They sat with the rest of the crowd as the next batter took the box.

Mara dropped her head to his shoulder.

It was after the batter fouled out that Mara’s head shifted and her lips came to his ear.

“I knew it,” she whispered.

Mitch turned his head and, up close, looked into his wife’s unusual but beautiful blue eyes.

“Knew what?” he asked.

“That you’d build a beautiful family.”

Mitch felt that in his gut and it felt good, like it always did when Mara hit him with her sweetness.

He lifted his hand and cupped her jaw. “Sweetheart –”

“Thank you, honey,” she kept whispering.

“For what?”

“A good life and a beautiful family.”

“You had a hand in that,” he reminded her.

“I know. We’re a team. Thank you for giving me that too.”

Fuck, he loved his wife.

He couldn’t think of a response so he decided to smile.

Mara smiled back, Billie’s wonky smile, the smile his wife had given their daughter and he couldn’t help it.

He bent his head and kissed it off her lips.

And he kept doing it even as he heard Faith announce with practiced exasperation, undoubtedly to Ridge, “They do this a lot.”

And he kept doing it through Billie’s softer, much sweeter and not exasperated at all, “And they always have. As long as I can remember.”