Page 59 of Fighting His Fate
Grace lay perfectly still in bed, bandages covering portions of her arms and head. Emotion threatened to overwhelm him as he crossed to her and sat. “Grace?”
She tilted her head toward him and opened her eyes, pain registering in their depths before she closed them again. “Are the boys okay?”
“Yes, they’re right here. Not a scratch on them.”
“Thank God.”
He settled Theo in the crook of her arm, and she grinned despite her obvious pain. “You’re going to be okay, too,” he said.
“The doctor told me. I want to go home.” She reached for Toby and he handed the second baby to her.
“Just as soon as you get your strength back.”
“I was so scared we were going to lose them.”
His mouth pulled down hard at the corners, a wave of emotion nearly knocking him to the floor. His voice cracked when he spoke. “I was scared I was going to lose you.”
“I saw my mother. My birth mother. I think maybe I died. She told me I had a choice, that I could be with her and Dad in heaven or I could come back here.” She squinted up at him. “I wanted to come back to you. I wanted to come back to the boys.”
He bent over and kissed her forehead.
“You do realize you’re going to have to change diapers all by yourself until I can bust out of here.”
He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “That’s okay, I can handle it. Just get yourself well so you can come home.”
“My home or your home?”
“Is there a difference?”
She sighed contentedly. “I love you.”
The words shocked him into stillness. No one had said that to him in years. So much had changed, things he’d never expected to change in his lifetime.
She tucked her chin. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
This was the family he never knew he wanted, Grace the woman he never wanted to live without. He bent again, and this time he kissed her mouth. “I love you, too. Now get some rest so you can come home to us.”
34
Two months later
“Hurry up,we’re going to be late for the church potluck!” Grace called down the hall. Brett had already gotten the boys dressed and ready to go, but he was taking his sweet time in the shower. She turned to Toby and Theo, playing on the blanket on the bedroom floor. Theo was on his belly with his head held high, the pose resembling a turtle. “Your daddy’s a slowpoke.”
Brett emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, a towel slung low around his hips, and she sighed. Looking at that man never got old. He was as beautiful on the inside as he was on the out, and she was loved him more every day.
“Just give me two minutes,” he said. A smile spread across his face as he took in her appreciative stare. “Unless you’d like to be really late for the potluck.” He lifted one eyebrow suggestively.
“Not a chance. John’s bringing his new girlfriend. I want to make a good impression.” She’d run into him at the hospital last week and he’d damn near been glowing with happiness while he told Grace about her. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was John, and she sincerely hoped this woman was the one.
Brett dropped his towel and put on black briefs, making her momentarily reconsider her desire to get to the church on time. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Theo roll onto his back. Her eyes went wide. “Did you see that? Theo rolled over!”
“He did? Damn it, I missed it.”
“Look at you!” she cooed to the baby. “My strong little man. Pretty soon you’re going to be crawling right out the door and off to college.” Theo babbled nonsense back to her as if they were having a conversation.
“You might be getting a little ahead of yourself.”
“Maybe just a little.” She crossed to the boys and picked up Toby. “I’m going to get them in their carseats.” She walked into the living room, picking up the mail from in front of the door on her way by. A large manilla envelope was addressed to Brett fromNaturemagazine, and she went back to the bedroom. “The journal came.”
