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Luna definitely needed to work on her inspirational speeches. She kind of sucked at them.
“All right.” I pulled in a huge breath. Then another. “I’m going to open the door.”
“Good.”
“I’m going right now.”
“Then go!”
I took a stumbled step from her little shove before righting myself and walking the rest of the way to the door on my own.
With a trembling hand, I grabbed hold of the knob and twisted. Trent was the first thing I saw when I pulled the door open, standing front and center.
I didn’t want to be relieved at the sight of him, but damn it, I was. “H-hey,” I stuttered nervously.
He gave me a tender smile, dimples in full effect. I noticed then that he had one more black eye than he’d had the day before, but my head was too overwhelmed with other things to question it. “Hey. You good?”
“Mm-hmm,” I mumbled. “Come on in.”
I stepped aside so he could step in, finally revealing the two people who had been standing behind him the whole time. My eyes immediately went to the woman standing beside a big bear of a man. My heart that had been banging against my ribs just moments ago suddenly quit beating all together.
“Oh my God,” she gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth as tears sprang to her eyes. “It’s really you.”
I grinned, this one real but wobbly as my vision grew wet and blurry. “Hi, Charlotte.”
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she cried out, then a second later she went from being a good five feet away to pulling me into her and squeezing me tight.
Something happened the moment her arms closed around me. That empty space inside of me, the one that appeared the moment she’d been ripped away, disappeared in an instant.
I returned her embrace, closing my eyes and letting the feeling of rightness, of being absolutely complete, wash over me. I felt light as a feather just then, and I knew it was a feeling that would stay with me forever.
“I’ve been waiting for this day almost my whole life,” she rasped.
“I never thought it would happen,” I returned on a croak. “It feels like a puzzle piece has finally fallen into place.”
She let out a watery laugh and pulled back, but didn’t release me completely, keeping hold of my arms. “I know what you mean. The moment I saw you there was this...”
“Fullness,” I answered for her, remembering just then how, back when we were children, we had this uncanny ability to finish each other’s thoughts.
“Exactly.” She beamed at me, placing her hand on her chest, right over her heart. “Right here.”
I nodded, feeling like my cheeks were about to split in half with the power of my grin. “Yeah.”
We sniffled and batted at our eyes, the actions so similar. It was unbelievable how that twin connection reestablished almost instantly, even after all these years. We’d been apart so much longer than we’d ever been together, but it was as if no time had passed at all.
Taking me by the hand, she turned to face the man who’d been waiting so patiently on the front porch. “Cheyanne, this is my fiancé, Dalton. Dalton, I want you to meet my sister, Cheyanne.”
The man smiled genuinely, his white teeth glinting from beneath his dark beard. “Really nice to meet you.”
I took the hand he offered me, reading nothing but happiness for his soon-to-be wife in his kind gaze. For such a huge dude, he had a softness to him that made me think that Charlotte had lucked out with this guy. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
Trent spoke just then. “So you guys want to move this inside?”
“Yes,” I answered, brightening at the thought. “There’s someone I want you to meet. Come on in.”
Still hand in hand with Charlotte, I led her inside, through the entry, and into the living room. Once there, I let her go in order to round the coffee table and take my baby girl’s hand. “Meet Renee.”
At her name, Charlotte’s eyes rounded, coming to me in question. I didn’t need words to know what she was asking. I nodded, that smile still firmly in place as I confirmed my daughter was named after her.
