I kicked off my shoes and padded toward the chaos.My chaos, myfamily.Love swelled in my chest, choking me.
Millie stood in the middle of the room, swaying slightly as she bounced Bree.“Is it always going to be this way, little Bree?Every time, you fight sleep like a demon.Why, baby?You’re so tired.Mommy’s tired.What if you gave in, and—oh, Luka!”Her eyes widened as she took in my expression.
My cheeks ached, so I must’ve still been grinning like a damn fool.I wrapped my girls in my arms.Bree quieted, as she always did once she’d worn through the last bit of her energy.Her eyes drooped, and her little pink lips parted on a soft sigh.So sweet and precious.She was a beautiful baby with a feisty streak, and I loved her fiercely.I kissed her silky head.
“I have so much to tell you about my meeting, but first and foremost, I want to say this: I love you, and I’d never hold your choices—your attempts to find a connection with another person—against you, Millie.Hell, I did that for years before I found you.”
I bent down to kiss her lips, and I took my time.Slow and soft, lingering so I would have this moment pressed always in my mind.I pulled out the ring I’d found for her—the one that matched mine.Her band was thinner, and I’d added opals to the channel that led to her large, pink ruby.“The opals signify our meeting last October.I wasn’t ready for you, but I was so ready for being here.Will you wear it?”I asked, holding it poised over her trembling ring finger.
“Y-yes.Of course!”
I slipped it on her and smiled as I twined our fingers together.This was what I’d wanted with Millie from the start, the togetherness I’d been unable to put into words.
“Wow,” Millie murmured.She rested against my chest, her gaze still on our rings, baby Bree cuddled in our arms.She’d slumped more, a sure sign she was asleep.
“Why the change of heart?”Millie asked.
“I didn’t have one.I just got…clarity.”I nodded.“Yeah, clarity.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Let me put her down.You can shower or—”
“Celebrate with my sexy hockey star,” Millie murmured.
“I like the sound of that.”I plucked Bree from Millie’s arms.Something about holding my daughter calmed me—gave me perspective, a centering.I’d thought for so long that a family would be a weight for me to overcome, but now I realized they were the very reason that kept me going.I’d been such a fool.So young and naïve.Millie had opened my eyes.Bree had opened my future.
Millie slipped from the room and I held my daughter for another moment before I laid her in her crib.After ensuring her monitor was on and she was warm enough, I exited her room, shutting the door with the softest of thumps.
And I went in search of Millie.
I foundMillie asleep in the middle of our bed.I smiled, more than happy to snuggle in close and hold her until our baby needed us again.
I woke to Millie’s fingertips drifting over my cheeks.“Can we wait six weeks or so to get married?So I’m all healed down there?I want a proper wedding night with you.”She slid closer and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, resting her head against my chest.“And I want to feel beautiful in my dress, not self-conscious about the baby weight in my tummy.”
“You’re gorgeous, Mil—”
“To you, maybe,” she cut in.“But I want to feel gorgeous for you.And for me.”She looked up at me.“But most of all, I want you to know in that thick head of yours that I love you.That I’m marrying you because of that love.That there is no one else for me, ever, because I couldn’t possibly love another person like I love you.”
With each of her words, heat sizzled through my veins.I stared into her eyes, needing her to understand what I was offering—me,allof me—to her, the unloved child, the broken, traumatized teen, the bitter, untrusting woman, the caring partner, and the well-loved mother and soon-to-be wife.
Millie
Clutching his cheeks,I looked into his eyes.“I love you, Luka Aaron Stol.I love you.You.Only you.”
“And Bree.”
I smiled.“And our baby.But not like I love you with all this passion and fire and lust.”
His lips kicked up.“I am irresistible.”
“To me.”
He dropped his hands to my hips and squeezed gently.“I think I really needed to hear you say that.”His voice was soft.His expression was open and filled with contentment but also a tension that vibrated through him.It was fear, I realized.
“I’m not your parents, Luka.I’llalwaysfind you worthy, and I won’t be angry about your dyslexia or consider your need to move while you learn too difficult.I won’t ever, ever denigrate your intelligence or your work ethic or you.”I leaned in and kissed him, just a brush of my lips across his before I pulled back.“You’re not perfect, whichisperfect because neither am I.And it’s our imperfections that fit together so very well.I’m sorry it took me so long to fight for you—for us.But I’m in this with you.We’re a team.”
He managed a nod, his eyes shining.
