Caden pressed their clasped hands to his heart. “I promise,” he said, a fierceness in his gaze. “I want and need that too, and I promise. I’m so sorry.”
The smile she gave him was all joy and love. “Then it’s you and me, ‘til the end. In the darkness and in the light.”
The words healed places inside him he didn’t ever think would get better. “You and me, ‘til the end,” he repeated. And then he sat back enough to gently lay his head on her stomach. “You and me and this little guy.” He pressed a kiss against her belly.
Seeing him nuzzle her stomach, with the little baby bump just starting to show, was something she’d feared she’d never get to experience. And it was so sweet it stole her breath. She gently stroked his close-shaved hair. “I’m so relieved that you’re happy about the baby.”
“I’m fucking ecstatic, Makenna. You two are the luckiest, best thing to ever happen to me.” He eased off of her and grasped her hand again. “How far along are you?”
“Seventeen weeks on Sunday,” she said, a little thrill going through her at getting to share this with him after all.
“Wow,” he said, a smile dawning on his face. It brought out his dimples. “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl yet? How have you been feeling?”
“I don’t know the sex yet, but my ultrasound appointment is next week. That’s why I came to see you at the station. I wanted you to know about the baby so you could be involved, and I wanted to invite you to that appointment because I thought you deserved to meet your child. Aside from tonight, I’ve been feeling good for the past month or so. Earlier my morning sickness was terrible, but it passed.” And now, talking about how she was feeling, Makenna realized that the cramps she’d had earlier had gone away. Hope flooded through her. They were going to make it out of this night after all—together and stronger for it.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help, Makenna, but all that changes right now,” he said.
“Makenna James?” a man said as he came through the curtain. “Time for your scans.”
“Oh, that didn’t take too long after all,” she said, ready to know just how bad her hand was and whether the bump on the head she’d gotten that’d required three stitches was anything more serious.
“Can I come?” Caden asked, standing.
“Unfortunately not, but you can wait here. She won’t be gone long,” the orderly said.
“Okay,” Caden said, his brow furrowed. “Just give me a minute.” And then he folded down the rail on her bed, leaned over her, and pulled her gently into his arms. For a long moment, he just held her. Held her so damn close. The embrace was love and life and belonging, and it eased so much of the hurt she’d been carrying around inside her. “Love you so much,” he whispered. Finally, he let her go. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
“Never be sorry for that,” Makenna said with a smile as the orderly unlocked the brakes on the bed and wheeled her out of the room.
The orderly was right—the hand X-ray and head CT didn’t take long. Even better, several hours later she received the news that her head scans were clean and only the first two fingers on her right hand were broken—the doctors had feared breaks throughout her hand, but it appeared to be mostly sprained. Those airbags had clearly done their job, because everyone who knew what’d happened to her repeated how lucky she was.
And every time she looked at Caden, Makenna agreed.
She drifted in and out of sleep, each time finding Caden right by her side, sometimes awake, other times asleep, his head against her hip, his hand curled around hers. Makenna didn’t think she was imagining the new peacefulness he wore on his gorgeous face. Sleep had never been peaceful for him, and seeing him rest so quietly was further proof of everything he’d said.
The next time she woke up, she found her father sitting in a chair at her other side.
“Daddy,” she whispered.
“Oh, Makenna. I’ve been trying so hard to let you sleep.” He came to her side. “But I’ve been dying to see your eyes so I could know you were really okay,” he said, so much emotion on his face. God, it was good to see him.
“I am. Or at least I will be,” she said, filling him in on what the doctors had told her.
Her father blew out a deep breath and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I hate to see you hurting.”
“Don’t worry,” she said, his concern lodging a lump in her throat.
“Ha,” he said with a wink. “Tell me how that works out for you when this little one comes.”
Makenna smiled. “I suppose that’s fair.”
Her father’s gaze dropped to where Caden slept. “So, things are…”
“Things are good, Dad. Really good. We have a lot more to talk about, but I understand what was going on and I know that we love each other. And that’s all I need to know for right now. The rest we’ll work out together,” she said, needing her father’s support.
Dad brushed a strand of hair back off her face. “Sometimes, you remind me so much of your mother. She’d be so proud of the woman you’ve become,” he said, making her eyes well up. “You’re all big heart and kind soul. And don’t ever change.”