Page 158 of That Last Secret

Her hand covers mine, still resting on her stomach, and she looks down.

"My dad was a good father. The best a kid could have ever asked for. He loved my mom and me with every fiber of his being. He showed up when it mattered most and never missed an opportunity to tell us he loved us."

She wipes a tear from her eyes.

I finally look up at her, tears blurring my vision.

"I love you, Emiline Ford. I never want to miss an opportunity to tell you that. You have been the greatest and most unexpected adventure of my life. No part of me feels like you trapped me. We did the dance, which led us here. Sometimes, the most epic love stories go a different route. It looks like ours is taking the road less traveled."

She laughs lightly. "You're okay with this?"

"I need three to five business days to process that I'm going to be a dad." I bark out a laugh myself. "But, yes. I want this. I didn't know I wanted this, but now that it's in front of me… I can't picture a life without it. Without you."

Her head falls back down on my chest. I allow myself this moment to close my eyes and soak this moment in.

A moment I never want to forget.

“You know, there was a time you asked me what I liked. You asked me if I have something I can’t live without. You put me on the spot that day because it was a hard question to answer.”

The lift her head to face mine, keeping it on my chest.

“The answer will always be you.”

She smiles from ear to ear before pressing a kiss to my chest.

I may be stuck in a hospital bed for a bit longer.

But I'm holding my entire world in my arms.

With that thought, I smile.

Because what a perfect ending to our beginning.

Four months later

“Can’twe just stay in bed all day?” I groan.

Emiline tosses me a shirt to wear for the night. “I wish, but nope. You know we’ve been planning this for a while now. It would be nice if the person we’re throwing this dinner for showed up.”

“Macey is cooking, right?”

“It’s her restaurant, but no, she’s not. She wanted to be there for this.”

“It’s not the same,” I whine like a child.

Emiline leans over the side of the bed, gripping my chin in her hand. “You’re so cute when you whine.”

My hand reaches up to hold her by the waist, my thumb brushing her growing belly. I look down and back up at her; asmile stretches across my face. I lean in to give her a kiss. “Okay, Mama.”

Her smile is soft against my lips.

I’ll never get tired of calling her that.

Emiline hasn’t left my side since the day I woke up in the hospital, and it was a long journey after that. I was there for another month before being transferred to a rehab facility for a few weeks to help me gain strength in my leg again.

I still struggle on some days, but I’ve made a lot of progress. I won’t be running a marathon alongside Marc anytime soon, but by the time our little baby is here, I’ll be able to keep up with him or her.

That’s enough motivation to keep going.

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