The gavel came down. “Court is adjourned.”
I turned around so fast I almost knocked over my chair.
Prime was already on his feet, already moving toward the gate that separated the gallery from the counsel tables. I rushed toward him, my belly making me slower than I wanted to be, but it didn’t matter because he was there—he was right there—and then his arms were around me.
I broke.
All the fear, all the anxiety, all the weeks of being locked in a cell away from everyone I loved—it all came pouring out. I sobbed into his chest, clutching his shirt, breathing him in.
“I got you,” he murmured against my hair. “I got you, Goddess. You’re coming home.”
He pulled back just enough to look at my face, his thumbs wiping away my tears. And then he kissed me.
Deep. Desperate. We kissed like we didn’t care who was watching. His hands were on my face, my back, everywhere he could touch. Like he was making sure I was real. Like he’d been starving for me.
“I love you,” I breathed against his lips. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too. Both of you.”
He dropped to his knees right there in the courtroom. Put his hands on my belly. Pressed his forehead against where our daughter was kicking up a storm.
“Hey, baby girl,” he said softly. “Daddy’s here. And Mama’s coming home. We’re all gonna be together now. All of us.”
I ran my fingers through his locs, crying and laughing at the same time.
Then a smaller body crashed into my side.
Yusef. My baby. He didn’t say anything—couldn’t say anything, not since the trauma had stolen his voice—but his arms wrapped around me so tight I could barely breathe. His whole body was shaking with silent sobs.
I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight, one hand still in Prime’s hair, the other clutching my nephew—my son—like I’d never let go.
“I missed you so much,” I whispered into his hair. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry I left you.”
He pulled back just enough to look at me, tears streaming down his face. He couldn’t say the words, but his eyes said everything.I love you. Don’t leave again.
My heart shattered and rebuilt itself in the same moment.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He buried his face in my shoulder again, and I held him tighter.
Prime stood, and for a moment we were all tangled together—me, him, Yusef, our unborn daughter. A family. Imperfect and messy and broken in places, but a family nonetheless.
Quest appeared beside us, pulling Camille into a hug that lifted her off her feet.
“You did it, baby,” he said.
Camille laughed, swatting at his shoulder. “Put me down, fool. We’re in a courthouse.”
But she was smiling. We all were.
“Let’s get out of here,” Prime said, his arm tight around my waist. “Let’s go home.”
Home. Such a simple word. But it meant everything.
We walked out of that courtroom together—Prime and me, Yusef between us holding both our hands, Quest and Camille behind. Past the prosecutor who wouldn’t meet my eyes. Past the reporters who were probably already writing their headlines. Past all of it.
Into the California sunshine.
