She leaned into his body. “You can touch me, Tor. I won’t crack—I’m not made of glass.” He hesitated and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.
“I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t make it, honey. The girls have missed you so much.” Torren’s voice cracked and tugged at her heart. She thought back to that day when she walked away from Torren, telling him that it was over. At the time, she felt that it was the only way to keep him safe.
“I’m sorry, Tor—for everything. I didn’t mean what I said that day. I just wanted you to be safe, and I knew that you wouldn’t let them operate if you knew that I was going after Beth. I was so afraid that I was going to lose you both. I knew that if you were safe and alive, I’d be able to face anything.” Torren growled, “You shouldn’t have gone through that alone, Tana. We are a team—or we were, and you just walked away from that, from everything that we built together.” He shook his head, and she wanted to take it all back, every word she said that day, every stupid mistake—she wanted to take them all back and start over.
“So, that’s it? I messed up and made the biggest mistake of my life, and we aren’t a team anymore?” Tana couldn’t help hersob—the thought of them both fighting to get back to each other, only to have Torren leave, gutted her.
“You are the most stubborn woman that I’ve ever met. We aren’t even fucking close to being done. I’m in love with you, and if you say that you feel the same way about me, then we need to set a few ground rules.” Tana blinked up at Torren, not sure that she was following. Her brain still seemed a little slow. Did she hear him correctly? He was still in love with her even after she chose to walk away from him.
“Wait, what?” she stuttered, needing to make sure that she wasn’t still asleep and dreaming all of this. “You’re in love with me? But how? I walked away from you, Tor. I chose my daughter over you, and you still want me?”
Torren wiped a tear from her cheek and gently kissed her lips. “Baby, I’m in love with you because you chose your daughter over me. That’s what a mother should do, and it’s what my mother would have done. As for leaving me, Tag pointed out that you did that for my own good. He came here that day, just after he found you, and the ambulance brought you in. My brother likes to tell me when I’m wrong, and he sure had a good time doing it. He told me what you’d said after you were shot—that I was worth sticking around for. He dared me to prove that you were right, and, well, the next day I moved in here with you. At first, they were against me staying in your room, but after I was released, they kind of just let me stick around.” Tana felt a little guilty. Here she was, so wrapped up in her little world that she forgot that Torren had been shot, too.
“Oh God, Torren, I forgot that you were shot. Are you all right?” Torren laughed as her hands fumbled around his body as if making sure he was in one piece.
“Yeah, I’ll live. I just get a little sore, and I’m stiff from sleeping in that damn chair.” Tana groaned, feeling guilty for causing him discomfort. “It’s all good, honey. I’m not leavingyou, so a few aches and pains are worth making sure that you are okay.”
“Well, how about from now on you share my bed?” Torren’s gaze heated at her words, and she couldn’t help her giggle. “I don’t think I’m going to be up for that for a while now.” Torren pulled her down against his body, stretching out beside her so they could both settle comfortably into her hospital bed. She felt safe and protected in Torren’s arms, knowing that she was finally free from her painful past. Torren saved her heart from lonely despair and made her happier than she ever thought possible.
“So, Tana Cahoon, what do you say to us changing that last name of yours? I think that Tana Harrison suits you better.” Torren kissed the top of her head, and she melted into his arms. The thought of becoming his wife made her heart feel like it was full enough to burst.
“I think that Tana Harrison sounds near perfect,” she whispered. Torren nodded his head in agreement.
“I’d also like to adopt the girls if that’s all right with you.” Torren seemed unsure about asking her to adopt the twins. But Tana couldn’t think of a better husband or father than Torren. He became her and the girls’ whole world in such a short amount of time. She wanted nothing more than to make their little family legal.
“I won’t speak for the twins, but I’m pretty sure that they would both be the happiest little girls on earth to call you their daddy.” Torren swallowed as if trying to hold his emotions at bay.
“Thank you for that, baby. I’d love to be their dad; I feel like they are already mine. It will be nice to have a piece of paper that says that, though.” Torren’s voice was almost a whisper, and she could hear every ounce of love that he had for her daughters.
“You know, I hate to turn into that wife that likes to tell her husband that she was right, but—” Torren moaned and rolled to face her.
“Go ahead, let's have it. What were you right about, honey?” he asked.
She smiled at him, framing his beautiful face with her hands. She couldn’t imagine not waking up to find him next to her. She was so thankful that Torren gave her another chance and never gave up on her. She would spend the rest of her life making sure that he never regretted his decision.
“I was right about you, Torren. You are worth sticking around for.” Torren gifted her with another brilliant smile and gently pulled her against his body for a consuming kiss that left her breathless and looking forward to a quick recovery.
“Right back at you, baby,” Torren growled.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Six Months Later
Torren watched the girls playing in the sand as the waves crashed against the shore where Tana stood. Her silhouette in the little sundress she was wearing did crazy things to his libido. Seeing her belly growing with his babies made him half-mad with lust. Getting married on a beach at sunset was his idea, and he had to admit that flying to Mexico to say their vows was a great plan. They invited their closest friends and family, and everyone stopped their busy lives to spend a few days in paradise with them.
During the day, everyone played on the beach or the guys went hiking while the women stayed behind with the kids or went shopping. But at night, Tana was all his. He booked the villas for everyone, and he made sure that his and Tana’s was secluded to ensure that they had privacy. It was after all their honeymoon. They decided to wait to get married until the girls’ paperwork could be finalized. Since Matt was dead and he had no living relatives that could contest the twins’ adoption, they were able to push through the proceedings quickly. Torrendidn’t want to marry Tana until the girls could officially be his, too. He wanted them all to share his name because he felt like they were all his.
After Tana got out of the hospital, she and the girls moved into his house across the street permanently. He even moved the twins’ playhouse into his backyard. Tana’s mother, Rita, decided to stick around to help with the girls. She didn’t want to go back home after Tana recovered, and they decided to move her into Tana’s old home. Rita was able to sell her home and purchase Tana’s rental, and Tana was thrilled. She missed having her mother around, and Torren liked having her live across the street. They were able to have some alone time or even just go on a Friday night date, knowing that Rita loved her special time with the girls. Beth took a bit of time to get over her fear of going back to the house where she watched her father shoot her mother. She was more shaken up by that than by watching Matt die, which was understandable since neither girl thought of Matt as their father anymore. He was just a monster that sometimes still haunted their dreams.
The twins still weren’t at the point where they could spend the night at their old house with their grandmother. Tana and Torren were taking them to a therapist who liked to do sessions with the whole family. It was the first time that Torren had to face his feelings about his mother’s death and his father’s leaving. He and Tag even went to a few sessions just the two of them to work through a few things. He loved that Tana wanted to make sure that Torren was ready to take on being a husband and father. He’d do whatever she needed to prove that she was it for him, even if that meant sitting on a therapist’s couch and talking about his feelings. If she asked, he liked to make a face and act like he was really put out by the idea of spilling his guts to a total stranger, and then turn around and pay them for the chat. But he didn’t mind, and if he was being honest, he kindof liked it, although telling Tana that she was right was usually painful. His girl was getting a swelled head with his constant praise, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
After Tana was released medically, Torren wasted no time making up for every lost minute that she spent in the hospital. They found out about two months later that Tana was pregnant, and he was thrilled. At first, Torren worried about it being too soon after everything that she went through, but the doctor assured them both that she was fine and completely healthy. Another month passed, and Tana was measuring bigger than she should have been. She told Torren that the same thing had happened with the twins, and since she already had a set of twins and Torren was a twin, they did an early sonogram to find that she was once again pregnant with twins. Tana panicked that they were doubling the number of kids that they had, but Torren convinced her that she was an awesome mother and already knew how to handle twins, so two more wouldn’t be that big of a change. He knew that two more kids were going to rock their world, but he would never worry Tana with that fact. And when another month passed and they found out that the babies were both boys, he felt like the luckiest man on earth.
Beth and Sarah were excited to be big sisters and even put a few baby names in the hat, although Tana had already nixed Fred and Barney and Sponge Bob, and Patrick. She also sent the girls outside to play in their playhouse with Tucker instead of letting them watch any more cartoons. Torren had to hand it to the girls; they came up with some pretty creative names. He was secretly hoping that Tana would change her mind about Fred and Barney, since he was a huge Flintstones fan, but she wasn’t budging on the subject. When they finally got the news that he would be able to adopt the girls, he convinced Tana to combine the adoption ceremony with a wedding ceremony, legally joining their little family. She loved the idea but washoping for something a little more romantic than the local courthouse or being married by a judge. That was when Torren hatched his plan to whisk his family and friends down to Mexico for a destination wedding. He couldn’t believe that he pulled it all off, but watching his family play on the beach was worth every sleepless night of planning.
He watched Tana cradle her belly to wade into the waves, laughing at the girls when they tried to jump over one but failed and fell into the white foamy water. Torren stood from his beach chair and made his way down to the water. He wrapped his arms around Tana and the babies and pulled her snug against his body.
“I can’t wait for tonight,” he whispered into her ear, kissing the sensitive spot on her neck, causing her to shiver.
