He grins. “And the baby.”
She darts to the kitchen like a tiny tornado.
Saxon watches her go, then looks back at me.
“You sure you’re real?” he murmurs, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear.
I smile. “Real as it gets.”
He leans his forehead to mine.
“I’m going to take care of you,” he says. “All of you. Every day. Every breath. I swear it.”
I close my eyes, soaking in his warmth. “I know.”
He kisses me again—soft, sweet, still stunned. And for a long moment, the world is nothing but snow falling outside our window, the glow of Christmas lights reflecting off the glass, and our little family wrapped in warmth on the couch.
A new chapter.
A new beginning.
A new life growing beneath my heart.
“Merry Christmas,” he whispers.
“Merry Christmas, Saxon.”
Our first Christmas morning as a family of four.
And the best one I’ve had yet.
Second Epilogue
Saxon
five years later
The firehouse feels more like a second home than ever.
It’s late afternoon, sun dipping behind Devil’s Peak, turning the sky a soft gold. The station hums with its usual soundtrack—engine rumble, laughter echoing from the rec room, Rowan arguing with Axel about who stole the last donut.
And right in the middle of it all?
My kids.
Mason is sitting on the floor with a pile of toy engines, making siren noises so loud half the guys have given up pretending to ignore him.
Penelope—Penny—is perched on my turnout coat, brushing it with her tiny pink hairbrush like she’s grooming a horse.
Briar leans against one of the engines watching them, arms crossed, smiling in that way that still hits me in the chest every damn time.
We’ve been married almost six years, and I still look at her like I’m learning how to breathe.
“Daddy!” Penny shouts. “Your coat isvery dirty.”
I kneel beside her, brushing a strand of honey-blonde hair—Briar’s hair—behind her ear. “It’s meant to be dirty, sweetheart.”
“No,” she insists. “This coat needs to be sparkly.”
