“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?”

“Sure, I’ll bring your mom over in the morning, since I can tell she’s chomping at the bit to meet Hope, and we’ll head out from there.”

“Thanks,” I mumble, taking the two bags up the stairs and setting them in bedroom Ellie chose.

“Anytime. Get some rest and we’ll see you in the morning.”