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Tenderness rolled through her being.
“Night-night, my sweet Owen.”
Standing, those aqua eyes swept toward me. A flash flood. A torrent. I’d gladly stand there and drown in it. “Your turn,” she murmured.
I ambled deeper into the room, brushing her hip with my fingertips as I passed, and I tucked my boys in, that gratefulness overflowing.
“I’m so glad you got aww better, Daddy,” Owen told me.
“That is because our daddy is so big like a tree and so strong, right, Daddy?” Oliver asked me.
My chuckle was slow. Adoring. Filled with the remnants of the tragedy we’d been through and with the faith that we could finally put all of this behind us. “I was just fighting for the things I love most.”
“That’s us, right?!” Oliver enthused.
“That’s right, buddy. All of you…you’re what I love most.”
I tucked them the rest of the way in, brushing kisses to their temples, then I pushed to standing and moved across their room. I got lost in that gaze as Savannah took me in from where she leaned against the wall. Caramel waves rolling around her shoulders, the woman wearing cute, fitted sweats, pouty lips tipped in the softest way.
Energy thrummed, though tonight, it was quieted, coming at me like the tranquil flow of a rising tide.
I took her hand when I got to her and led her out, flipping off the boys’ light and shutting their door part way before we crossed to Olivia’s room.
She was in the middle of her bed with paper, colors, and stickers strewn around her. “What are you doing, Livvie-Loo?”
“I’m making something really important, but it’s a secret, so you have to wait right there.”
Savannah glanced at me. Gentle amusement played through her features.
My chest tightened. Fierce, fierce love.
It was so much more tonight. More than anything I’d ever felt.
“All right, but you need to finish up. It’s past your bedtime.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I already know, and I might as well not even try to talk you out of it because you’re just going to say, ‘Don’t even try it, Livvie’.” She mimicked my voice as she started cleaning up her things.
Once she had everything in the pink box, she scrambled off the bed, slipped it onto the shelf under her little white desk, then hopped back under her covers. She looked across at us. “You may now enter.”
A chuckle loosed, a vibration in my chest, and I shuffled across the floor and bent to kiss her forehead. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
Her smile was soft as she peered up at me. “Goodnight, Daddy. I’m so glad you’re home.”
“It’s the only place I want to be.”
I could feel Savannah behind me, her presence profound, filling the voids. She edged around and wrapped Olivia in a big hug. She started to release her, but Olivia hung on, not letting her go. “I love you a whole lot, and I hope you stay with us forever.”
Savannah froze, emotion crashing as she clung to Olivia just as tightly, before she edged back so she could stare down at my daughter when she murmured, “I love you with every piece of my heart, Olivia, and I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
“Good, then you have to eat dinner with us every single night.”
An affected laugh escaped Savannah. “That sounds like a really good plan.”
Savannah stood, and I threaded our fingers together and led her out. I paused at Olivia’s doorway and glanced back. She was grinning our direction. “Goodnight, Livvie.”
“Night, Daddy,” she whispered.
I flicked off her light and started with Savannah back down the hallway.
“I do hope you’re planning on walking straight to your room and getting into bed. You need to rest,” Savannah said.
I angled my mouth toward her ear. “Oh, I plan on heading straight to bed, but resting is not in that plan.”
I turned, walking backwards as I guided her through the house and down the short hall into my room.
Suspicion twisted her brow, though it was playfulness that edged those pouty, full lips. “I’m pretty sure what you have in mind right now goes against the doctor’s orders.”
I edged around her so I could shut the door. The lock clicking into place reverberated through the room.
I swiveled back to face her. There was no missing the way Savannah warred with the desire that clashed with her need to take care of me.
“I think she already knew I wasn’t going to follow them,” I said as I started backing her toward my bed.
“You need to rest,” she contended, right as she was boxed in against the high mattress. A shaky wheeze left her when I curled my hand around the back of her neck.
“What I need is you.” The words were hoarse, and I let my hand wander along her side until I was gripping her by the ass. I yanked all that softness against the hard planes of my body. Fire erupted between us, that connection burning bright.
