Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
I grinned at the memory. “Obviously, my cock got in on the action. I think he was trying to hide from the storm.” I leaned up and kissed her. “He does like cuddling inside you.”
Her eyes softened. “Well, now your child is cuddling.”
My child.
Was there a more beautiful set of words?
“Is there a chance there is more than one?” I asked, tracing my hand over her skin.
“He only heard one heartbeat. But I have an ultrasound booked. We’ll find out.” She cupped my face. “How would you feel about that?”
“I would love it.”
“Then I guess we’ll find out.”
I gathered her in my arms. “Thank you. My parents are going to be ecstatic. There will be seven by the time our baby is born, including Evan and Lucy—they’re beating Bentley and Maddox now.”
Liam and Paige had had a daughter named Shannon less than a year after they got married. Then last month, Paige had given birth to another daughter, Erin. He had an entire houseful of women around him, and he loved them all deeply. Liam took a lot of ribbing about keeping Paige pregnant all the time, but he accepted it good-naturedly, claiming she never kept her hands to herself. She was unabashed in her passion for her husband, and I loved seeing my brother so happy.
Paul and Diane had gotten married not long after us and now had a son. Jeremy and Kim married last year, and she was expecting next month.
And Ava—well, that was a story. She had recently gotten married and was still in the honeymoon phase. Her husband was well liked by the family, and although it took a while, he had warmed up to them. It had been a roller coaster of a ride.
But that was her story to tell.
For now, Mom and Dad had lots of grandkids of all ages to keep them busy. Sandy and Jordan loved having them around, claiming they “kept them young.”
I picked up Beth and sat her in my lap, gazing over the water. I kept her close, laying my hand on her stomach, knowing our child was growing, safe and sound and already loved, under my palm.
“Evan is going to be a big brother slash uncle,” I murmured. “The age gap is bigger than yours, at least.”
She chuckled. “There we go with the whole complicated, ‘I married your sister, who is kinda like your mother, and I’m your big brother/daddy’ thing. This family,” she snorted. “Canadian rednecks are what you are.”
I laughed. “You’re one of us, woman.”
She laughed again. “I guess I am.”
Then she became serious. “He’ll love it, though,” Beth assured me.
“He’ll be a great one. Brother, uncle—whatever it is. Bruncle. Our kid will be lucky to have him.”
She grinned. “Here he comes.”
“Can we tell him?” I asked.
“Just family. Immediate family,” she amended. “I want to get past the first trimester. But I don’t think we can keep it from him.”
“Can I tell him?” I asked eagerly, holding up my baby cloud. “I want to use this.”
“Sure, Daddy, you do it.”
Daddy.
That, I decided, was the most beautiful word of them all.
And in that moment, I found the final part of my heart.
Ten Years Later
Evan
Sun beat down on my neck as my feet pounded on the compacted wet sand. Water lapped lazily along the shore as I maneuvered my way around the rocks of the cove, finally stopping by my favorite hiding spot.
I sat down on a flat boulder, pulling my water bottle from the clip at my waist and drinking deeply. I wiped away the sweat on my forehead, lifting my face to the breeze blowing off the water.
Aside from the waves hitting the sand, the gulls flying overhead, there was a stillness to the early morning hour. It was my favorite time of day. My favorite place in the compound. What better way to start what was going to be my favorite day of my life than here?
I opened my eyes, watching the mesmerizing, ever-changing water. With the sun breaking through the early morning fog, its rays cast a burnished glow on the water, throwing thousands of glittering shards of glass along the surface. I pulled up my leg, resting my elbow on my knee, the action causing my loose shorts to ride up on my thigh, the edge of my scar visible.
I traced the marred flesh, lost in memories. To this day, the sound of the out-of-control car, the screams of people as it tore into the crowd, throwing bodies, crushing others, echoed in my head. I supposed it always would. I lost my parents, the life I knew, and my ability to walk that day. When I woke up to a world of pain and grief, the only person, the only thing holding me to this earth, was my sister, Beth.
For a long time, life after the accident was numb and dark. We both struggled in different ways. As a child, I knew Beth was having a hard time, but now as an adult, I could understand how hard. She gave up her life, her plans, and became my caregiver, my parent, and the provider for us. Doing it all on her own, with little help, the weight of the world on her shoulders, yet she never faltered—at least as far as she let me see. She went to school, she worked, she created a home for us. Paige and Lucy became our new little family, and we struggled along until the day she met Ronan Callaghan.