These questions and more whirled a destructive path through my brain as I stepped into the backyard. I glanced around until I saw Lilliana running toward me. She threw her arms around my waist and grabbed my hand.
“Come on,” she said. “There’s food.”
“Sounds great, kiddo,” I told her. “But I need to find your mom first. Do you know where she is?”
“She’s talking to her cousin or something,” Lilliana said. She pointed toward the back fence. I followed her finger and saw Piper standing in front of a young woman. They were talking animatedly.
“I’ll be right back,” I promised Lili.
“Okay,” she shrugged and ran off to play. I made my way across the backyard, nodding and smiling to people as I passed. I recognized a few people there, but most of them were strangers. It was a full-fledged Prewitt reunion. There were people everywhere, but I only had eyes for Piper.
“Hey!” she said when she saw me approaching. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I smiled and hugged her quickly. Her cousin was still standing in front of us and I didn’t want to talk with her there.
“Mel,” Piper said. “This is Logan, Lilliana’s father.”
“Oh my God, so nice to finally meet you,” Mel said. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she extended her hand to me. I shook it and smiled widely. Suddenly, everything began to click into place.
Hearing Piper call me Lilliana’s father made everything seem clear. There wasn’t anything I wanted more than Piper and Lili. I couldn’t imagine my life without the two of them in it. In that moment, I knew that staying in Bradberry wasn’t an option. I knew exactly what I needed to do.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said to Mel before I turned my attention to Piper. “Piper, can we talk somewhere?”
“Sure,” she said. She waved at Mel and led the way over to the garage. We slipped inside and she turned to face me with a worried expression. “What is it? Is everything okay?”
“It’s more than okay,” I smiled. “I just realized something.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
I took a step forward and grabbed her hands. I held them tightly and stared into her face, memorizing the way her blue eyes looked in that moment.
“I want to come with you,” I said bluntly.
“Come with me?” She asked blankly.
“To New York,” I explained. “I want to go with you. You and Lili.”
“Logan…”
“Just listen, okay?” I said. “After everything that’s happened this week, I can’t stand to be away from either of you. We already agreed that I would be in Lili’s life, but that’s not enough. I don’t want to see her on weekends or holidays. I want to be with her every day. I want to watch her grow up. I want to help raise her.”
“I want that, too,” Piper said with a smile.
“And I want you,” I said quickly. “It’s not enough to just be Lili’s dad. I want to be with you, Piper. I’ve always wanted that. No matter what has happened these past few years, that’s always been true. You are the love of my life. You are the reason I’m here, the reason I’m still alive after everything I’ve been through. I can’t lose you again.”
“Logan,” she said. She stepped closer to me and smiled. “I was already going to ask you to come.”
I laughed and lunged forward. I grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off the ground.
She was mine.
Epilogue
Piper
One Year Later
“Lili, get a move on,” I yelled up the stairs. “You’ll be late for school!”