“They say home is where your heart is, and I left mine here with you.”

Happy tears flooded my eyes and I reached up on tiptoe to kiss him with all the gratitude I felt in that moment. He was perfect in every sense of the word. I was afraid if I pinched myself, I would find out it was all a dream.

He broke the kiss with a groan and rested his forehead against mine. “Please tell me Rachel takes a nap after playing in the park all day?”

“Highly unlikely,” I told him, earning another groan.

“I need to be inside you like there’s no tomorrow.”

“Stop saying stuff like that. You’re making me wet.”

“Fuck,” he cursed and pulled back from me. Turning his back on the open park, he discreetly adjusted the monster bulge in his jeans, making me giggle.

I considered making a joke about him looking like a pervert in the park sporting a hard on, but thought better of it when I saw how much he was straining to calm his body.

Rachel came running towards us at that moment. Right before she made it to us, he murmured in my ear, “Full speed ahead, Miranda. I want you in my bed every single fucking night, and Rachel tucked in down the hall. Figure out a way to make that happen. And soon.”

I never got a chance to respond. With my mouth hanging open, all I could do was watch as Matt scooped Rachel up, tickling her as she squirmed.

“Want to go to my house and watch a movie? I think I have Sleeping Beauty,” he asked Rachel.

“I love Sleeping Beauty!” she said enthusiastically.

“Let’s go then.” Matt set her down between us. With one of her hands in his and the other in mine, we started towards his Jeep.

FIVE

“Sleeping Beauty, eh?” I teased him for having a princess movie as we swung Rachel between us.

“Giovanni has two little girls,” he noted of his older brother. “I’m pretty sure they left it behind the last time I had them over.”

“Wow! Your mom must be thrilled to have grandbabies. What else have I missed?”

Matt updated me on the rest of his family as we made our way back to his place. The only interruptions came from Rachel who had to comment on every little thing we passed.

When we pulled up to a white house with a red door, my heart stopped.

“The only thing it’s missing is the white picket fence,” he commented once he parked in the driveway and turned off the ignition.

“I don’t believe this,” I mumbled as I stared in awe at the adorable craftsman style house. It was everything I had wanted for us growing up.

“Is that good or bad?” He tilted his head to the side, uncertainty shining in his eyes.

“It’s good. So very good.” I leaned across the center console and kissed him quickly, aware that Rachel was demanding to get out of her booster seat in the back.

“Alright, let’s get you girls a tour of the place.” Matt unbuckled his seatbelt, climbing out of the Jeep and getting Rachel out before I could protest.

He carried her inside while I followed behind, attempting to take in every nuance of the dream he had built for us. Disbelief flooded me. He remembered everything. Right down to the tire swing hanging from a tree on the side of the house.

We walked into the front entryway, the warm wood gleaming throughout the house and I realized I had stopped breathing.

I silently followed him and Rachel from room to room, not able to process all that this meant. He had come back for me. For us. Even with all that time apart, he had never given up hope that we would end up together.

“You’re awfully quiet,” he noted from the doorway of what he had just announced was going to be Rachel’s new room, much to the little girl’s delight.

“This is just so fast.” My head was spinning looking around the pink room that was already sparsely decorated with pink floral curtains, a white bed and dresser. There was even a little doll sitting on the bed waiting to be played with.

“Is it?” He shrugged and glanced to where Rachel was now petting the doll’s head. “It doesn’t seem like it to me.”

“I need time to wrap my head around all this. Two weeks ago I didn’t even know you were back in town. Then two days ago we finally hook back up. Now you’re telling me you bought our dream home, already have it ready for us and that what? You want us to move in with you? Like today?” I couldn’t hide my incredulity. This was beyond fathomable.

“I’d love for you to move in today, but I’m comfortable waiting. I already asked the principal to transfer Rachel to another class. That’s why he was trying to talk to us on Friday. He wanted to wish us well.”

“You certainly thought of everything,” I grumbled. If it weren’t for the fact that I knew he had a heart of gold, I might think he was seriously insane. “Was I a foregone conclusion?”

“No.” He closed the distance behind us and wrapped me in his arms. “We were a foregone conclusion. I knew from my mom that you weren’t with anyone right now. And deep down I always knew there had to be a reason you left me, even if it hurt like hell having you walk away. When I made the decision to teach here and buy this house, it was always with you and your daughter in mind. I might have missed the first five years of her life, but that doesn’t mean I plan on missing anymore. So what do you say?”

He shook me from side to side making me giggle in both astonishment and excitement. Not wanting to be left out, Rachel joined in and we all laughed with our ridiculousness.

“Can we watch Sleeping Beauty now?” Rachel asked once we sobered.

“Well?” Matt picked Rachel up in his arms and they both looked at me expectantly. In that moment, there was no question in my mind what my answer needed to be. Tomorrow, two months or two years from now, we were all meant to be together. There was no point in wasting any more time. Life really was too short.

“Sure thing, honey,” I told Rachel, but my meaning wasn’t lost on Matt. They both beamed at me and I couldn’t help but smile back as I watched while Rachel raced out of the room towards the living room.

“You’ve made me the happiest man, Miranda. And you are so getting lucky later,” he teased as we followed her down the hall.

“I hope so,” I quipped back and bumped him with my hip.

*****

Matt groaned lightly in my ear and I felt my body tighten around him.

“Shit,” he cursed, slowly pulling out and then just as slowly plunging back into me.

To my shock, Rachel had crapped out on the rug in front of the television with her new doll in hand. Matt and I were lying on the couch together, his back pressed to my front as we huddled under a blanket. As soon as she let loose a tiny little snore, Matt had my sundress pulled up around my waist, my panties pushed to the side and his thick, wide head nudging my core.

I let out a moan as soon as he entered me. He was just so big. I felt stuffed in the most delicious of ways.

Now we were silently fucking on the couch, hidden under the covers and praying we would both finish before Rachel woke up. I was so close that I figured that wouldn’t be an issue. The thrill of knowing it could be, had my insides trembling.

I turned my head so Matt could take my mouth in a deep, wet kiss. His fingers rolled my nipple and I bit his lower lip to show how good it felt.

“I could spend days up in your pussy and it still wouldn’t be enough,” he whispered against my mouth. That’s when my eyes rolled to the back of my head and my orgasm washed over me.

Matt’s rhythm faltered. He cursed under his breath and sped up his pace as best he could without shaking the couch. Within seconds, he stilled and I felt his cum bathe my inner walls setting off another set of tremors inside me.

Keeping us connected, Matt relaxed behind me and gave my exposed boob an affectionate squeeze.