and lead her through the house, showing her the living room, kitchen, and downstairs bathroom before moving her to the stairs. “You can have your pick of rooms.”

“Where’s your room?” she asks when we make it to the second-floor landing.

“At the end of the hall.” I nod my head toward my room and she looks in the opposite direction. Dropping my hand, she sets Hope on the ground, opening the door in front of us, almost the farthest from mine, which makes me bite back a smile. A few feet and a couple doors between us isn’t going to matter in the long run, but I’m willing to give her the sense of space for now. “We’ll take this room.”

“There’s plenty of space for Hope to have her own room,” I tell her softly.

“I’d feel better if she was close, at least for now,” she replies just as quietly, taking the piece of hair that is constantly falling out of the bun on top of her head and tucking it back behind her ear.

“Mama, I wanna wiv in the tower like a real pwincess.”

Turning my head, I see Hope has opened the door at the opposite end of the hall from mine, the second room that has a round section that juts out into the front yard, with large windows, and a seat underneath them.

“You don’t want to sleep with me?” Ellie asks her, and Hope’s face scrunches up adorably like she’s trying to think about it then she shakes her head.

“I’m not a baby, wemember?”

“No, I guess you’re not.” Ellie sighs then looks at me, biting her bottom lip. “Are you sure you don’t mind us taking up two rooms?”

“Positive.” I smile, and she looks toward the end of the hall at my door then back toward hers, and my smile gets bigger. I can practically hear the wheels in her head turning. “Why don’t you guys get cleaned up while I bring everything in?” I say, opening the door to the bathroom.

“Bafftub! Bafftub!” Hope jumps up and down, squealing, making me laugh.

“I’ll bring your clothes up first. That way, you’ll have something clean to change into afterward.”

“Thanks, Jax,” Ellie whispers.

“No problem, baby,” I tell her then look down at Hope when she grabs my hand, tugging on it.

“Mama’s not a baby.” She giggles then runs into the bathroom, making me laugh.

Leaning on the doorjamb, I watch as the two of them turn on the tub then pull myself away, closing the door when they both take off their shoes.

I have never really put much thought into having kids, but I could get used to hearing Hope giggle. Moving downstairs, I pull out my cellphone and press send on my mom’s number when I see she’s called a few times.

“Don’t you know how worried we’ve been?” she scolds after the first ring.

“You knew I was driving.” I know my dad isn’t really included in that ‘we’. It’s all my mom; she’s always worried.

“You have Bluetooth,” she mutters, sounding annoyed.

“Ellie and Hope were sleeping, and I’m not gonna answer the phone with the girls in the truck.”

“Oh, God, it’s really happening, isn’t it?” she whispers, making me frown.

“What’s happening?”

“Nothing,” she says quickly. “How’s Ellie feeling, and what’s Hope like?”

“Ellie’s tired, but I think she’s okay. Hope is cute. You’ll love her.”

“I wish it wasn’t so late,” she grumbles, making me smile.

“You can come over tomorrow. If I know Ellie at all, she’s gonna want to head over to the salon in the morning.”

“I can take her,” she says immediately as I pull two of the bags from the back and take them inside.

“Thanks, Mom,” I say sincerely.

“I’m happy to help.”

“Where’s Dad?”

“He’s right here. Hold on,” she says, and I’m sure she is sitting on my dad’s lap, or tucked into his side, where she always is.

“Hey, bud,” I hear his deep voice come over the line.

“Hey, Dad. You busy tomorrow?”

“Nothing’s on the schedule. What’s up?”

“I need to get Ellie some wheels. You got time to go with me?”