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I blinked in surprise. “Ryder?”
Amara turned and gave me a watery smile. “As long as you promise it’ll be my last name one day too.”
I grinned broadly enough to strain my face muscles, and then I bent and planted a tear-soaked kiss on Amara’s mouth.
“Whatever you want, Princess.”
“This is all I want,” she said quietly, returning her attention to our daughter and drawing mine there too. “You, me, and Cora.”
“Me too, baby. Me too.”
We had twelve hours with just the three of us before the Delatou family descended. I’d called my parents last night to tell them they had a granddaughter, and they were excited, of course, but it was nothing compared to the sheer joy Leon and Lena Delatou brought with them to the hospital.
They’d just gone through this six weeks ago with Chloe, who had also given birth to a baby girl they named Aleah, but I doubted the shine of being grandparents would ever wear off for them both. As far as in-laws went, or whatever the I-promise-to-make-an-honest-woman-out-of-your-daughter-one-day equivalent was, I couldn’t have asked for better. Despite the drama when Amara made the announcement that we were expecting, despite the firing and the breakup and the getting back together, Leon and Lena had quickly welcomed me wholly into the fold. I was no longer that expendable employee I’d been for the first five years of my tenure with Delatou, Inc., and for that I was thankful.
Now, though, I was officially part of the family, and they were never getting rid of me.
Especially since I no longer worked for Delatou, Inc.
After our reconciliation, Amara and I had a long and difficult talk about how she wasn’t giving me my job back. At the time, it had been a gut punch, but when she explained her reasoning, I could admit it made sense. We’d have enough on our plates with baby Cora now, too much to add any potential work disagreements to the mix.
Thankfully, Owen had been ready and waiting to offer me a job as his financial manager and advisor, a position I settled into quickly and happily. Working with my best friend was much easier than working with Amara had ever been—mostly because I didn’t want to fuck him, and he didn’t fight me at every turn. Now that the distillery was open, we were moving onto our next project. The work was fresh and exciting, and I got to be home every night for dinner with my girl.
Now mygirls.
True to form, Lena went straight for Cora, who was resting peacefully in my arms. She didn’t even ask before taking her from me. Anyone else, that would’ve pissed me off, but I knew Lena was just too excited for formalities.
Leon, meanwhile, made a beeline for his daughter, who was looking much better today after a shower and that massage I’d promised, which I’d given her while Cora slept for a few hours last night.
He murmured something to her, pressed a kiss to her forehead, then moved to his wife’s side to take in his new granddaughter.
The sisters filtered in one by one not long after, and soon the room was filled with coos and crying—and that was mostly from the sisters. Cora, for her part, was completely content being passed between the arms of her grandparents and aunties, who she already had wrapped around her teeny tiny fingers.
I couldn’t wait to get both of them home, to settle Cora into her nursery and start the rest of our lives. Amara and I had moved in together by the time the first snow fell, and in the intervening five months between early November and now, we’d quickly settled into a rhythm that worked perfectly for us. I was anxious and excited to add Cora to the mix.
Once everything was out in the open between us, things were just…easy.
It was easy to love someone who had seen every part of you—good and bad—and loved you through all of it.
That was us. Perfect because of our flaws.
Win or lose, it would always be us together. Side by side, fingers laced, shoulders squared against whatever the world wanted to throw at us.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Mar?”
Cal’s soft voice filtered down the hall, greeting me through the open door. I moved toward it, peeking my head out. “In here,” I whispered.
He rubbed his tired eyes as he approached, then followed me inside.
“What’re you doing?” he asked quietly.
I moved deeper into the room, coming to a stop and staring down at the most perfect thing I’d ever seen in my life.
My daughter.
“She’s one,” I whispered back, not bothering to hide the emotion choking me up. “Our baby is one.” I turned to him then, my vision going blurry with unshed tears. “How is that possible?”
