UNKNOWN:Thank you for saving my life. I won't forget it. When I'm back on my feet, I owe you one. -Ghost
I stare at that last message for a long time.
Ghost owing me a debt could be dangerous. Or it could be useful. Or both.
File it under "complications for later" and focus on today.
Today, I'm a nurse who saved a life.
A mother who's figuring it out one day at a time.
A woman who reconnected with her partner after three months of being nothing but parents.
A person who's reclaiming her power one impossible day at a time.
Santiago wakes with his usual dramatic announcement of needs.
I go to him, pick him up, settle into the rocking chair for morning cuddles.
"Your daddy's going to propose to me," I tell him. "Soon. He warned me last night, which is the least romantic thing ever, but that's very him."
Santiago responds by grabbing my hair and making happy sounds.
"Yeah, I think I'll say yes too."
Outside, Phoenix is waking up—sun rising over the desert, heat building, another day starting. Somewhere, Zane's at the clubhouse handling club business. Somewhere, Ghost is in a hospital recovering from cardiac arrest. Somewhere, Dr. Reeves is probably already thinking about next week's clinic schedule.
But here, in our rental house, in this rocking chair with my son in my arms and the promise of a proposal hanging in the air—
Here, I'm just Lena.
Powerful and vulnerable. Strong and tired. Healer and mother and woman and all of it at once.
Chapter forty-nine
Forever Starts Now
Lena
Two weeks after Zane's midnight "proposal warning," I'm standing in our bedroom watching him sleep and thinking about how much can change in three months.
Now he's planning to propose.
The problem? He won't tell me when.
It's driving me insane.
"You're staring," Zane says without opening his eyes.
"You're awake."
"Hard to sleep when someone's burning holes in my head with their gaze." He opens one eye. "What time is it?"
"Five-thirty. Santiago will be up in twenty minutes. We have this brief window of consciousness without immediate baby needs."
"So naturally you're using it to watch me sleep?"
"I was thinking."
