when she woke with a soothing voice or his solid arms enveloping her to quash the fear. Fear didn't belong in happily ever after, and today was an ever after day.
The ceremony had been short, with her and Noah reciting their own vows. Only about twenty people had been invited, and they were currently lingering on the other side of the island. It had turned out to be such a great day, but it wasn't about the wedding. Not to her. No, it was about all the wonderful things that would come afterward.
"I love the house." Aubrey rested her head on Raven's shoulder.
She opened her eyes and looked at the modern two-story log cabin before them. Stone and wood and windows, with a wraparound porch and balcony off the master bedroom. Not enormous by any standard, but it was spacious with a wide open floor plan. It was pretty perfect. Noah had been determined to have the house on their island finished by today. It had actually been completed last week, but they wouldn't move in until tonight. As a family.
Along with their new home, a modest one bedroom cabin for her mother was just down the path and within a two-minute walking distance to the Brisbins' caretaker cabin. They still needed to use a boat to get on and off the island, but the bridge would be finished by winter.
"I love it, too." She kissed Aubrey's temple and spoke against her hair. "I love you more, though, niece of mine."
Aubrey's arms banded around Raven's waist. In the distance, over the hum of music and the chatter of guests, the click of a camera sounded.
Raven shook her head and smiled. "Your uncle's up to it again. I swore I took the camera away from him today." She wouldn't mind a minute alone with him, so she gazed down at Aubrey. "Why don't you head back and eat another piece of cake?"
"Don't have to ask me twice."
The girl ran off, blonde curls bouncing, and Raven swallowed hard at the sudden emotion in her throat. Everything was so wonderful, so happy, she didn't know what to do with it all. Even Hoan had cut back on traveling, and Noah selling Gallivanting Adventures to spend more time at home had bonded them as a family even more.
Noah stepped beside her, bringing his scent of cinnamon, and kissed her neck. He looked so sexy in a tux her knees almost gave out.
"I think I like you in white more than I do in red." His heated gaze slid down the length of her simple satin-slip wedding dress. He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her to his hard chest, making her girly parts zing. "Though I like you in nothing best of all."
She brushed away a few strands of his blond hair that had blown over his forehead and cupped his jaw. Delight and adoration lit his blue eyes, more cerulean in the sunlight than glacier. Never knowing love could be like this, her chest swelled for the hundredth time today. "I promise to wear nothing all night long but, for now, we have guests."
His eyes narrowed. "Not soon enough."
She eyed the camera in his free hand. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't take pictures today. What's the point in hiring a photographer if you're going to sneak your camera anyway?" Even as she chided, her grin remained. God, did she love him. So much.
He didn't even try to look guilty. "Nobody captures my baby like I do. Besides, you'll only wear this dress once."
"True." She rose on her toes to kiss him.
He dropped his forehead to hers. "So tell me, bride, why are you over here all by yourself?"
She'd needed a minute to herself, to take everything in, but didn't want to tell him that because he'd worry. Besides, it wasn't as if anything was wrong. Just the opposite. "Well, husband, I was looking at our amazing new house and found two things wrong with it."
His brows knit and he turned to glance over his shoulder. "What?" He looked back at her. "Tell me."
"First, I'm afraid not all the rooms have been??hristened."
A slow grin spread over his face and her heart tripped. His hands slid from her lower back to her ass. "That's a problem we'll have fixed by morning. Next?"
She bit her lip and held his gaze, even as nerves pinged in her belly. "The extra bedroom next to Aubrey's is going to need renovation." She paused. "To accommodate a crib." At the widening of his eyes, she carried on. "A rocking chair, too, for late night feedings and snuggling."
The look on his face??h, mercy. His expression was priceless and erased any fleeting doubt. A small wrinkle formed between his brows as his breath hitched. His lips parted in awe, his eyes tender as they searched hers. Like she'd just handed him the moon.
He shook his head as if to clear it. "Are you?? He cleared his throat. "Ah, God, baby. Really? You're pregnant?"
She nodded. Between the hospital stay and recovery afterward, it seemed she'd forgotten to take her birth control. And once her body had healed, she and Noah had made up for lost time. Hourly.
A strangled sound escaped him and he cupped her nape to draw her into his kiss. Soft and giving, his mouth slanted over hers. Mutual regret and pain were forgotten when he deepened the kiss, telling her, like he'd always tried to do, that she mattered, that he couldn't go on without her. She sent her sentiments right back, because she wasn't going anywhere. Not without him.
The past would always be there, haunting and tragic in parts, but they'd worked too hard to move beyond it to let it swallow them again.
Sweet, and not a little desperate, he broke away and dropped to his knees. Clutching her waist, he pressed a kiss to her belly and rested his forehead there. "Ah, baby. It doesn't?? When he looked up, his eyes were wet. "It doesn't seem real."
For a man who'd had his whole family wiped away, all but a little girl he gave up everything to protect, the thought of building a new family, of having that within reach, would be surreal. She'd spend her life showing him it wasn't a dream.
A warm, humid breeze skated across her skin. Dandelion seeds floated in the air, reminding her of that long ago journal entry.
I remain someone of little consequence, as if nothing more than dandelion fluff caught on a breeze.
Thanks to Noah, she wasn't that person anymore. She'd gone from being a no one to being someone's everything.
"I love you." She cupped the back of his head and wove her fingers through his hair.
"I'll never tire of hearing that. I love you." He dropped his forehead to her belly again, his hand just below with his fingers splayed. "And you, too," he whispered.