No Chance by Lisa Suzanne

CHAPTER 49: HANNAH

I blow out a breath, and it feels meaningful. It’s more than just a sigh of happiness, though it’s definitely that, too. It’s like I’m letting go of the past so we can embark on a brand new future together.

There will be bumps in the road, but every road has bumps. The fact that he came back for me—for us—tells me he’s in this now. He’s scared, and I am, too, but we can face those fears together, hand-in-hand.

“We should go get him,” I say softly.

He nods then lightly lifts me so he falls out of me, and I miss the connection immediately. But we’ll do that again. That’s something I’m absolutely sure of.

We get cleaned up and dressed, and then he gets into the car with me driving. I navigate carefully toward the daycare, and he takes in the scenery.

“Do you want to keep a house here in Phoenix?” he asks.

I shrug, and the truth hits me while I talk. “I have a few friends, but not really any family or anything. I’m not tied to this place. I like it, sure, but there are also a lot of painful memories here. I’m not totally opposed to leaving it behind and visiting when CK tours through.”

He reaches over and squeezes my thigh. “You sure? Because this is where your roots are, so I get it.”

I shake my head. “It’s not that far from LA. We can visit whenever we want.” I’m referring to Chance and me. My sister—his mother—is buried here, so surely we’ll come back to visit.

“Of course,” he says. “Any time you want.”

“When do you want to head back to Los Angeles?” I ask.

“I need to be back tomorrow for a band meeting, but we can get you moved out any time.”

I twist my lips. “Tomorrow sounds good to me.”

He chuckles. “Yeah?”

I lift a shoulder. “Yeah. I’m ready for a fresh start. My classes are online so I can keep taking them, and we can find a daycare in LA to help when we’re both working.”

“We could hire a nanny,” he suggests.

I glance over at him with alarm. “Uh, you slept with the last nanny you hired. I don’t know if I like that idea.”

He bursts into laughter as I pull into the parking lot and cut the engine, and then we head inside to pick him up.

When we walk through the door to Chance’s classroom, I spot him right away playing with some blocks. One of the two teachers in the room, Darcy, comes over. “Is this Chance’s dad?” she asks, and I hear just a bit of flirtation in her voice.

I link a possessive arm around his waist. “Yep. Chance’s dad and my boyfriend.” Boyfriend. It sounds like such an immature word for whatever it is we’re starting, but it still seems to fit.

Darcy raises both brows as Brett leans over and presses a soft kiss to my temple.

God, I love this man.

“Dada!”

My eyes widen as Chance ambles over toward us. He just took his first steps a few days ago, and he’s already practically running across the room. He trips halfway in his pursuit, but he gets up, brushes it off, and tries again.

“Did he say dada?” Brett asks, his voice as incredulous as my brain. “And is he walking?”

I laugh. “Yes and yes! I’ve never heard him say dada before!”

“How long has he been walking?” he asks.

“Just a few days!”

Brett kneels down and Chance flies into his arms. Brett lifts to a stand, and Chance pokes him in the chest.

“Dada,” he says again.

Tears fill my eyes as I glance up at Brett, who is clearly choking back his own emotions. I didn’t think this day could be any more perfect, but I was wrong.

Because this...this feeling of family, this feeling of love...this is what life is all about.

On the way home, we pick up some dinner and a birthday cake, and once we get home, Brett disappears into my bedroom for a few minutes. When he emerges, his arms are full of wrapped presents.

I can’t help my smile at the sight.

He wanted to make this day special for Chance, and just the sheer thought he put into getting here armed with gifts on time makes my heart squeeze with emotion.

“You didn’t have to do all that,” I say softly.

He smiles. “I know. But I did it anyway.”

Chance shows no interest in unwrapping the gifts, so I help him out. Brett gave him nesting toys and building blocks and pretty much every toy in the toy aisle that’s appropriate for twelve months plus, and Chance is most interested in one of the boxes the toy came in.

“I’m sure next year will be a completely different story,” I say, and we both laugh.

Brett hands the final present to me, and I unwrap it for Chance. It’s in a tube, and when I open the tube, I find a map of the United States.

“I’ve already filled in all the states we’ve visited together,” he explains. “All the ones we hit on tour. Someday I want to fill out the whole map. I want to visit all the states with the two of you, and I want to make memories there and travel to other countries and just experience life with both of you.”

My brows dip as I try not to cry again. “This is so thoughtful, Brett,” I murmur as I stare down at the states he’s already filled in.

When I look up at him, his lips are curling at the edges. He glances over at Chance, and then he lowers his voice to a rasp that’s just for me. “I bought two. The second one is our sex map. All the states I got to fuck you in.”

My eyes widen and I smack him in the arm. He just laughs, and somehow I don’t think he’s kidding.

“What do you say we eat some cake and then check California off the map?”

Since Chance has already been to California, I can only assume he’s talking about the sex map. I lift a shoulder. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

He laughs. “Jo can get us on a flight tonight if you’re ready. I can send someone to pack up this place for you and we can get started on making up for lost time.”

“Let’s do it,” I say, and we sing to Chance, we eat a lot of cake, we pack up the essentials, which includes all of Chance’s new toys plus all the travel stuff Brett had shipped here to me, and then we head to the airport so we can start our new life together as a little family of three.