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“Okay, rest in peace, little guy.” Saxon crouches forward, Thunder sniffing at the small hole he dug under a beautiful tree. We give Goldie the send-off he deserves.
Once Saxon has pushed over the dirt and laid a small daisy over his grave, he stands, patting Thunder lightly on the mane. I will never tire of looking at him after having almost lost him. But he stayed true to his promise.
He said he doesn’t remember much of anything while he was in a coma. Everything was background noise, and he could only tune into one station.
“You promised me we were forever.”
He said those words dragged him from a depth so profound, but he’d move heaven and hell to get to me, to tell me what we are. And those were the first words he spoke to me. “We are forever, and that’s why I came back. To protect you.”He clearly heard my vow to shelter him, but as always, he stole the show.
“Are you okay?” he asks when I suddenly gasp.
He comes up behind me and kisses the slope of my neck. I bask in his touch and signature fragrance. “Yes. More than okay. Although your daughter seems to think it’s fun to practice her pirouettes every chance she gets.” I give the little wriggler a gentle pat.
Saxon nestles in close and splays his hands over mine. “I think that’s my son practicing his motocross backflips.” A laugh escapes me because he’s probably right.
When we found out I was having twins, a boy and a girl, I really felt like I had it all. A loving fiancé, a new home I adore, and finding friendship with the one person who would forever own a small piece of my heart.
Samuel will always be in my heart, and I’m certain I will always be in his. I was trying so hard not to feel, to chastise my feelings, that I forgot the most important rule when it comes to love. Love comes in many shapes and sizes, and the best kind of love can’t be pigeonholed. It just is. And I’m okay with that.
Samuel is a part of our lives because we both want him to be. Saxon and Sam have a lot of healing to do, but the important thing is that they both want to try. As for Kellie, that’s going to be a slow lead-up. Like very slow. But when she found out she was going to be a grandmother, the layers she’d built up over the years seemed to chip away.
It’s amazing what two little people, who no one has yet to meet, can do. They seemed to wipe the slate clean for us all.
As I link my fingers through Saxon’s, the light strikes his newest tattoo. It’s just under the crease of his elbow, extending halfway down his forearm. However, this tattoo isn’t bright like its counterparts. It’s a shaded black anchor with a scroll wrapped around it. The piece itself is striking, but it’s the words forever inked on his flesh which touch me so.
Sink or Swim.
That tattoo signifies the hardships we’ve faced, but it also denotes that we refused to give up. We could have sunk and never resurfaced, but when times got tough—and boy, did they get tough—we refused to surrender. Instead, we swam to the surface, never giving up.
And that’s how I see my journey with Saxon. Even though we hit rock bottom, we always broke the surface, and now, I’m drowning in love. Love isn’t easy, but is it worth fighting for? Hell yes.
“Come inside. I want you to see something.” He lays a gentle kiss on the side of my neck.
“Thisthingdoesn’t happen to be a foot massage, does it?” His husky laugh warms my insides, but who said I was kidding. I’m the size of a house, and my poor feet have to bear the brunt of my peanut butter obsession.
He loops his fingers through mine and leads me up the stairs as I waddle behind. Saxon’s home,ourhome, is beautiful, and just like the first time I stepped foot inside, I feel at home. I do miss Montana, but I guess more than anything, I miss my family and friends. But wherever Saxon is, is where I’ll be.
He leads me toward the spare room, the room which he’s been reluctant to decorate as a nursery. Every time I bring up the subject, he is conveniently busy. He’s up to something. And when he retrieves a folded piece of paper from the drawer, I’m about to find out what that is.
He hands it to me without a word, which makes me nervous. Moving my lips from side to side in contemplation, I can’t shake the feeling that this will once again change the world as I know it. Opening it slowly, I scan over the contents, not really understanding what I’m reading until I get to the bottom of the page. I read it twice. Three times, in case I’m seeing things. But I’m not.
“What is this?” I ask, a tremble to my question.
His grin distracts me, but I get my head back in the game. “What does it look like?”
Turning the letter, thecontractaround, I reply, “It looks like a sale deed…on this house. But surely, it’s just my baby brain conjuring up stories, right?” When his grin grows, I know thisiswhat I think it is. “Holy shit. You’reselling?”
Stepping forward, he kisses me lightly on the tip of my nose. “No,we’reselling.”
My mouth very ungracefully hinges open. “I don’t understand.”
“I know you miss Montana…” I attempt to dispute his claims, but he silences me with his finger. “When I moved here, I convinced myself that it was for a fresh start, but now, it just seems like I’m running away. I’m tired of running.”
This is happening so quickly. I don’t know what to say, so I don’t say anything at all.
“Montana is where our friends and family are. Both families.” He swallows because I know how hard this is for him. “I want our children to be surrounded by family and receive all the love they deserve. And besides, I can’t wait to see Kellie’s face when they call her grandma.”
I burst into laughter, tears twinkling in my eyes. “So that’s why you didn’t want to babyproof the house?”
