I’m not sure what noise I make. It’s somewhere between a whimper and a cheer and a possessive growl. I feel like a beast who can finally stop fighting… until someone threatens my woman or our child, and then I’ll let the monster out of me again.
I grab onto my Kyra and squeeze myself against her, trying to melt into her, so there’s as little space between us as possible. I can’t get close enough as I envelop her completely.
“I’m going to take care of both of you. Always.”
“I know, Kayden. I’m always going to be here for you too.”
I grin, kissing the edge of her mouth. Her smile reflects mine. We hover in the moment, and I mentally record every little detail, the quirk of her eyebrows and the shape of her lips. Her scent. Her warmth against me. Her everything.
“So you’re not going to let me go all grumpy and get in another PR mess?” I ask, smirking.
She giggles and slaps at my chest. I didn’t think it was possible for her to get even more radiant, but it’s like she’s glowing, like all the light of our love is shining out of her rosy cheeks.
“I wouldn’t dream of that. You might have to do one of those awful shows again.”
“That was always just an act,” I tell her fiercely, the way I do any time this comes up in conversations.
“I know. I’m joking.”
“I know you are.” I laugh grimly. “But I can’t even let that exist as an idea. From the first time I saw you, I knew you were going to be the one for me. I knew you were going to give me a family.”
“Did you doubt me?” she whispers. “Because I doubted myself.”
“I never doubted my love for you.” I smooth the hair from her cheek. “I knew we’d always be together, no matter what. But I won’t lie. This is the best news you could’ve given me. I know you’re going to make an incredible mother.”
“Really?”
“Really,” I say forcefully. “You’re kind, caring. You always do the right thing. And you’ve got such a good heart.”
She places her hand on my chest, pressing down at first and then digging deep with her fingernails, as though she wants to keep me close. “Right back at you, Kayden.”
“If I’ve got a good heart, it’s only because you healed it.” I smile. “And I don’t care if that sounds cheesy.”
“When will you learn, huh? I love it when you’re cheesy. And hey, it is Valentine’s Day.”
She leans forward and brings her lips to mine.
I kiss her with more possessive fire than I ever have before, our lips moving together, our hearts beating as one, as our first child grows inside of her.
It’s a Valentine’s Day we will never forget.
Extended Epilogue
One and a Half Years Later
Kyra
I sit our son, Sebastian, on my knee. He’s a bouncy ball of beautiful energy, twisting and smiling up at me. He’s trying to shape words with his adorable lips, his eyes alight as I bob him up and down. He holds his yellow shovel and his yellow bucket, reaching down for the sand.
“You want to get down?”
He babbles adorably and I carefully place him on the blanket. I watch him with one eye as I scan the horizon, to where Kayden is swimming a few laps up and down the glistening West Coast ocean, the sun kissing the sea and making it shine.
We’re here so I can have some meetings with a few Hollywood Executives. I made a short film during my first semester in film school, just for fun, a little side project cataloging my experience of pregnancy. Zadie urged me to send it out, and I took her advice. It turns out a few people were interested.
But now the meeting is over and I’m free to be with my family. Kayden was able to arrange it so he could handle some West Coast business, so we’d be able to be here at the same time.
As I watch my husband stroke powerfully through the water, I think about our son’s name.
Sebastian.
He’s named after Kayden’s father, a mark of respect for the man who died so horribly.
Kayden hasn’t exactly changed since we got married and had a child… it’s more like long-hidden parts of him have emerged. He’s still the same fierce silver-haired beast at times, especially in the bedroom, when his hands are all over me and his hot breath paints my body.
But he’s able to be so tender, so gentle, so compassionate. Sometimes we lie together late at night after one of us has tended to Sebastian, and we just stare into each other’s eyes. Even if it’s dark and we can hardly make out the other, we gaze, we sink into each other. We hold each other and know we’re never going to be alone.