River released a shaky breath before speaking. “I loved Andrew and Lisa, and yes, I was very loved and happy.”
“Then that’s all that matters,” Declan said shakily.
“Our upbringing was a little…unorthodox, but filled with love, always,” River reassured. “And Fawn has been, still is, the best big sister anyone could ever wish for.”
“Thank you,” she accepted huskily.
He reached out to grasp and then squeeze her hand. “But if I’m being truly honest, inside me I always knew something—someonewas missing. There was this hollow space inside me where someone I had known and who loved me with all their heart should have been. I realize now that was you, Da.” Tears glistened in his eyes as he released Fawn’s hand to cross the room and stand in front of where Declan sat. “I might not remember everything about the past, but I do know that I’ve missed you, Da.”
Declan’s control snapped as he surged to his feet and pulled the younger man into his arms.
He and River/Connall hugged for long, emotional minutes, holding each other tightly, as if they were afraid the other onemight somehow disappear again. Tears streamed down both their faces. Happy tears.
Finally, Declan pulled back enough to reach up and cradle his son’s face as he stared at him intently. “I might not have been there, but I have loved you all your life. Every second of it,” he stated firmly. “The sooner we get you a kidney transplant and I start being a fusspot, a brother-in-law, and your da, the better,” he added lightly.
“Maybe you can throw being a father-in-law in there whenever River says yes,” Danny put in softly.
River grinned at him. “You’ll need to ask me first.” He turned to Declan. “You’re already a fusspot and my da. I’m sure you’ll be my brother-in-law soon too.”
Declan glanced across at Fawn. “As soon as it can be arranged.”
That arranging tooka little longer than Declan might have hoped.
First, there were tests for Declan and River on the day after the journal had revealed that Fawn’s mother had rescued River from a car crash and never given him back.
Those tests revealed that Declan was a suitable kidney donor for River.
A DNA test at the same time confirmed what they all already knew: River was Declan’s son.
The two men had discussed the matter of River’s name, and both had agreed that this was a fresh start for them and that River should choose his name. River, if that’s what he was comfortable with. It was.
From those same tests, Mark Reynolds was also able to reassure them that River’s kidney disease wasn’t inherited from his grandmother, but rather one of those anomalies that often occur in life.
Fawn had been a mess the day the kidney transplant took place, pacing the halls of the hospital for the whole of the time River and Declan were in surgery. Danny had kept her company, as worried as Fawn was that he might lose the man he loved if something went wrong with the operation.
It didn’t.
The transplant was a complete success, and within weeks, it was as if River had never been chronically ill. He and Danny moved into an apartment together, given to them by Declan, and a couple of floors below the penthouse apartment. River was also due to resume his university course the following September.
Declan’s recovery was just as miraculous.
So much so that he was able to walk Thea down the aisle at her wedding, as promised, just two weeks after the operation, much to Fergus Wynter’s delight.
Fawn and Declan’s wedding took place two weeks after that one. River proudly walked Fawn down the aisle and placed her hand in Declan’s before just as proudly moving to stand at his da’s side in his role as his best man.
River would forever be both Fawn’s brother and Declan’s son.
Fawn and Declan spent their honeymoon aboard the eight-berth yacht Declan had purchased and named for her.
And later that night, as the two of them lay in bed together in the main bedroom, Fawn told him of the wedding present she hadfor him. He would have to wait another seven and a half months to receive it, but from the way Declan’s face lit up with fierce happiness, Fawn didn’t think he was going to mind the wait.
