I’ll do anything for her.
“Welcome to the family, Little Lady Wild,” I say to her.
As I keep looking into her angelic face of pure innocence, I feel a tug in my chest.
I want this, too.
But only with Mia.
I force the thoughts away and look up at Cam. “Have you named her yet?”
He turns to Savannah, who smiles radiantly. “Liberty. But we’re going to call her Libby.”
“That’s a gorgeous name,” Mia says.
I go to hand Libby to Mia.
“Oh, I couldn’t,” she says.
“Why not?” Cam says. “You’re her Aunt Mia.”
Mia flicks her gaze to my brother, who nods nearly imperceptibly at her.
That’s Cam doing what he’s always done—accepting people without judgment. He’s giving us his blessing. Even if what we have isn’t a conventional marriage, he’s telling Mia she’s a Wild.
She wipes her eye and nods back at him before taking little Libby in her arms.
“That’s the second time I’ve seen you hold a baby,” I tell her quietly. “It always looks good on you.”
She looks up at me. “You’re sweet, Uncle Declan.”
My mom runs out of patience at this point, and she begs to hold the baby.
And then my dad takes his turn.
But when he’s done, he beckons to Mia and me.
We follow him out into the hallway where he looks us both in the eye before saying, “I’d like to apologize to you both.” He turns to Mia. “Especially to you, Mia. It was wrong of me to treat you rudely at your wedding to my son. I should never have been suspicious of your motives. Seeing you together, it’s obvious you two love each other deeply.”
I don’t dare look over at Mia.
“There’s nothing ulterior here, and I was an ass for making assumptions like that.”
Mia assures him that everything is okay and not to worry, but Dad turns to me.
I’m taken aback by the remorse in his eyes as he says, “You’ve always been so far ahead of me, son. All I had left was to try to protect you.”
I’m momentarily speechless. Mia says something on my behalf about parents always wanting to protect their kids.
“My dad is the same way,” she says. “He means well even if his methods aren’t always right.”
Dad nods at her appreciatively. “I should have trusted your judgment, Dec. I’m sorry.”
I can honestly say that in my thirty-eight years on this earth, I’ve never once heard my father apologize to me for anything.
All I can do is nod at him while I try to swallow down the emotion clogging my throat.
Then, he brings me in for a hug, and I’m not sure how I manage to hold my shit together.
