“One-hundred percent,” Maggie says firmly, her hand still gripping mine. “You’re going to have a baby, Saoirse.”
Before the night that Connor came home and everything changed, I would have had mixed feelings about it, glad for the promise of a baby, but also sad that it meant the ending of things between Connor and me. But now—
Now there’s nothing to be sad about. There’s only happiness, only the promise of the future we’ll make for ourselves and our child. Happy tears well up in my eyes as I lean my head back, relief and joy washing over me.
“I have to see him,” I whisper. “Please. I need to.”
I can tell that neither of them thinks that it’s a good idea, but Maggie finally gives in, calling a nurse for a wheelchair. After a lot of hemming and hawing, checking my vitals, and determining if I’m really strong enough to be mostly unhooked and allowed to wheel down to Connor’s room, the three of them manage to maneuver me gently into the chair. Regardless of how careful they are, every bone and muscle in my body screams in protest, but I don’t care. I need to see Connor, and he needs to hear the news from my lips before any nurses, or anyone else has the chance to tell him.
I slowly make my way down to his room, and the moment I see him lying there in the hospital bed, I’m hit with a wave of realization of everything I could have lost. I’ve felt it before when I saw him falling from the fire escape as he fled the burning warehouse, but this feels even more immediate, more real.
I could have lost him forever. I could have died, and our story could have ended here.I love him,I think, the emotion welling up as I wheel into his room, and at the sound of the door opening, he turns his head, looking over at me.
I’m not sure that I’ll ever forget the moment that Connor’s eyes meet mine, and he realizes that I’m there. They widen briefly, his lips parting as he sucks in a breath, and as I wheel forward, he reaches for my hand the instant I get close.
“Saoirse,” he whispers, his broad hand squeezing mine. “I thought I lost you.”
“Ithought I lostyou,” I manage, choking back tears. “I didn’t even know what happened until I woke up, and Caterina—” I look at the bandages on his chest and shoulder, feeling a deep throb of pain at the thought of how close he must have come to dying. “Does it hurt?”
“Well, it doesn’t feel good,” Connor says with a wry half-smile. “But I’ll live, and that’s the most important thing. I wasn’t sure about that at first.”
“It sounds like no one was.” I squeeze his hand tighter. “We just made up. You can’t die on me now; that’s not fair.”
“Well, thankfully, they missed my heart. Wrong side,” Connor says, still grinning lopsidedly as he reaches over to tap the right side of his chest. “I’m surprised they thought I had one at all, coming after me like that.”
I grasp immediately what he’s getting at. “You think it’s the same person who might have set fire to the warehouse and stole some of your merchandise?”
Connor nods. “I don’t have proof. But Jacob and Quint will be busy at work getting that evidence. I think it’s connected—it doesn’t make sense any other way. I survived the fire, so they decided to take me out more directly. But I’m tough to kill.” He pats my hand. “Don’t worry, Saoirse, you’re stuck married to me for a good long while.”
“I’m fine with that,” I assure him, clinging to his hand as tightly as he’s clinging to mine. “What if it’s Liam’s doing?” I ask softly, knowing it has to be said, even as horrible as the idea is.
Connor shakes his head. “It’s not. He wouldn’t do that. I can’t believe it even for a second. Someone who believes themselves on his side, maybe. But he wouldn’t order such a thing.”
“I hope you’re right,” I murmur. “I can’t imagine him doing it, either.”
We sit there for a moment, his hand clasped in mine, and then I look at him with my heart in my throat, unable to hold it back a second longer.
“Connor,” I whisper, threading my fingers through his. “I have to tell you something.”
He turns his head towards me, his blue eyes searching mine, and I can feel the room narrowing down to just the two of us, everything else disappearing. It’s everything I wanted, this feeling of it being us and no one else—lovers, partners, husband and wife, against anything that could ever come for us.
“I’m pregnant,” I whisper, and I see his eyes widen for a brief second before happiness suffuses his face, and he pulls me closer, sliding my chair across the tile floor as he tugs on my hand, one hand coming up to touch my cheek.
“You’re sure?” he asks, and I nod, choking back tears.
“I’m sure. And the baby’s safe.” I press my free hand to my stomach, looking into his eyes. Nothing’s changed yet, my body feels just like always, but I can feel something in me that’s different all the same. “We’re going to be a family, Connor.”
His eyes are shining too, and he cups my face in his broad palm. “I wish we weren’t in a hospital right now, both so banged up that I can’t touch or kiss you properly,” he says hoarsely. “But I’m so fucking glad we found out after—”
“After things changed between us,” I finish, my eyes brimming with tears. “So am I. It’s all different now.”
“I’m going to talk to Liam,” Connor promises. “Just as soon as I’m out of here. Our fresh start will still happen, Saoirse. I promise.” His thumb skims gently over my cheekbone. “I love you,” he murmurs. “When I felt that pain from the bullet, when I fell, my last thought was of you. My last regret was that so much of our time was spent fighting each other instead of seeing how good we were together. I’m not going to make that same mistake again.”
“Neither will I,” I promise in return, still clinging to his hand. “I love you too, Connor. Always.”
He smiles at me, and we sit there for a long moment in the silence, glad just to be alive and together, after everything.
All that’s left now is to go home.