I sit at the kitchen table. Rowan slides into the chair across from me.
Her hand reaches across the table, palm up.
That’s all it takes.
I put my hand in hers and squeeze.
“I’ve been thinking,” I start. Her brow lifts, but she stays quiet. The words sit heavy in my chest. I lick my lips. “About… our family.”
Rowan’s eyes soften immediately. She shifts forward in her seat, like she already knows where this is going but wants to let me say it first.
I inhale shakily.
“I love our life,” I say. “You. Lily. Wolf Valley. The shop. Everything.” I rub my thumb along the back of her hand. “But I keep thinking about… more.”
“More?” she echoes quietly.
“Yeah.” I look at her fully. “I think I want another baby, Ro.”
Her lips part on a tiny breath.
The air thickens around us.
For a second, I worry I’ve crushed her with the ask. She’s working long hours. She’s balancing motherhood and medicinelike a fucking warrior. Maybe this is unfair to put on her. Maybe?—
Her chair scrapes as she stands and walks the tiny distance to me.
She climbs onto my lap, straddling me with easy familiarity. She cups my face in both hands.
“Grant,” she whispers. “Look at me.”
I do. Her eyes are wet. Shining. Beautiful.
“I want another baby too,” she says simply.
My breath leaves me in one hard rush.
“You… do?”
“Yes.” She kisses me softly. “I’ve wanted one for a while. I just didn’t want to pressure you. You’re already doing so much. You volunteer. You work. You’re home with Lily in the mornings. I didn’t want to add more to your plate.”
I shake my head hard. “You’re never adding. Not to me. You and Lily, you’re the reason I got my life back.”
Tears spill over her cheeks.
I brush them away with my thumbs.
She leans her forehead against mine. “So we both wanted the same thing but were too scared to say it?”
“Looks like it,” I murmur.
She laughs a watery laugh. “We’re idiots.”
“Probably.”
Lily toddles into the room, dragging her stuffed bunny.
“Up!” she demands.
