“Babies usually are.”
Mia tugged on my sleeve. “Can I hold her? Please? I’ll be so careful, I promise.”
I looked at Riley, who nodded. We arranged Mia on the couch with pillows under her arms, then I transferred Hope into her grip, keeping my hands close just in case.
“She’s so tiny,” Mia whispered. “Was I this tiny?”
“Smaller, actually,” Riley said. “Mom used to say you were the smallest baby in the NICU. Fit in the palm of Dad’s hand.”
Mia’s eyes went wide. “Really?”
“Really.” Riley’s voice softened at the memory. “And now look at you.”
Mia beamed. Hope made a small sound, and Mia’s whole face went soft with wonder.
The crew stayed until Hope woke up hungry, her thin wail cutting through the conversation. I carried her upstairs to Grace, who was already sitting up in bed, arms outstretched.
“Sounds like someone’s ready for dinner,” she said.
“She’s got good lungs.”
Grace laughed, settling Hope against her chest. “Go say goodbye to everyone. I’ve got this.”
I kissed her forehead and went back downstairs to see the crew out.
Cal clapped me on the shoulder as he stepped outside. “Get some sleep, Mitchell. You’re going to need it.”
The house went quiet as the door closed behind him.
I stood in the entryway, listening to the old bones settle, and thought:
This was my life now. It still didn’t feel possible—but it was.
Six months later, I woke up alone.
For a second, panic spiked—Where’s Grace?—before I remembered. Wedding day. Tradition. I wasn’t supposed to see her until the ceremony.
I rolled over in the carriage house bed and stared at the ceiling. The same ceiling I’d stared at for weeks, back when I’d lived here as a guest rather than a partner.
Today I was marrying Grace Lin.
Liam showed up at eight with coffee and breakfast sandwiches, let himself in without knocking, because that’s what Liam did.
“Thought you might need this,” he said, setting the food on the table.
We ate in silence. Comfortable. The kind of quiet you only get with someone who’d seen you at your worst and stuck around anyway.
“Nervous?” Liam asked finally.
“Terrified.”
He grinned. “Good. Means it matters.”
I showered. Shaved. Put on the suit I’d bought last month—simple, charcoal gray, nothing fancy. This wasn’t about the uniform or the job. This was about the life I was building outside of it.
Liam arrived an hour before the ceremony, already dressed, grinning like he knew something I didn’t.
“Ready?”
