I cried then. Tears of joy leaked uncontrollably from my eyes.
“Hush, cailín,” Liam urged. “It’s all going to be okay.”
Sniffling, I nodded. “I believe you.”
Liam was quite possibly the most crazy, unhinged, simply beautiful individual I’d ever seen.
And because I had to show him how much this meant to me, I smiled. “Luca, meet your daddy.”
Maybe, just maybe, that was moisture sparkling in the blue-grey storm clouds gazing at my son. It was hard to say, because the monster hid it well.
***
The emotions in my chest were too big to handle. I went through the motions of driving home with Luca on my lap, unloading the single bag of supplies and the stroller into the house, and sitting on the edge of the counter while Liam made us a late lunch.
The food was dry and brittle on my tongue, but I ate the scrambled eggs and heavily buttered toast despite that. Then, when nature was too much and I had to use the bathroom, I relinquished my hold and let Liam take the sleeping boy.
When I was alone, I stood over the sink and faced myself in the mirror.
This was it.
The future was filled with everything I’d ever wanted.
My poor, splintered heart barely had time to beat properly, let alone realize that it could start healing. But that was exactly what was going to happen.
I whispered words I didn’t dare believe: “I don’t have to run.”
My body trembled as I moved out of the bathroom. My skin felt cold. It was too good to believe this kind of thing could happen to a girl like me. I didn’t have to choose.
I can keep them both.
Liam wasn’t mad. He didn’t seem the least bit bothered that I had a secret child. If anything, he seemed relieved.
I should have trusted him from the beginning.
But how could I have dreamed this was how it would turn out? No, I’d made safe decisions. I hadn’t taken any risks. It was easy to look to the past and tell myself that I should have done things differently, but that was behind me. I hadn’t told him to protect my son.
“You will never regret that decision,” I instructed myself.
The only thing now was to move forward and always be grateful about how things turned out. If I had stolen Luca and run, I would never have had this fairytale ending. But that hadn’t happened.
And now I was complete.
Unable to stay away from the two people I loved the most, I hurried back to find my guys. Liam wasn’t in the kitchen where I’d left him, but other than the initial surprise, no bolt of panic went through me. The beast wouldn’t hurt the baby. They weren’t in the library either, but they were standing in the backyard while Storm did his business. Luca snoozed soundly in the crook of Liam’s arm while the puppy tried to lift his leg like a big dog. All the panic, all the fear, all the pain vanished. My insides melted.
“How did you know about the red bear, cailín?” Liam asked as he stared across the freshly mown lawn.
It was an odd question to ask first, but I chuckled.
“I gave instructions that he should sleep with it as part of the adoption process,” I answered softly. “It always made me happy the times she had the bear in the stroller for her morning walks.”
Liam snorted. “And here I thought you were breaking into the bleeding house to nurse the wee babe in the dark of night.”
I threw back my head and laughed. “They have a high-tech security system, and I don’t know the first thing about working around those. It was always a flaw in my plans to kidnap Luca.”
Liam’s eyes, more blue than grey, flashed wide at my admission. I let a smile tip up my lips.
“What?” I smirked. “Are you so shocked that I’m from the underworld and wouldn’t think twice about breaking in to take my child?”
