Piper’s eyes grew huge as she took a step forward. “Did you see a spider?”

“I did.” He laughed. “A few of them, actually.”

Piper shuddered. “I hate spiders.”

I reached out and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her in close so I could nuzzle my nose into her hair. She smelled like sunscreen and fresh grass. “I know you do, baby. But don’t worry. They’re way, way in the back of the garage.”

“I hate spiders too.” Brody smiled sweetly at her as he grazed her cheek with the back of his fingers. “But I promise to always kill all the spiders for you.”

Piper didn’t say anything, simply offering a shy smile in return.

“Hey, I have a question for you guys. What’s your absolute favorite Disney movie?” Brody looked back and forth between the two of them.

They looked at each other for a split second before blurting out, “Cinderella!”

“Mine too!” He looked at me and winked before returning his gaze to them. “You know how after the prince tried the slipper on Cinderella and it fit, they got married and lived happily ever after?”

The girls nodded, their eyes fixed on Brody’s face as they hung on every word he was saying.

“Well, last night I asked your mom to marry me.” His hand slid over and covered mine, squeezing it gently. “And guess what? She said yes!”

A tiny gasp sprang from Lucy, and Piper’s mouth dropped open, both of them looking stunned. Their big brown eyes looked back and forth between Brody and me until Lucy turned and threw her arms around Piper’s shoulders. They started hugging and jumping up and down excitedly.

I frowned and looked curiously at Brody. While I was happy they were so excited, their reaction was unexpected.

Then I learned why they were so thrilled.

“We get to live in a castle! We get to live in a castle!” they sang out as they jumped in circles, pumping their little arms up and down.

“Wait, wait, wait.” I held my hands up, trying to get their attention.

“Do they think—”

“Yes,” I interrupted Brody, quickly turning back to the girls. “Guys, guys, listen.”

They stopped jumping, but their smiles still clung to their faces.

I sighed, not wanting to crush their sweet little dreams, but unless Brody was the prince of some faraway country in Europe and forgot to tell me, we were most likely not gonna live in a castle.

“Ugh, I don’t know how to break it to you guys, but we aren’t gonna live in a castle,” I said quietly.

Their faces fell like someone had just given them a puppy and then quickly taken it away, or in this case a castle.

“But… in Cinderella they live in a castle,” Lucy whined.

“I know they do, baby, but we don’t have a castle,” I explained.

“Where are we gonna live, then?” Piper asked.

Crap.

“Well… um…” I looked at Brody, desperately searching his face for an answer. “We’ll probably live—”

“We’ll get a castle,” Brody blurted out, a huge grin spread across his face.

“Yay!” they cheered and started dancing again.

“Wait.” I reached out and tried to stop them, but they’d moved too far out into the room. They spun round and round as I turned toward Brody, staring blankly at him. “You know they’re six and they remember everything, right?”

“I know.” He confirmed proudly, his mischievous green eyes smiling at me.

“Brody, you just promised them a castle. Like… a castle!” I repeated incredulously, thinking he must not have heard me the first time.

“I know.” He laughed as he watched the girls celebrate. “But look at them. How could I not? Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out.” He reached over and patted my thigh.

Oddly enough, I believed him.

“What the fuck is this, man?” Viper bellowed as he walked into Scooter Joe’s Café and dropped the newspaper on my table.

“Good morning to you too.” I laughed, picking it up.

Front page. Top story. Bold letters.

SORRY, LADIES! MINNESOTA’S MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR IS OFF THE MARKET:

BRODY MURPHY PROPOSES TO GIRLFRIEND KACIE JENSEN

“What the hell? How do they know already?” I growled in frustration as I slammed the paper facedown on the table. As annoyed as I was with the headline, I was even more annoyed with the picture they added below it of Kacie and me at the zoo with the girls. Lucy and Piper were facing the other way, so thankfully no one could see their faces, but it still pissed me off. Kacie and I had talked long ago about my life and how it’s in the spotlight more than I’d like, and she swore to me that we were worth it and she could handle it, but when they start posting pictures of her daughters, all bets are off.

Viper pulled the chair out and plopped down across from me. “The question is, how do they know before me?”

I smiled at him and shrugged. “Sorry. It just happened a couple days ago. I wanted to tell you in person. That’s why I asked you to meet me for breakfast.”

“Well, congratulations.” He reached across and shook my hand.

“Thanks.”

“You sure you’re ready for this?”

“I’m more than ready.” I sat up, looking him straight in the eye. “I want to marry that girl today, before she realizes she can do way better than me and changes her mind.”

Viper sat still for a minute, not responding. Just before I opened my mouth to talk, he batted his eyes at me and clapped his hands together. “Awww. There’s no one better than you, Brody Murphy,” he joked in an annoyingly high-pitched voice.

“Cut the shit, Finkle.” I laughed. “You’re just jealous I didn’t save myself for you.”

“True,” he agreed, “but we could always have some scorching affair and really give the magazines something to talk about. Do you like being on top or bottom?”

I held my hand over my mouth, concentrating desperately on not spitting my coffee out. “Okay, that was a little much.”

Viper laughed heartily and smacked his hand down on the table loudly, causing a couple people to turn and look at us. “All jokes aside, I’m happy for you, man. I really am. She’s a great girl, but you’re right… definitely out of your league.”

I looked down at the table and thought about Kacie and how I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her. Lucy and Piper, the kids we would eventually make together, holidays, graduations, vacations… Those were all the big things I was looking forward to, but with her I wanted more. I wanted all the awesome little things too. Sleeping in on Sundays, date nights at my favorite little Italian place in the city, all of our weird inside jokes, her cinnamon rolls. I wanted all of it, every single day.

“Jesus, wipe the goofy smile off your face.” Viper threw a wadded-up napkin at me, laughing when it bounced off my forehead.

“Sorry.” I shook my head back to reality. “Hey, I actually asked you here for another reason, not just because I wanted to see your ugly face.”

“Oh, this should be interesting.” He sat back in his chair and locked his fingers behind his head.