Like a vow.
Like home.
EPILOGUE
VIVIAN
SIX MONTHS LATER
The wildflowers are blooming.
I stand on the ridge overlooking the valley and watch the morning sun paint the mountains gold. The spring air is crisp and clean, carrying the scent of pine and new growth.
We got married here three weeks ago.
The ceremony was everything I wanted. Small. Intimate. Just our families and the Guardian Peak team, gathered on this plateau as the sun set behind the peaks. I wore a simple white dress with wildflowers woven through my hair. Deck wore a suit for the first time in a decade and looked so uncomfortable I almost laughed during our vows.
Almost. Then he started speaking, and I couldn't do anything but cry.
Sheriff Tom Parker walked me down the makeshift aisle. I'd asked him after we'd grown close over the past months, afterlearning we'd both lost fathers who wore badges and gave their lives protecting others. He'd teared up and said he'd be honored.
Savannah stood beside me as my matron of honor, her hand finding mine when my voice cracked during my vows. Mace stood beside Deck, steady and solid as always. The rest of the team filled the small gathering—Wolfe lurking at the edges like a beautiful ghost, Hayes cracking jokes to cut the tension, Cade watching everything with those gentle medic's eyes.
Family. All of them.
Now I'm standing in our spot, waiting for my husband to finish his morning perimeter check, holding a secret that's about to change everything.
The test is in my pocket. Two pink lines that appeared twenty minutes ago while Deck was pulling on his boots and kissing me goodbye.
I haven't processed it yet. Haven't let myself believe it's real.
I hear him before I see him, his footsteps on the trail so familiar now I could recognize them anywhere. He emerges from the tree line and stops when he sees me, that slow smile spreading across his face.
"You're up early." He crosses to me and pulls me into his arms. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Something like that."
He pulls back slightly, studying my face with those sharp green eyes. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." My heart is pounding so hard I'm surprised he can't hear it. "I just have something to tell you."
"Okay." He's instantly alert, his body tensing. Still a soldier, even now. Still ready for threats.
"It's not bad. At least, I don't think it's bad. I hope it's not bad." I'm rambling. I never ramble. "I mean, we haven't really talked about it, not specifically, but we also haven't been preventing it, and I know you said you wanted?—"
"Vivian." His hands cup my face, steadying me. "Whatever it is, just tell me."
I reach into my pocket and pull out the test. Hold it up between us.
"I'm pregnant."
He goes completely still. His eyes drop to the test, to the two pink lines visible in the little window, then back to my face.
"Pregnant." The word comes out strangled.
"About eight weeks, I think. I've been tired lately, and my period was late, and this morning I just had a feeling, so I took the test, and?—"
He kisses me.
