Page 43 of The Refiner

In these moments, someone finds the courage to do the unthinkable.

It’s in this moment, Keagan is brave.

“Okay,” she concedes, fighting back the tears.

Everyone is quiet as Keagan takes a few hesitant steps toward me.

I lower into the wheelchair and reach for her hand. It’s shaking when I wrap my hands around it and tug her forward. “We can do this.”

Keagan lets out a small whimper, blinking twice before looking up at the ceiling, finding the last of her strength to take the final steps into my arms.

I smile when she glares at my thighs widening.

There’s my girl. Find that hate and use it to drive away the pain.

“If anything pokes me, I will cut it off.” She looks at Halle and flashes her a tight grin. “After the pictures, of course.”

Halle belts out a laugh, easing the tension just a little. “That’s all I’m asking.”

Keys nods, pulling in a deep breath as she flashes me one more warning look before she removes her hand from mine and turns around.

Placing my hands on her hips, I guide her down onto my lap. She’s stiff, and it’s not easy for us to get comfortable. But then again, nothing about this situation is relaxing.

“Alright, Auntie, scoot back.”

Keagan and I tense as we watch Halle scoop Tatum from the bassinet and walk over. I take a deep breath. This is it. I’m leaving with my daughter—away from the woman who gave her to me—away from the woman who sacrificed everything for this moment.

I pull Keagan into my chest, my arms lying over the tops of hers, interlocking our fingers. “Thank you,” I whisper. “Thank you for doing this with me.”

The only response I get is a squeeze from her hand. We’re barely holding it together. While I’m thrilled to be a father, I’m not happy about how I got here. I’m also not over the shock of how drastically my life has changed over the last few days.

And Keys, well, I’m positive she loves Tatum as much as I do. But for her, she’s leaving what family she had here. She doesn’t know how this will work with Tatum and me. How often will she see her? Will we both adjust to our lives without Piper? Does Keagan go her way, and I mine, sharing the occasional picture of Tatum?

We both are blindly walking into futures we never considered. Our old lives have been obliterated—our futures changed with the last hope we had for Piper’s recovery.

All of those things must be mourned.

But when Halle places Tatum in Keagan’s arms, both of our arms cradling around her, I know in that instant that whatever future we have, we’ll always be bonded by this moment—one filled with bittersweet joy as my brother pushes us out to the car, smiling as the cameras snap picture after picture. But it’s behind those smiles, where the pain still bubbles up to the surface, where we fight.

To take the moment back.

To make it ours.

I hug Keys and bury my face in her neck, taking her strength as she smiles and coos at Tatum. The world has taken so much from her, but she’s still here, sitting with my daughter in her arms, sacrificing herself. For her sister. For her niece. For me.

Keagan McKellan is a fucking hero. She just doesn’t know it.

Our moment of joy doesn’t last long.

“No.”

I tap my fingers on the steering wheel. “Why not?”

“Because, unlike my sister, I’m not wowed by you. Nothing on this shitty planet would convince me to stay with you tonight.” She glares out the window, watching the scenery. I might have missed the turn to Piper’s house and suggested that she just come home with us for a little while.

“I didn’t wow your sister,” I argue. “But even if she was, I’m merely asking you to take a detour. Let me get Tatum settled. Then I can take you to Piper’s.”

“Why not take me to Piper’s now?”

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