“Wonder’d if he’d finally grow a pair,” she muttered, her voice slurring slightly with medication but her gaze alert.“Guess I don’t have to pick one out after all.”
I glanced at Knight, who looked simultaneously proud and sheepish.“You were going to ask Brynn to help you pick a ring?”
Knight snorted.“No.She told me it was time I quit pussy-footin’ around and told you I was marryin’ you.”His roughened voice softer than usual.“Wanted her input.Turns out she gave it to me whether I wanted it or not.”
“Mom cried,” Brynn observed, her lips quirking in a small smile.“Youreyes are all puffy.”
“Thanks for pointing that out, sweetie,” I said, brushing my hand over her blue hair.Despite the smart remark, I could see the medication beginning to pull her back under, her eyelids growing heavy.
Knight reached out from his gurney, his tattooed hand somehow looking gentle as he touched Brynn’s arm.“Hey, kiddo.You doing okay?”
She nodded slowly.“They gave me the good stuff.Said I won’t know anything until I wake up with you guys with me.”Her gaze drifted between us, something vulnerable breaking through her usual armor.“That’s probably good, right?”
“Probably,” I agreed, my voice catching.I stood in the narrow space between their gurneys, one hand on each of them, creating a physical link between father and daughter.
The moment felt surreal.My small family together on the edge of a transformation none of us could fully comprehend both elated and terrified me.In a few hours, part of Knight would be inside Brynn, keeping her alive.The poetry of it wasn’t lost on me, this physical manifestation of what parenthood truly meant.Giving pieces of yourself to your child.
“Are you scared?”Brynn asked suddenly, her question directed at Knight.The medication had loosened her tongue, making her more forthright than usual.
Knight didn’t hesitate.“You bet your ass, I’m scared.Though not of the surgery.Of not being there when you wake up.”
She nodded solemnly.“Me too.”
“I promise you, honey, I’ll do everything I can, bully any person I need to, to be the first person you see after your mother once you wake up.No matter how groggy I am.”
“I’ll be there,” I promised them both.“Right between you.First faces you see.”
The older nurse checked Knight’s IV line once more.“It’s time,” she said gently.“Dr.Patel’s waiting.”
I felt panic rise in my chest, sharp and sudden.This was it.The moment we’d fought for, and yet now that it had arrived, I wanted to freeze time, keep them both here where I could see them, touch them, know they were safe.
“Knight,” I began, not sure what I wanted to say, just knowing I needed to say something.
“It’s okay, little flower,” he murmured, using the nickname that still made my heart flutter after all these years.“We got this.All of us.”
Knight’s nurse adjusted something on his IV stand.“Time to go.Ms.Calloway, you can stay with your daughter until we’re ready for her.Let someone know if you need to swap out with anyone else.Shouldn’t be long.”
“He’s not gonna be in the same operating room, is he?”Brynn asked with forced levity.“‘Cause that would be weird.I don’t need an audience.”
Knight chuckled, the sound rumbling deep in his chest.“Different rooms, smartass.Different surgeons.Same game plan.”
“Language,” I admonished automatically, though without heat.
“Sorry,” Knight said, not looking sorry at all.“Different rooms, smart aleck.”
Brynn rolled her eyes, but I caught the smile she tried to hide.This banter, this forced normalcy in the face of something so monumental.I thought they’d finally found their way of steadying themselves with each other.And that trust was worth everything.
“I love you, Knight,” I said, leaning down to kiss him gently.“So much it hurts.”
Knight kissed my hand.“I love you too, Lavender.Always have.Always will.”
Brynn glanced at Knight, hesitation evident in her expression.Knight saved her from whatever internal struggle she was having.“It’s okay, kid.You don’t have to say it.”
“I know,” she replied, her chin lifting slightly.“But… I do.Kind of.Love you, I mean.Even if you’re a pain in my ass sometimes.”
Knight’s face transformed, eleven years of loss and longing momentarily visible in the softening around his eyes.“Love you too, Brynn.More than I can express.”
The nurse cleared her throat gently.“We really need to get going.”Behind her was a second team of nurses for Brynn.
