Holding On (Wildcreek Ranch Series Book 3)

Chapter Thirty-One

Rihanna felt her heart skip a beat when he slipped onto her finger a beautiful ring with the letters R and H encrusted upon it with diamonds and fused together creatively with a small ruby heart. It was beautiful and Rihanna fell in love with it instantly. "It's beautiful. When did you buy it?" she asked, admiring the ring. He got up and admired her instead.

"When you had asked for three months' time to decide, I had this especially made for you."

"I love it, Hunter," she gushed happily.

"I'm glad it found its rightful owner. If you hadn't married me, I would have thrown it away." Rihanna hugged him close.

"I wouldn't have left you, Hunter. I love you too much to do that."

Afterwards, they wore their clothes and went out for coffee. Robbie was freshening up, having woken up late. Afterwards he came to sit on Rihanna's lap to give her a kiss and a hug. "Good morning, mommy."

"Good morning Robbie," she said, hugging him back.

"Now that you're living with me, can I call you mommy at school too?" asked Robbie hopefully.

"Yes, you can." Robbie thought for a moment.

"But then I'm so small, I need a dad too. Who will be my dad?" he asked with a pout, glancing at Hunter all the time. Hunter sipped his coffee and looked at him instead of saying anything. His lips twitched with amusement.

After waiting for an answer for a few seconds, Robbie was impatient. "C'mon uncle Hunt, say it. Say that you will be my dad," he glared at his uncle.

Hunter chuckled. "Why should I? You haven't hugged me? You haven't kissed me? Neither have you greeted me," he said teasingly. Robbie's mouth hung open.

"That's because I'm angry with you, silly uncle Hunt. Don't you understand?" said Robbie with disbelief.

"And may I ask why you're angry with me?"

"Because you didn't come home for many days. You left me alone like my mommy, daddy and Carson did. You didn't stop having your bad water. I know what it is. It is whisikeý. My new friend at school, Toby, told me. You wanted to throw me away at someone's house where I didn't want to go. So I would be angry, wouldn't I?" said Robbie. Rihanna smiled indulgently at him. She was glad that he had made a friend, Tobias, who was in her class. They hung out together, and it was a sign that Robbie was getting normal.

"Yes, you have a point. Will you forgive me if I apologized?" asked Hunter.

Robbie shook his head vehemently. "No. Say sorry and then tell me you'll be my dad. I will think about it."

Hunter smiled. "Okay, young man. I'm sorry. I will be your dad from this moment onwards. Will you call me dad then?" asked Hunter expectantly.

"Yes, dad. You don't know that I'm always ready to call you dad?" he said with a smile. He jumped off Rihanna's lap and climbed onto Hunter's, hugging and kissing him like he did to his mommy.

"Let us go home to pack our stuff. You could announce our wedding plans to my family. With Rex's wedding coming up, I would have to get my dress too," she said, and Hunter nodded.

"Sure. Then we'll go out to eat. Gemma, you could go home and rest for the day," said Hunter. Gemma's eyes lit up with happiness. It had been a month since she had gone home.

"Thanks Hunter. I was getting a little homesick," she admitted. Robbie had his milk while Gemma went to complete the rest of the work. Rihanna went to the kitchen to make some breakfast for all. Hunter and his son went out fishing. It was a typical happy family scene, something which all of them had craved. After an hour, they returned with two fat trouts which Gemma cleaned up before leaving to go home. Rihanna served them all the scrambled eggs, bacon and chicken sandwiches she had made.