“Daddy!”
“Papa!”
Rowan and Thea threw themselves at me, and I caught them both, pulling them into my arms. The weight of their little bodies, the smell of their hair, the sound of their excited chatter, it all washed over me and I felt myself come alive again. Just for a moment. Just while they were here.
“Hey, pups,” I said, kissing the tops of their heads. “How was your day?”
“Grandma made pancakes!” Thea announced. “With chocolate chips!”
“And Grandpa read us a story about dragons,” Rowan added. “But he did the voices wrong.”
“He tried,” I said, smiling despite everything. “That’s what matters.”
Hunt slipped out of the room, giving me a small wave as he went. The door closed softly behind him.
“Can we lay with Mama?” Thea asked, her voice going quiet as she looked at Lina’s still form on the bed.
“Of course, baby. Just be gentle, okay?”
I helped them climb onto the bed, one on each side of their mother. They curled up against her, careful not to disturb the IV line or the monitors. Thea rested her head on Lina’s arm. Rowan held her hand.
“Is Mama going to wake up today?” Rowan asked.
The question hit me in the chest, the same way it did every time he asked. Which was every single day.
“I don’t know, buddy,” I said honestly. “But we’re going to keep hoping, okay? And keep talking to her so she knows we’re here.”
“Okay.” Rowan snuggled closer to Lina. “I told her about school today. About how I got a gold star for reading.”
“She would be so proud of you.”
“I know.” His voice was small but certain. “She told me. In my dreams.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Didn’t know if it was just a child’s imagination or if there was something more to it. All Iknew was that I wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe Lina was still there, reaching out to us, fighting to come back.
“Daddy, can you read to us?” Thea asked.
“What book?”
“The one about the princess and the wolf!”
Of course. Lina’s favorite story to read to them. I grabbed the worn paperback from the nightstand, the same copy Lina had used, and settled into my chair.
“Once upon a time,” I began, my voice rough, “in a kingdom far away, there lived a princess who was braver than any knight in the land...”
The twins listened with rapt attention, their small bodies pressed against their mother, their eyes fixed on me as I read. My heart ached and warmed at the same time, a contradiction I’d grown used to over the past month.
I loved these kids so much it hurt. They were the only reason I was standing, breathing, holding on.
But god, I missed their mother.
I missed her laugh. Her sarcasm. The way she rolled her eyes at me when I was being overprotective. The way she curled into me at night, her cold feet pressed against my legs. The way she looked at me with those brown eyes full of fire and love and exasperation.
I missed everything about her.
I finished the story and closed the book, looking at my children, who had fallen asleep against their mother. Rowan’s hand was clutching Lina’s. Thea had her face buried in Lina’s neck.
I reached out and brushed Lina’s hair from her face. Her skin was warm. Her chest rose and fell steadily. She looked peaceful.
