Emma pressed her ear to his side, and Iggy’s small hand settled beside Mateo’s.
The room went quiet.
A second later, the baby kicked again.
Iggy’s eyes widened. “Whoa.”
“That’s so weird,” Valentina whispered, grinning.
Fernando looked at all three of them crowding around him, their faces full of amazement. “You guys are going to spoil this kid,” he said.
Mateo shrugged. “Runs in the family.”
Later that night, Fernando finally got rid of his siblings and had some peace and quiet. He loved the old creaks and moans of their new home. They had used some of Walker’s savings to put new siding on the house and replace the windows and doors. The porch had been rebuilt, bigger and better. The cranberry bog was dry now, vines green and new.
The front door creaked open before a knock even finished echoing through the house.
Fernando froze in the kitchen, a dish towel still clutched in his hands. For a moment, he thought he imagined it—the sound, the shift of air, the quiet footsteps on the hardwood floor.
“Hello?” a familiar voice called.
The towel slipped from his fingers.
Fernando stepped closer to the front door, heart pounding so loudly he could hear it in his ears.
Standing just inside the doorway, duffel bag slung over one shoulder, was Walker. He looked thinner. Tired. His hair was shorter than he remembered. That smile, though. Soft, unsure, and hopeful. It was exactly the same.
For a second, neither of them moved.
“Hey,” Walker said quietly, eyes on Fernando’s belly.
Fernando’s breath hitched. “You said tomorrow.”
“I know,” he said with a small shrug. “Thought I’d surprise you.”
That was all it took. He crossed the room in a heartbeat, throwing his arms around Walker so hard it nearly knocked the duffel bag off his shoulder.
Walker let out a startled laugh before wrapping his arms around Fernando, holding him just as tightly.
Fernando buried his face in Walker’s chest, breathing in the familiar smell of laundry soap and dust and something that was just him. “You’re here,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “You’re actually here.”
“I’m here,” Walker murmured, pressing his cheek to the top of his head.
During another long deployment, this time for humanitarian purposes, their conversations had been through screens and phone calls. Grainy video chats where the signal froze at theworst moments. Short texts that tried to hold entire feelings inside a few words.
Now there was no delay. Just warmth. Solid and real.
Fernando pulled back slightly, his hands cupping Walker’s face as if he needed proof that he wasn’t about to disappear again. “You’re okay?”
Walker nodded. “Yeah.”
“You’re really okay?”
Walker smiled softly. “I am now.”
Fernando laughed through tears and hugged him again.
From the living room, Beans suddenly exploded into barking, skidding across the hardwood floor before launching himself at Walker’s legs.
