“Dad! Sir Barks-A-Lot peed!”
“Outside,” Sawyer calls calmly, not even breaking eye contact with me.
Ellie shouts, “Inferno’s chewing the ornaments!”
“Ellie—”
Rosie interrupts with, “Sprinkles likes my ear!”
I laugh. Sawyer exhales slowly, smiling in a way he never used to.
“You still think marrying me was reckless?” I tease.
He leans down, mouth brushing my temple. “It was the wildest, smartest decision I’ve ever made.”
The kids finally settle onto the rug in front of the tree, puppies collapsing in a spotted heap between them.
Inferno licks Sir Barks-A-Lot’s ear. Sprinkles gnaws on Grayson’s sock. Sir Barks-A-Lot flops dramatically onto his back and lets the girls crawl over him.
Lacee moves into the kitchen and pulls flour out of a cupboard and milk from the fridge to start pancakes.
I sink into the couch.
Sawyer sits beside me and pulls me against him without hesitation.
His arm is heavy and solid around my shoulders.
Outside, snow drifts quietly past the windows.
Inside, warmth hums steady and alive.
“Mom?” Ellie calls softly.
“Yeah?”
“Can we keep them forever?”
Sawyer answers before I can. “Yes.”
No hesitation.
No bracing.
Just certainty.
Ellie smiles like she expected nothing less.
Grayson raises his fist triumphantly.
Rosie falls asleep sitting up, Sprinkles curled in her lap.
I rest my head against Sawyer’s shoulder.
“You don’t look like a man surviving,” I murmur.
“I’m not,” he says simply.
The fire crackles low and steady.
