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“No, not anymore. Maybe at first yeah, but to be honest, with a baby on the way, all of that bullshit doesn’t matter anymore. Dr. Izzard helped me see that. What matters is us, Harlow. You and me, and the family we’ve created.”
With those words, she begins to tear up and I take her hand. “Don’t cry, baby. Please. You know how it kills me.”
But she squeezes my hand gently while sniffling.
“No, I’m crying because I’m happy,” she murmurs. “Sam, this makes me so amazed and grateful and … I guess I’m just surprised that’s all. I knew you’d apologize but I had no idea you’d give up your medical license and start intensive therapy.”
With that, I pull the sweet girl into my arms and kiss her deeply, passionately, and with every ounce of love I have in my heart. The kiss is full of adoration and a vow of sorts— a vow to love Harlow, to regain her trust, and to make our life beautiful once more.
“I adore you,” I say in a hoarse, broken voice. “And I love our child, baby girl.”
Harlow simply holds me tighter, still sniffling.
“I love you too, Sam. We will figure it out, I promise.”
We stay like this for the next several minutes, letting the newfound peace sink into our bones because what I did was absolutely reprehensible. But fortunately, my woman is loving, caring, and sees a path forward for us. As a result, I’ve been granted a second chance at life, and I’m not wasting this opportunity because Harlow Bauer is the woman for me, and I’ll cherish this sweet girl until the day I die.
EPILOGUE
Harlow
Six months later.
I snuggle a little further beneath the soft blanket as I look down at the face of my perfect baby girl. She’s only a few hours old, but already she holds my heart in her tiny, precious hands. I stroke her itty-bitty nose gently, marveling at that soft, velvety baby skin. My daughter mews but continues to sleep.
Then, there’s a quiet tap at the door and I look up to see Sam’s handsome face peering at us.
“Hey mama bear,” he says softly before walking into the room. He plants a delicate kiss on my lips and rests his large palm lightly on the baby’s tummy. “How’s our little girl?”
I smile up at Sam, my heart beyond full. “She’s incredible,” I gush quietly. “She won’t let go of my finger and I never want her to.” I feel my heart swell with love while looking down at our daughter’s innocent face, and life has never seemed so perfect. After all, Sam and I didn’t begin our relationship in exactly the most above-board manner. Instead, we used to be the man of the house and his little brat, but we’ve evolved way beyond that now. But the fact that we were worried about being outed seems positively ridiculous at the moment, and I laugh a little at the memory. Who cares? We were never a father-daughter duo, and as a result, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. All that matters is that we’re here, together, now.
I look up at my man’s handsome features, and to my surprise, those blue eyes are filled with tears.
“Are you okay?” I whisper.
He nods.
“I’ve just never been so happy, Harlow,” he manages in a shaky voice. “I’m grateful both for you and the baby.”
My heart fills with love until it’s overflowing.
“And I’m grateful to be with you too, Sam.”
After all, his betrayal was a blow to our relationship. I almost didn’t think we were going to make it, to be honest, given what he did. But we worked our way through the mess, and slowly but surely, things began to improve. In a surprise move, Sam didn’t lose his medical license even after he self-reported. Instead, he was put on probation for a few months, and after that ended, the board did another evaluation. They determined that my man is a damn fine physician who made a mistake, as all human beings do, and restored him to active status. Of course, it helped that I declined to press charges and even spoke glowingly of Sam at his disciplinary hearing.
But now, we’re parents, and I sigh with bliss.
“Are you going to be able to take time off from work to spend time with the baby?” I ask, wishing that I could live in this perfect scene forever.
Sam strokes my hair, his heart already caught by our tiny girl.
“I’ll take off all the time in the world if needed,” he vows, blue eyes misty. “You were so brave during labor,” my man continues, caressing my cheek affectionately. “I can’t imagine how hard it was, but you did it, Har.”
I smile gently. “To be honest, it was exhausting, but it’s fading rapidly now. They say mothers forget the pain pretty fast, right? Otherwise, there would be no second children, much less third or fourth.”
A flash goes through Sam’s blue eyes, and I begin to laugh.
“OMG, don’t even get me started on second children,” I warn in a low tone. “We just had our first!”
