“There go my babies,” he whispered to her stomach.
He stayed like that for a long moment, palm warm over her belly, forehead pressed to hers like a quiet prayer. The roar of the arena, the buzz of the city, all of it faded. It was just them in the truck, wrapped up in everything they had fought for.
He kissed her once, slow and deep, then kissed her stomach. “They gon’ know they were wanted. Prayed over. Claimed. From the jump.”
His phone rang. He glanced at the screen. “It’s Giveon.”
“Now?” Halo frowned. “It’s late.”
“I’ll make it quick.” He answered. “What’s up, Giv?”
She watched his face as he listened. The tension she didn’t know he held was released by degrees.
“Yeah? Good. Nah, I’m not surprised. Appreciate you letting me know.” He hung up and looked at her. “Cassie’s parole hearing was today. They denied her.”
“She tried to get out early?” Halo asked.
“Yeah. Her lawyer pushed for it, said she’s been a model prisoner, and completed treatment programs. The board wasn’t buying it. They said she’s not ready. She won’t be eligible again until 2028 at the earliest.”
Relief washed through Halo. Cassie barely crossed her mind these days. They were living and thriving. Still, Halo would not hesitate to make good on her promise if Cassie ever threatened their family again.
As the city lights slid across the windows and his thumb drew those lazy, grounding circles over her stomach, Halo understood one thing with a certainty that bloomed warm and overwhelming. Whatever came next, sleepless nights, blowouts, business expansion, new buildings, new dreams, sweet love, chocolate babies, and Brixxi lying across whatever couch she chose, they would walk into it the same way they walked into everything else.
Side by side.
Flame and fuel.
Ignited on purpose.
???
DaVinci
The arena had been louder than any playoff game DaVinci ever played, but all that noise faded in his mind quicker than the sound of Halo’s laugh. Twenty thousand people on their feet, chanting his name, his number hanging in the rafters, and he could not stop thinking about the woman carrying his twins.
Fifteen would hang there forever. His stats were etched in record books. None of that defined him anymore. The man he was now, the husband, the father-to-be, the co-founder of something that actually changed lives, that was the legacy he cared about.
Halo changed everything.
She walked into his life at his worst moment, his house burning, his career at risk, his whole world shaky. She did not flinch. She checked him, challenged him, and still chose him. She softened edges that he did not realize were sharp. She made him better without trying to sand him down into someone else.
Two years into marriage, he still learned from her. He watched her build Halo’s Remedy while carrying their children and leading the foundation. She made the impossible seem routine, even though he knew it drained her energy; she never complained. He was still falling in love with her heart.
That night, after the ceremony, after the car and Cassie’s parole news, they did not go straight home. Trina called while they were halfway across town. He watched Halo’s face shift as she listened.
“A house fire on the east side,” she said when she hung up. “Family of six. They lost everything. They’re at the foundation.”
“Baby, you got staff for this,” he said. “Let them handle it.”
“This is the first family we’re helping since the grand opening,” she said. “I’m not missing that.”
“You’re seven months pregnant with twins. You’ve been on your feet all night,” he reminded her.
“And I’m about to be on them a little longer,” she replied. “You coming, or you gonna make Langston turn this car around?”
He already knew he had lost the argument before he opened his mouth. “Langston, take us to the foundation.”
“Yes, sir.”
