you’re tired. I can sense that too, but there’s something I need to finish telling you.”
Heart rate picking up, I nodded.
“I was disappointed, Brighton. I tried to clarify that, but we got interrupted. We keep getting interrupted,” he said. “It seems like that’s a trend for us.”
“Yes,” I whispered. “It is.”
He lowered his chin, leaning in so that our faces were only a few inches apart. “I was disappointed and overwhelmed. Of all the ways I’d thought to find out I was going to be a father, this wasn’t one of them. It was a lot to process, but what you said earlier? About not wanting to keep making the wrong choices? I agree. What Tanner did is nothing like us, but we both thought we were doing the right thing. I should’ve told you. You should’ve told me. We both messed up.”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe again, but this time for an entirely different reason. “We did.”
“I think we’re going to mess up again, sunshine,” he said, and my breath caught at the use of my nickname. “It’s bound to happen, especially since we’re going to be raising a child. I imagine we’re going to mess up a lot with that, too, but you know what that doesn’t change, right?”
I nodded. “That…that we love each other?”
“Right.” He took my face in his hands. “You hold a part of my soul, Brighton. You are my everything. Nothing will change that. Ever.”
A strangled sound left me as I grasped the front of his shirt. “I love you.”
We moved at the same time, and the moment our lips touched, it was like taking the first deep breath of summer air. The kiss was sweet and somehow more powerful than any we’d shared before. Maybe because it was the first kiss we’d shared with nothing hidden between us. Perhaps because it felt like a beginning.
Ending the kiss, he rested his forehead against mine as he slid a hand down my arm, to the curve of my hip and then to my lower stomach. “We are going to have a baby.”
I smiled widely, blinking back tears—happy ones as I placed my hand over his. “We are.”
“I haven’t even thought about having a child, sunshine. But from the moment I learned that you were pregnant, even with everything going on, I knew in that moment that I wanted to be a father.”
“I know the feeling.” I squeezed his hand. “It was a shock, but I knew immediately that I wanted this child.”
“You’ll be a great mother.”
“You think so?”
He pulled back so he could see my face. “I know so. Why would you doubt that?”
“I…I haven’t had any more hallucinations or…breaks in reality. But that doesn’t mean I won’t. And I know you think it will be different for me, but I can’t help but worry. I want to give this child what I didn’t have. I want to be a mother who is always there, and what if…what if I’m not?”
He touched my cheek again. “We have no idea what tomorrow holds, but I can promise you that you’re not alone. If you have more moments or not, I’m here. You have me. Our child will have both of us, no matter what, and we’ve got enough love already for this child that it will be enough. We will give him or her everything they could ever need.” He kissed my forehead. “Besides, I have a feeling this kid is going to be strong. They’ll be able to handle anything.”
I shuddered. “Luce thinks that the child is already strong-willed and determined to live.”
Caden folded his arms around me, gathering me close. “I don’t doubt that for one second, not when it’s you who’s carrying this child. I don’t know anyone, human or fae, more strong-willed and determined to live than you.”
I lifted my head, kissing him again, and for the first time in my life, I felt no fear, no anger, and no worry.
Both of us had gone through our own hell to get here. We deserved it. Our child deserved it. All I felt was love.
I was whole.
Epilogue
Caden
Lounging on the plush grass of the enclosed courtyard outside of Hotel Good Fae, I watched my baby girl toddle after Tink. The brownie was, well, brownie-sized at the moment, his translucent wings nearly invisible in the bright, warm sunlight as he zipped up and then dipped down, staying just out of reach of Scorcha’s chubby little fingers. She laughed and shrieked, attempting to jump in