Drawn.
Energy lashing.
Awareness and need and awe.
She rounded the table, those eyes so tender, her heart so sweet.
I dropped to my knees at her feet.
Because it was the girl who had knocked me off of mine.
My hands went to her round stomach, shivers streaking through me at the contact, and her fingers threaded softly through my hair.
“Ian,” she whispered.
A prayer.
My solace.
Moisture gathered in my eyes, and I pressed my forehead to her belly.
Overcome.
“Grace,” I murmured.
My answer.
Because there were some moments in your life when you knew things would never be the same.
I knew I was still messed up. That I had so much to conquer. To realize and forgive and learn.
And still, I knew, right then that this was where I had been meant to be heading all along.
For the first time ever, in all my life, I felt peace.
True, unmitigated peace.
Mallory was dancing around at my side. “And we get a baby! Did you know that, Ian? We get a baby and it’s a boy and I think his name should be Zian Number Two, but Mom said we have to wait so you can decide with us. What do you think?”
I looked up at Grace who was gazing down at me.
Adoration covering me.
Rushing and pummeling.
I pushed to my feet, and her chest heaved, the hammer of her heart fierce, beating for mine. “I’m so glad you came.”
She glanced around the room. “I needed you to be here for this. I needed it so badly, and I wasn’t sure that you would. Still . . . I believed it. Believed in you, that you would come back to us.”
My fingers fluttered down the side of her cheek. Unable to keep from touching her. “I’m not sure I deserve to be here.”
Devotion oozed from Grace’s expression, everything so intense as she spoke to me, “You deserve this more than anyone. You deserve everything. You saved us. Sacrificed in a way I never could have asked anyone to do. You’ve loved me in a way no one has ever loved me. You deserve to live, Ian. And I know I’m still asking so much of you. But I can’t pretend like I don’t want more. That I don’t want it all. All of you.”
Thomas had come to our sides, holding little Sophie’s hand, and Mallory was dancing around, still holding her book.
Emotion surged.
Overpowering.
Everything I never imagined I could have.
A family.
I didn’t think I’d ever been so scared in my life.
Or ever so sure of anything.
“I’m terrified, Grace. Terrified of what I feel for you. For them. For this.” I touched her stomach that shouted of new life.
Of new chances.
Hands shaking like crazy, I burrowed my fingers into Grace’s hair, cupping her on either side of the neck and running my thumbs along her jaw. No fucks given that we had an audience.
That people were watching.
Hell, I wanted the world to know.
“I love you, Grace. So much. I never wanted it. Not until I met you. You showed me what that meant. You showed me what mattered.”
Her mouth trembled with emotion, those blue eyes brimming with moisture. “I love you, Ian Jacobs. Stay with me. Forever. Let’s live again.”
“Forever and ever,” I murmured, the quiet promise rising from my spirit. “You have all of me.”
My eyes dropped to those sweet, lush lips. I dipped down and captured her mouth.
A profession.
A claim.
A promise.
Kisses are only for the ones you love most.
Pride billowed, and I was smiling against her mouth, unable to stop.
She was laughing under it, curling her fingers in my shirt.
Everyone cheered.
“I love you,” I whispered again, looking down when I felt something tugging at my pants.
Sophie had her little hands fisted in the material, grinning up at me with her trusting smile. She lifted her arms, and I picked her up, my spirit trembling when I did.
Mallory wrapped her arms around one of my legs, hugging me tight. “I love you, Ian-Zian, the greatest hero in all the land. But you’re a real kind of hero, did you know that? You saved us forever.”
My heart tremored, and I ran my fingers through her pin-straight hair as she smiled up at me. “I think it’s you who saved me.”
I glanced around at all of them. “All of you.”
Thomas didn’t seem to quite know what to do, and I met his stoic gaze, praying he could see.
Like he got it, felt it, he rushed for us and threw his arms around Grace and me.
“I’m so glad you came back,” he cried, his face buried in the lower part of my chest.
“Where else could I go?”
I pressed my face into Grace’s neck, against the steady, unwavering beat of her pulse.
Where else could I go?
The five of us just stood there. Hugging tight. Refusing to let go.
Right where we belonged.
Forever and ever.
Epilogue
Ian
The barest breeze whispered through the branches, a slow, mournful cry that twisted through the heavens.