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“Your daughter is impatient,” I tell my husband as she alerts me that she’s past ready to be born.
“Angel,” Walker says, dropping to his knees to talk to her, “you aren’t always going to get your way.”
I snicker. “Like she doesn’t already have you wrapped around her finger.”
He places his palms on my overly large belly, the size of them covering almost all of it. He’s big, I’m small. Do the math. “Shh,” he pleads. “She doesn’t need to know that.”
To which Angel, short for Angela as we decided to name and call her, kicks. “I think she knows, honey.”
“She knows her daddy is here.”
When the ultrasound showed that we’re having a girl, he cried. Granted, he was so thrilled about becoming a dad that either gender would have gotten that reaction. But it, more than anything, showed me that happily ever afters really do come true.
Upon telling him that, he’d confessed how my information is stored in his phone. Fairy Tale. And honestly, it’s probably the sweetest thing anybody has ever done for me. Which is sayinga lot considering how determined Walker is to show me how much he loves me.
Angel is alerting me that, “We need to go now.” Hearing the panic in my voice, he takes my hand and calmly leads me to the door, snagging my suitcase before we walk out.
As always, his touch soothes me, easing my anxiety, and I’m able to breathe easier. Think clearer. As if sensing this, Angel returns the favor and settles down a little.
It’ll still be a race to get there in time, though.
**Walker**
“We make beautiful babies,” I whisper to Zoe three hours later. Angela Everly Doyle came into this world sixty minutes ago. Zoe and I haven’t been able to stop staring at her since she was first placed on Zoe’s chest.
“We do, “ Zoe sleepily mutters. She’s on the verge of crashing, yet she’s fighting it. Fearing when she wakes, this will all have been a dream.
I quietly remove Angel from Zoe and tuck her against me. My whole world is in this room. “Rest, sweetheart,” I plead with Zoe, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. The sweat from labor has dried, leaving her hair a mess, yet she’s never been more gorgeous.
Not that she’ll agree.
“Don’t leave,” she begs, her hand surprisingly strong after all she just went through where it grips the hem of my shirt.
Since we’ve gotten together, her fear of losing what she’s found has lessened. But, in highly emotional situations, such as giving birth, it returns and I always give her the same promise. “Never,” I vow. “You’ve captured my heart, Zoe. You and Angel. I can’t live without either of you.”
“Thank you for loving me,” she mutters as she succumbs to the sleep her body yearns for.
“Thank you for letting me.”
Epilogue Two
Zoe
Eight years after meeting…
“Oh, husband,” I holler at Walker, thankful my in-laws have Angel and Phillip. At seven and a half and five, they’re a handful. And we absolutely adore them, as does their grandparents.
Who welcomed me with open arms and immediately insisted I call them dad and mom. When I’d begun crying, they’d looked to Walker, worried they’d upset me. He’d assured them they were happy tears, and I’d nodded in agreement.
Having them instantly accept me, claim me, when no one else save Walker had done that was too much for me to contain. Walker simply held me, letting me get it all out after taking me to his old room for privacy.
Once I was coherent, we’d rejoined them and his mom had engulfed me in a hug so loving that the waterworks had threatened to reappear.
I’d given Walker the okay to share my history with them prior to that day as I felt it played a role in how and why I met their son.
Thankfully, they didn’t judge me for any of it. As Walker had assured me they wouldn’t. Seeing how great they were gave meinsight into his upbringing and why he became the man I fell in love with.
When we’d gotten home that night, I’d kissed Walker, silently letting him know I was ready to truly be his wife. Until then, all we’d done is kiss. And, while I appreciated his patience with me, I wanted to be his in every way.
