TWO YEARS LATER
“Shh.” Nico glares at me from over his shoulder.
“I didn’t say anything,” I whisper under my breath.
His gaze travels from my face to my boots. “You stomp around like an elephant.”
My eyes narrow. “I’ve got big feet.”
“And everyone within hearing distance knows it.” His nose twitches, and I laugh to myself, which earns me another stern look from my son.
I raise my hands in silent submission. “I’ll be quiet.”
His eyes roll behind his glasses as he heads toward my and Ellie’s bedroom. I keep my steps light and my hold on the breakfast tray tight as I follow behind my son. Nico deserves all the credit for today’s breakfast-in-bed idea, seeing as he not only went grocery shopping with me but also helped prepare everything this morning.
When we stop outside the double doors, Nico fusses over some spilled orange juice while claiming my balance is worse than his.
“It’s perfect,” I tell him when he wipes the side of the glass with the cuff of his long-sleeve shirt.
“Almost but…” He pulls an envelope from his back pocket and tucks it underneath a flower he handpicked from my garden. “There. All good.”
My heart tightens at the handwritten “Mom.” Seeing Nico love Ellie enough to call her his mom makes me ecstatic, while another part of me aches, knowing my son will always struggle with his relationship with his biological mother.
Although Hillary sees Nico a few times a year without any last-minute cancellations, her involvement in my son’s life is minimal at best. Despite my efforts to help them connect, I can’t force Hillary into being the mother Nico deserves, but thankfully, I don’t have to. Ellie stepped into the role long before we ever got married, and she has proven time and time again that she will always put my son first.
Slowly, Nico has come to accept his strained relationship with his mother through family therapy. My requests for Hillary to join our sessions have been declined, which while not surprising, still upset Nico.
I think that was the moment he accepted that his relationship with his mother will never compare to the one he has with me…and now Ellie.
Hillary always had an excuse as to why she couldn’t make it to the sessions, ranging from her being overwhelmed with planning her wedding to having to join her new husband while he traveled for work, but I know the truth.
She is too blinded by pride and her strong dislike of Ellie’s place in Nico’s life to see reason, and like I predicted, Nico eventually stopped reaching out.
Nico’s voice yanks me back into the present. “Ready?”
I clear my tight throat with a cough. “Yup.”
He smiles before throwing open the door. “Happy Mother’s Day!”
Ellie startles awake at the sound of Nico’s voice. She looks so damn confused as she sits up against the headboard and brushes her fingers through her messy hair. “Mother’s Day?”
His grin grows wider. “Did you forget?”
She blinks.
And blinks some more.
I shake my head with a laugh before placing the tray over her lap. “Happy Mother’s Day.” My lips brush against the top of her head right before Nico shoves me out of the way and wraps his arms around Ellie.
“I love you!” he shouts for all of us to hear.
Her face softens as she melts into his embrace. “I love you too.”
“More than my dad?”
She laughs to herself. “It’s not a competition.”
But if it were, I wouldn’t mind losing to my son. If anyone deserves Ellie’s love most, it’s him.
He waggles his brows. “No, but you loved me first. Right?”
She glances up at me. “Mm. He’s got you there.”
“She can love both of us.” I pull my son into a headlock and ruffle his perfectly styled hair.
“¡Para!” He groans while pushing me away.
Ellie’s eyes twinkle as they swing between the two of us before landing on the tray full of food. She picks up the glass of orange juice and takes a small sip before piercing a piece of fruit with her fork and popping it into her mouth.
Her gaze drops to the envelope tucked by the plate, and her stare goes wide as she checks out the writing on the front. Placing her fork back on the tray, she grabs the pink envelope and tears through the sticker sealing the flap.
The card shakes as she pulls it out, and her throat visibly tightens as she flips it open. Her eyes dart from side to side as she reads Nico’s note, and they have a sheen to them by the time she reaches the bottom.
She shuts the card and places it upright on her nightstand, right beside a photo of the three of us that was taken at our wedding a year ago.
“Are you sure?” she asks Nico.
He nods.
“You don’t have to.”
My brows furrow with confusion, but I don’t dare interrupt their moment with a question.
Nico lifts his chin and nods. “I want to.”
Ellie carefully pushes the wooden tray full of food to the side and yanks Nico into a hug. “You’ll always be mine in every way that matters.”
“And you’ll always be my mom.”
My heart clenches at those two words. If I thought witnessing Nico and Ellie’s private vows to one another on the eve of our wedding hit me hard, it pales in comparison to this.
Ellie’s watery eyes meet mine, and I swear for the thousandth time since we fell in love to protect her and my son at all costs.
She reaches for my hand and pulls me into their embrace, and I wrap my arms around the two of them. Nico fakes a groan while Ellie laughs in my ear, making my chest warm and my smile expand at the same time.
I’m not sure what the future will bring for our little family of three, but I do know one thing.
These two are the center of my universe, and I plan on spending the rest of my life proving it to them every single day for as long as I live.
