Page 189 of Holy Hearts
He looks at me, his brows knitting together. “Enough?”
“For him. For Rowan. To make sure he knows how much we love him, how proud we are.”
Kai sets his mug down and takes my hand. “Sophie, we’ve spent eighteen years loving him with everything we’ve got. He knows. And if he ever doubts it, he’s got three parents who will fly across the world just to remind him.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, nodding. “You’re right. I just… I can’t believe he’s grown up. It feels like yesterday I was holding him for the first time. Do you remember when we got the call from the adoption agency? God… I can’t believe that was eighteen years ago.”
Kai’s hand tightens around mine. “It goes fast. But we’ve still got a lifetime of memories ahead. And hey, maybe one day he’ll give us grandchildren to spoil.”
I laugh, swatting his arm. “Let’s not rush him. He’s still my baby.”
“Always will be,” Kai agrees, his voice soft.
As the quiet surrounds us, I feel the ache of Rowan’s absence start to shift. It’s still there, but now it’s joined by something else—hope. Because even though he’s off to London, starting his own story, the nest we’ve built will always be here, waiting for him to return.
Julian
Two Weeks Later
“I don’t mind it. Tastes like coffee,” Rowan says, grinning as he sips his Guinness.
I hold my Guinness out to him and we clink glasses. “That’s my boy.”
Sophie laughs next to me, her cheeks pink from the crisp autumn walk we all just took through Mayfair. Kai’s arm is around her shoulders, and the pub is noisy for a Wednesday afternoon.
“So, how are your classes?” I ask, leaning back in the vinyl-covered booth.
Rowan shrugs. “They’re all right. My art history professor is strict. He doesn’t like me. But Bronte’s been showing me around London on the weekends,” he adds cheerfully, referring to Liam and Zoe’s son, who moved to London earlier this year and is two years older than Rowan.
“That’s nice!” Sophie answers cheerfully. “Must be great to have your cousin so close.”
“Beatrix and Adaline will be visiting in November, right?” Kai asks, sipping his whiskey. Rowan nods. Beatrix is twenty-two, and her younger sister is nineteen. They’re the troublemakersof the family, and the reason we all suspect Miles was the first brother to go fully gray.
“Yeah. They want to bring the whole American experience to London,” he muses, rolling his eyes. God, when he does that, he reminds me so much of Kai. “Aunt Stella and Uncle Miles have been emailing me every day to figure out how they’re going to cook a twenty-four-pound turkey in my tiny oven. I guess Rose and Hugh are mad they’re too young to come visit alone,” he says, referring to Juliet and Chase’s seventeen-year-old fraternal twins.
“That’ll be lovely,” Sophie says, Squeezing Rowan’s hand across the table. “Sounds like you’ve got lots of visits from family to make sure you don’t get homesick.”
“I promise I’m not homesick, Mom,” he says, squeezing her hand back. “I really like my classes and I’ve made a few friends. Plus, Aunt Layla, Uncle Orion, and little Sebastian aren’t that far away if I ever need some family time. Just a short train ride to Paris,” he says, his voice reassuring as he refers to Kai’s youngest brother and their family, who now live in Paris. Again, he reminds me so much of Kai when he has to talk Sophie and me down like this.
“And with Bronte being here…” He smiles at Sophie. “I know you’re worried about me. But I promise I’m fine. Okay?”
Sophie nods once, tears pooling in her eyes. “I know.”
He kisses her hand. “Love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too, Row.”
I wink at Sophie as she swipes a stray tear from under her eye. My heart clenches that she’s so distraught about our son spreading his wings. But it’s also adorable to watch how much he cherishes her, and how much she loves him in return. The day we picked him up at the hospital in California when he was five days old was the day both Kai and I became second in line to herheart. She’s an incredible mum—motivated, hardworking, and yet still present and caring.
A few months before we adopted Row, the three of us had a commitment ceremony. Although we couldn’t legally get married to Kai, it was important to us that we all have some way of making vows to each other. Kai completes us in ways we never would’ve been able to find without him. And raising Rowan in the sunshine of California, at Ashford Palace where all three of us left our own marks, surrounded by all of his cousins, aunts, and uncles nearby…
I am a very, very lucky man.
“Rowan?”
All four of us look up to see a man in a blazer looking down at Rowan with a furrowed brow.
“Um, hi, Professor Blake.”
