But maybe it was time we moved on.
“I’ll be sure the guys are all on board. Make sure there’s no nonsense going down while we’re there. We can stay there as long as we need, until you and I figure this shit out. Figure out where we want to live. Where we want to raise our daughter.”
Where we wanted to make a home. Add to it. Make a family.
God, just the thought had both fear and devotion knocking around inside me, the innate need to see it through, to protect and love them, ensure they got everything in this world they deserved.
Joy pulled at every inch of her.
“What?” I asked quietly.
Those eyes flashed. “You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you call her that.”
I squeezed her fingers wrapped in mine. “You don’t know how happy it makes me to be able to call her that. You don’t know what you’ve given me, Shea…bringing her into my life.”
“I’d like that,” she finally said through the emotion gathered in her throat. “I can’t wait to tell her.”
I pulled her hand to my mouth and kissed the vacant spot on her left hand ring finger. “First order of business will be puttin’ something pretty on this finger. Told you I wanted you to be showing off my ring. We’ll go find someone who can design you something special…something different. Something you can show off everywhere you go, so people are gonna know you are mine and I am yours.”
Something as unique as my girl.
Sadness traveled through her features that somehow glowed with hope, and her lip trembled as her gaze darted to the wall, before she settled her attention back on me. “I know what I’d like.”
“Anything.”
“My grandma…”
Second she said it, something deep within me tuned in, quick to listen, because I knew whatever was getting ready to pass from her mouth was important.
“You know she left me the house.”
I gave her a slight nod, encouraging her to continue.
“She also left me most of her jewelry…most importantly her wedding ring.”
Tears pooled in her eyes, and she got that expression again, eyes creasing with regret and mouth pulling with remorse. The one she got when she shared the painful moments of her past. “He…it was…it was stolen.” She winced and forced a smile. “Losing it broke my heart.”
My girl fluttered her fingertips along my jaw. “I’d do anything to replace it. To get the spirit of it back so I can wear it to honor her. To honor them.”
Her smile trembled, so full of love and loss, and I gathered her closer. “Shea,” I whispered, and she just continued on. “She and my grandpa…they loved each other unlike anything I’ve ever seen, Sebastian. In a way so pure and beautiful that I remember, even as a little girl, hoping someday I’d get to experience a love like that. My grandma always told me she’d been given a fairy tale. She told me to go out and find one of my own.”
She drew her head back to look at me. “It was unlike anything I’ve witnessed…until you loved me.”
My chest tightened.
Affection profound.
Wrapping me up, layer after layer.
Didn’t think I had the capacity to love like this.
But this girl?
She proved to me I did.
“Nothing would make me happier than giving that to you, Shea.” My smile was soft, and I kissed along the line of her temple where it met with the defined curve of her jaw, part of me wanting to jump out of this bed and track down the fucker who’d taken it from her. Take it back.
“We’ll recreate it.”
Didn’t know if I was talking more about the ring or her grandparents.
Knew all along how much she’d adored them. It had been where she’d felt safest.
And that…that was what I wanted. For her to feel that with me.
Safe.
To know I would always protect her. Stand up for her. Fight for her.