“Sure. What’s going on?”
“I’d like to continue going to counseling, just not with Teresa. She’s nice and all, but…I don’t think we’re a good fit.”
“That’s a great idea, Haley. I’ll do a little research and try to find someone else.”
“You don’t have to. Yesterday while you were out, Pastor Steve came over to see Grandma and Grandpa. The church has a youth group—Janie and some of my friends already go to it—and he mentioned how they have a youth counselor. I’d like to give it a try going there. Again, if it’s okay.”
“Of course it is! And I’m so proud of you for wanting to do it!”
“Yeah, well…there have been a lot of changes in my life lately, and it sounds like more are coming. I need to be able to handle them better than I have.”
“Hales,” Kyle began, but she stopped him.
“You guys have waited a long time to be together and I know I wasn’t part of the plan…”
This time Sydney went to stop her, but Haley cut her off too.
“I know I wasn’t part of the plan, but here we are. I’ve seen all the work the two of you have put into your relationship with each other and your relationship with me. I think it’s only fair that I learn to put in some work too.” She let out a long breath and smiled at them. “Kind of mature of me, right?”
Both Sydney and Kyle nodded and when Haley excused herself so she could go and video chat with Janie to tell her the news, Sydney knew she wasn’t the only one breathing a sigh of relief. They leaned back against the sofa cushions.
“Life’s never going to be dull, is it?” Kyle asked, but it wasn’t really a question.
“Not even a little bit.” Turning her head, she looked at him. “That okay with you?”
Chuckling, he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her nose. “More than okay with me. You know how much I thrive on a challenge and how much I hate to be bored.”
“Then you’ve certainly come to the right place because I’m learning that every day is a challenge.”
He took her hand in his. “Well, now you don’t have to face them alone anymore. Not that you need me. You’ve been amazing through all of this. I’m just here to help so that maybe you don’t have to work so hard.”
“I love you so damn much. Are you sure we can’t get married today?”
“If there was a way, we’d be doing it right now.”
Resting her head on his shoulder, she let out a small laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“I kind of thought Haley was going to put up at least a bit of a fight to all of this. Like, that was all very agreeable and a little anticlimactic.”
“Yeah, I kind of expected a little more out of her too. I think her whole running away experience really opened her eyes to how her life isn’t so bad. I mean, she’s always going to be sad when she thinks about her parents. I understand that more than she realizes. But someday she’ll realize that they would’ve wanted her to be happy and that it’s okay to be happy.”
“I’d really like it if you talked with her about that sometime. Not right now or today or anything, but…I think once life sort of levels out a bit and she’s feeling better, maybe the two of you can sit down and talk about it without me hovering.”
“You’re allowed to be there, Syd.”
“No, I just feel like maybe she’d be a little more receptive to what you’re saying if it came from you more organically rather than it looking like I’m prompting you.”
“Aren’t you, though?”
“I’m simply planting the seed. You can use your experience and wisdom with her whenever you see fit.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
They sat in companionable silence for several minutes. “Oh, I should probably warn you that my parents are going to want to take us all out to dinner. Possibly tonight.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“They always liked you, and you saved their only grandchild’s life so…I’m thinking it’s a good thing.”
“Plus, throw in the fact that I’m marrying their daughter and they’ll like me even more!”
“Yes. Your fan club will continue to grow.”
“There’s only one fan that I need,” he said, pulling her in close and kissing her.
“Aww…aren’t you sweet.” Sighing, she looked around the room. “How attached are you to your furniture?”
“Um…what?”
“I just think if you move in here, you’re going to have your own furniture and want to bring it, and I’m not sure where we’re going to put it all.”
“Seriously? That’s what you’re thinking of right now?”
Standing, she nodded. “I told you, I am done waiting, and now that we know we’re doing this, I want to do it now!” When Kyle stood beside her and began looking around, she saw him frown. “What? What’s the matter?”
“Honestly? Your stuff is way better than mine. It would be stupid to move my old crappy furniture in here after such a spectacular makeover.”
“Maybe we can put some of it in storage. You know, in case we move to a bigger place.”
Turning, he wrapped her in his arms. “Already planning ahead?”
Nodding, she said, “Yup. We only have four bedrooms here, and two of them are already occupied, one’s a guest room, and the other’s more like a closet. If we have a baby…”
“You mean when.”
“Right. When. When we have a baby, there won’t be any room for guests, and you know my parents are going to want to come and stay with us once in a while—especially when we have a baby.” She paused. “Of course, we could do a little work in my office and get one of those Murphy beds—or we can put one in Haley’s rec room. Either way, there’s a somewhat easy solution to guest space so we wouldn’t have to move immediately.”
“Plus, you know…babies are small. How much room do they really need?”
Unable to help herself, she laughed. “Um…maybe talk to your siblings about that sometime and see what they have to say. I have a feeling you’ll find they take up more space than you think.”
“Is it crazy that I want to find out sooner rather than later?”
“I guess we can talk to them about it at the wedding without letting them know we’re engaged.”
But he was shaking his head. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what…”
“I’m thinking I’d like to find out first-hand just how much space a baby—our baby—will take up. What do you think? You up for adding a little more chaos to our lives?”
It was crazy how she didn’t even need to think about it.
“I think we should find a way to start working on that right away.” Leaning in, she kissed him.
When they broke apart, he was grinning. “Leave it to me. Since your parents are so enamored with me right now, there shouldn’t be any problem when I suggest taking you home with me tonight.”