Page 136 of This Wild Heart

“You just won the Super Bowl,” she said, staring adoringly up into my face.

“I told you you were my good luck charm, didn’t I?”

She laughed, and I leaned down to kiss her while Leo reached up for confetti. The shot ended up on the cover ofSports Illustratedthe next week. I framed it in my office next to Anya’s first sketch of the three birds, the one that ended up being the cover of Vida’s and her first bestselling book—The Baby and the Birds. They were turning it into a series, along with their other characters, and I was so fucking proud of her. I’d bought copies for everyone on staff with the Voyagers and told the guys if they didn’t read it to their kids, I’d hunt them down.

It was surprisingly effective.

Four months later

“That should do it.”

The judge handed her gavel over to me and Anya, her pleased grin growing wide when Leo tried to snatch it for himself.

“Daddy,” Leo said. “Daddy, mine.”

“Let’s do this one together, little lion,” Anya said, wrapping her hands around his. I curled my hand around Anya’s. “Now hit it right there on that little circle.”

His face scrunched up in concentration, his tongue tucked between his teeth as he directed it right to where she was pointing.

The tapping sound of the gavel against the wood was followed by the applause and cheers of the courtroom filled to the brim with Anya’s family and mine. Sheila and Paige Ward held each other and cried in the front row, and even Ian looked like he was fighting tears.

Anya leaned into my shoulder and wept quietly as she kissed the top of Leo’s head.

We received one letter from Leo’s biological mom the week before he turned one. She was doing better, and she was happy for us, and loved watching how happy Leo was. She wished us luck and gave us her blessing for Anya to adopt Leo.

We finalized the court paperwork on the anniversary of the day he appeared on the doorstep.

With suspiciously red eyes, Ivy motioned for us to get closer, and she held up an expensive camera and took a few pictures. A week later, a framed print showed up with the date engraved along the bottom. We set it on Leo’s dresser, next to a picture of him and Spike cuddled on the couch.

Later that evening, as the celebration wound down, Sheila found me sitting on the back deck. Anya and I bought a new house after the season was done. It had two more bedrooms, a huge backyard, and complete privacy.

Leo ran around in the grass, his cousins chasing him. He tripped and toppled forward, and I watched to see if he would start crying, but when Sage crouched down in front of him, he started giggling, flopping forward again to see if she’d laugh.

She did.

“He’s such a happy boy,” Sheila said, leaning her head on my shoulder.

“The happiest.” I kissed the top of her head. “Even if you do spoil him terribly.”

“I spoil all my grandkids equally, young man.”

I laughed.

Across the deck, Anya caught my eye and smiled. In her arms, she rocked Greer and Beckett’s newborn boy. Eventually, we’d add another to our family, but we weren’t in a rush. Sometimes I worried that I’d wake up and this would all be a dream. That my life couldn’t possibly be this sweet. But every morning, she was there. Every night, I fell asleep with her in my arms and wondered how I could keep having the best day of my life, again and again and again.

“I have something for you,” Sheila said quietly. “Can you come inside with me a minute?”

“Lead the way.”

We were the only ones inside the house as she walked to where she’d left her purse. She gave me a quick look before unzipping the middle compartment.

“I’ve always wondered what you keep in there,” I mused. “I bet we could fit at least three small children in that thing.”

She huffed, but a smile tugged at her lips as she pulled out a white envelope. Before she handed it to me, she took a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Her eyes filled with tears. “He wanted me to wait to give you this until your first child turned one.”

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