“It’s exactly what you think,” the technologist said cheerfully.“Therearetwoheartbeats!”
I stared at the screen, disbelieving.Twotiny babies.Twotiny beating hearts.
The room seemed to spin around me and for a minuteIfelt likeIcouldn’t breathe.
"Twins?"Viviennewhispered.
"Twins," the technologist confirmed with a smile.“Ihope you’re ready for some exciting times.”
At that moment, my heart overflowed andIdon't mind admitting thatIcried.Isat there holdingVivienne'shand while tears rolled down my face and for the first time in my life,Itruly understood what it meant to feel blessed.Viviennecried too.Weheld each other and she whispered that she never thought she’d ever be a mother.
“All those years they saidIwas barren,” she said.“Theyblamed me for never givingCarteran heir.”
“It was never your fault,”Imurmured.Cuppingher cheek,Iswiped her tears away with my thumb.“Hewasn’t the one you were meant to be with—you were fated to be my mate.Onlyand always mine, baby.”
She laughed through her tears and kissed me.
“Well,Iguess the prophecy is coming true.”
“I guess it is,”Iagreed, grinning back.
The prophecy had said that a female with gold-ringed eyes would give a male of theJamisonline many heirs.Foryears everyone assumed that male wasCarter.Theyhad all been wrong becauseIwas right—the prophecy had never been about him.Ithad always been about me—aboutus.Aboutthe woman sitting beside me with tears in her gold-ringed eyes and a smile on her beautiful face.
My mate…my future…my heart.ThewomanIthoughtI'dlost forever.
Later that night, after we'd returned home and celebrated with entirely too much takeout food and a peach pie thatVivienneinsisted she absolutely needed for the babies, we sat together on the porch watching the sunset paint the mountains gold.
She leaned against me with one hand resting on her belly andIwrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.
"What are you thinking about?"she asked softly.
I kissed the top of her head and held her a little tighter.
"Just how luckyIam."
She laughed quietly.
"There you go again."
"I'm serious, sweetheart,”Isaid.“I’mthe luckiest man onEarthto have you as my mate.Andnow with the babies…well,I’mblessed.Weboth are.”
She nodded seriously.
“You know,Inever would have thought that my real life would begin after forty.IthoughtIwas going to have to stay inBlackridge, cooped up inWolvertonManorfor the rest of my life afterCarterdied.Butthen you came along and changed everything.”
“How couldIhelp it?”Isaid, smiling.“TheminuteIsaw you,Iwanted you, baby.Andnow we have each other and we never have to go back there again.”
“I know.”Shesmiled contentedly.“DidItell youIfound a buyer for the place?Hewants to buy all ofCarter’scar collection too.”
“That’s wonderful.”Ikissed the top of her head.
“That plus the moneyCarterleft me is going to make us very wealthy, you know,” she told me.
“Baby,Iwas already wealthy,”Isaid, looking into her eyes.“Evenif we didn’t have a dime,I’dbe the richest man onEarthbecauseIhave you.”
“Oh,Kor…”Shelaughed softly and for a moment neither of us spoke.
The mountains stretched endlessly before us and the evening breeze carried the scent of pine trees and wildflowers.Somewherein the distance, a wolf howled.
