Her lips twitch, fighting a smile she’s not as good at hiding as she thinks she is.
“Unbelievable,” she mutters.
“And you married me anyway.”
“That decision is still under review.”
My hand tightens just slightly at her waist, not enough to stop her, just enough to remind her.
“Yeah?” I murmur.
She tilts her chin up, meeting my gaze. “Yeah.”
The lie sits there between us.
It always does.
She doesn’t go anywhere.
Never has.
Never will.
I glance back at the kids just in time to see Eli haul himself up onto a higher branch while Jace follows, stubborn as hell and just as reckless.
“They’re going to fall again,” I say.
“Probably,” she agrees.
“You’re not worried.”
She shifts her weight, her hand sliding absently over her stomach, slow and familiar. “They’re strong. They’ll figure it out.”
“They’ll break something.”
“They’re yours,” she says, glancing at me. “They’ll survive it.”
I huff out a breath, but I don’t argue.
Because she’s right.
Because this…all of this…is something we built out of nothing but instinct and stubbornness and a refusal to walk away from each other.
I watch them for another second, making sure they’re steady, making sure the branch will hold this time.
Then my gaze shifts back to her.
It always does.
She’s watching them with that same look she gets when she forgets everything else. Soft, but not weak. Strong in a way that doesn’t need to prove itself anymore.
Ten years.
Ten years since she showed up on my land with fear in her eyes and fire in her spine.
Ten years since she asked me for protection.
I thought that’s all it was.
