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Maverick let out a soft moan, and I snuggled in closer. I could feel the weight of my tired eyes, and before they closed, I racked my brain to find a way to prove to Maverick that he could trust his heart to me. That I’d protect him and it with everything I had. That I’d never leave him, that my family was his family. So much I wanted to give him.
Thinking of our future together, I fell into a deep sleep—until I heard something that sounded like a little boy crying out.
I flew up in bed. For a moment, I was disoriented as I looked around the room. Then to Maverick thrashing next to me in the bed.
“No! No! No, don’t leave. Please don’t leave me!” Maverick called out in an almost childlike voice.
My hand flew up to my mouth to hold back the instant sob that wanted to slip free.
“No!” he yelled. “I don’t want to go! Please, don’t make me. Please!”
I crawled out of the bed and quickly searched for something to put on. Finding Maverick’s T-shirt, I slipped it on and rushed around to his side of the bed. His face was pulled into the saddest frown I’d ever seen, and I instantly started to cry.
“Oh God,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure if I should wake him or not.
“They left me. They left me. They left me!”
He repeated it over and over, and I wanted to cover my ears to keep from hearing the utter devastation in his voice.
By now, he was in the middle of the bed. He wasn’t thrashing around quite as much but was still whimpering like a small boy. I crawled into the bed and put my leg and arm over him.
He instantly stopped moving.
“I’m here, Maverick. Shhh, I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. I swear to you.”
“Mommy…?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself not to cry harder. “I’m here, baby. I’m here.”
It was the only thing I knew to say. When I opened my eyes and looked at him, I placed my hand over his heart and found it beating like a hummingbird’s wings.
“I love you, Maverick. I’m here, and I love you.”
His body instantly relaxed, as did his face.
I kissed him gently and said again, “I love you, Maverick.”
A deep exhale came from his lips, and I could feel his heartbeat slowing to a more regular rhythm.
“I’ll never leave you. I swear to you, Maverick. I will never leave.”
“Lily,” he whispered.
He was still asleep, that much I could tell, but he knew it was me talking to him.
“I’m right here.”
“Lily…I love you.”
I stilled for what felt like a lifetime. Slowly lifting my head, I studied him. His breathing was deep and he was for sure asleep.
I fought the urge to shake him and demand he tell me that again while he was awake. Instead, I nestled myself against him and held him until I finally drifted back to sleep.
The smell of bacon and coffee had me opening my eyes and stretching. It only took me half a second to remember where I was.
Maverick’s bed.
The memory of earlier this morning came back in a whoosh of emotions. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I had to squeeze the lids shut to keep them from falling. I was still dressed in Maverick’s T-shirt that I’d put on last night.
