Her enthusiasm is so pure and contagious. As she bounces around, I glance at Aidan and how he’s watching her. I can’t take my eyes off the pride in his expression, thedevotion, the relief. Seeing the man who’s been carrying the world on his shoulders finally let himself breathe.
“Can I feel the baby?” Isla asks, her eyes wide with curiosity.
“Of course,” I say, guiding her little hand to rest against my stomach. “The baby’s still very tiny, so you probably won’t feel anything yet. They’re in there, growing bigger every day.”
She presses her palm flat against me with the utmost seriousness. “Hi, baby,” she whispers. “I’m Isla.”
And now I’m a blubbering mess.
fifty
AIDAN
I’m sitting here with a woman who loves me, a daughter who’s already dreaming about this new little life, and a sense of wonder so big it nearly swallows me whole.
For once, I’m not trying to fight it. I just let it in.
I’ve always prided myself on being a practical man. Someone who doesn’t waste time wishing the world were different, just takes it as it comes. Second chances don’t land in your lap often, though. And when they do, you’d be a damn fool not to hold on with everything you’ve got.
Isla’s plotting out her big sister duties, Lucy’s soaking up every word, and my heart feels like it could burst. Something shifts, slides into place with a click so sure it leaves no room for doubt.
This is it.
And I know, with absolute certainty, exactly what I want next.
I need Lucy to be my wife.
The thought hits me with such clarity that I almost say italoud. She fits into all the jagged, broken parts of me, and somehow, makes them whole again. She loves without condition.
I glance at her hand resting on her stomach, the other smoothing Isla’s hair as she listens to every wild idea she has. She catches my eye and smiles.
I love her so fucking much.
I’ve never been one for grand gestures. Lucy, though… She deserves the whole damn sky if I could give it to her. She deserves a memory so good she’ll still be laughing about it when we’re old and gray, bickering over whose turn it is to make the tea.
“Hey,” she says softly, catching me staring. “What’s that look for?”
I school my expression, though it’s useless. She reads me better than anyone. “Nothing. Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“About how lucky I am,” I say simply, because it’s true, even if it’s not the whole truth.
That night,when Isla is finally asleep, Lucy finds me standing on the back porch, staring at the stars. I feel her before I hear her, a warmth leaning into my side like I’m gravity and she’s just happy to orbit me. Her hand fits into mine like it was cast for this single reason.
She leans her head against my shoulder. A long time passes before she says anything, and I think I know what’s spinning in her mind even before she says it.
“Did you ever think you’d have this?” she whispers.
I shake my head. “Not once.”
Her arms slide around my waist, pulling me closer, her fingers lacing together behind my back. She’s warm and soft, and when she looks up, the moonlight is caught in her eyes.
“I didn’t either,” she confesses. “Sometimes I still think I’ll wake up and it’ll be gone.”
I cup her cheek, brushing my thumb along her jaw. “It’s not going anywhere.”
She grins. “Swear it.”
