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“Is this okay?” she asks as she descends the steps, holding the railing in one hand and a black coat in the other.
“You look breathtaking, sugar.” I can barely get the words out past the lump in my throat.
A smile touches her ruby-red lips as she meets me at the bottom, and I tug her into me, needing to feel the contact and remind myself this moment is real.
Her body relaxes into mine instead of tensing the way it would have a few days ago. Progress might be slow, but we’re getting there.
“You ready to go?”
I’ve never seen Tommy smile like he is right now, staring down at his new wife.
Men like Tommy and I rarely get happily ever afters because our souls are black. There’s nothing redeemable about us, and therefore we’re cursed to walk this earth alone.
But somehow, by some fucking miracle, he’s found the woman who completes him, who softens some of his hard edges.
I look down at Mia, who hasn’t moved from my side since we left the penthouse. I considered reading her the riot act, but apparently it wasn’t necessary because she seems content watching the people around us celebrate, a soft smile on her lips.
The Saint James family has embraced not just her, but me as well, despite our differences in the past. They may have shut me down all those years ago, but they haven’t held a grudge, and maybe I shouldn’t have either.
Despite having never met the eldest daughter of the Saint James family, Mia took to Wynter immediately, and Wynter to her. After the ceremony, while Tommy and Clara signed their marriage certificate, Emerson, Ayvah, Wynter, and Snow chattered animatedly to Mia like they’d been friends all their lives, and when Mia cooed at Summer, Wynter and Everett’s one-month-old daughter, the baby was promptly thrust into her arms.
I never imagined having kids, thought there was no way someone with a childhood as fucked up as mine was had any right being a parent. But as I stare at Mia with a tiny baby in her arms, her blue eyes lit up as she looks down at the little bundle of pink blankets, it’s all I can imagine.
The thoughts come down on me like a ton of bricks until I can barely breathe through the need.
A chuckle beside me drags my attention from my woman and the tiny baby she’s staring down at. Everett smirks beside me, his shit-eating grin matches Elijah’s, and I can’t help but glare at both fuckers.
“I know that look.” Everett chuckles.
“You don’t know shit,” I snap.
“We’ve all been there, bro. The moment you realize you need to knock your woman up as soon as humanly possible.” Elijah glances at Snow before turning his attention back to us. The security presence at the courthouse rivals that of the Pentagon, but that doesn’t stop every man in attendance from keeping a close eye on their woman.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Still in denial.” Everett nods. “Noted.”
I sigh and run my hand through my messy hair before turning my full attention to them. “I’m not in denial about shit. I’m realistic about the trauma Mia has been through and how that may or may not limit our future.”
I don’t think it comes as a surprise to either of them that I’m thinking about the future and what will be possible for us, but neither of them gets a chance to respond before Emerson joins us with both hands resting on her swollen belly. I’m not sure how close she is to popping, but she seems to be growing every time I see her.
She glances over her shoulder at Mia, and a smile tugs at the corners of her lips. “She looks like she’s doing well.”
I nod. “The last few days, it’s been leaps and bounds. Even when we were leaving the apartment, she was okay. Nervous but okay.”
“And you said she was eating better?”
“One meal a day,” I confirm.
“Better than the first few days.” She shrugs. Her gaze falls back to Mia as she bounces Summer gently with a soft smile on her lips. “That’s a good sign. Sometimes women who have been through trauma the way she has won’t have anything to do with children. Even women who have children themselves before they go through it will reject their own kids, not because they don’t love them but because they think the child is better off without them because they’re broken. The fact Mia has taken to Summer like that is a very positive sign for her recovery.”
I let out a breath but try to keep my face neutral. It’s still in the early days, but any good sign is worth its weight in gold right now.
“I think Tommy is going to steal his bride away any minute now. I was wondering if I could take Mia to the youth center. I think she might get a lot out of it.”
I open my mouth to say an emphatic no. There’s no way I’m letting her out of my sight yet, I can’t. Neither of us is ready.
“You’re welcome to come,” Emerson rushes to add. “But if you have to get back to work, Rayne will be around—and my eighteen security guards I have attached to me anytime I’m out of the house.”
