Then he kissed her and Lacy’s world opened up into a bright, beautiful place.
Epilogue
Lacy had a private room in the maternity ward at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden. Outside, it was snowing, but inside, there was a celebration going on.
Sam looked down at his wife, cuddling their newborn son, and felt everything in him surge with happiness. Contentment. The past few months had been full and busy and great. The restaurant opened in the fall and was already packed daily. The gift shop was a huge hit not only with the tourists, but also with the local artisans, and the lodge addition was nearly ready to take in guests.
But best of all was the time spent with Lacy. Rediscovering just how good they were together. They were living at her cabin, though they’d added so many rooms to the place, it was barely recognizable now. There were four more bedrooms, a couple of baths and a country kitchen that Lacy rarely wanted to leave. They had plans to fill that cabin with kids and laughter, and they’d gotten their start today.
“You were amazing,” he told her, bending down to kiss her forehead, the tip of her nose and then her lips.
Lacy smiled up at him. “Our son is amazing. Just look at him, Sam. Isn’t he beautiful?”
“Just like his mom,” Sam said, trailing the tip of one finger along his son’s cheek. He never would have believed how deeply, how completely, you could love a person not even an hour old. He was a father. And a very lucky man.
“He’s got your hair and my eyes. Isn’t that incredible? His own little person but a part of both of us.” She sighed happily and kissed her son’s forehead.
“How are you feeling?” Worry colored his words, but he could be forgiven for that. Hadn’t he just watched her work and struggle for eight hours to give birth? A harrowing experience he was in no hurry to repeat. “Tired? Hungry?”
She laughed a little at that, caught Sam’s hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “Okay, yeah, I could eat one of Maria’s steak sandwiches and swallow it whole. But I feel great. I have so much energy, I could get up and ski Bear Run.”
The fastest, most dangerous slope at Snow Vista. Shaking his head, he said, “Yeah. You can forget about that for a while.”
Lacy grinned and shrugged. “I suppose, but I’m really not tired.” Narrowing her gaze on him, she said, “But you’re exhausted. You should go home and rest.”
“I’m not going anywhere without you.” Thankfully, the hospital provided cots for new fathers to sleep on in their wives’ rooms. Though he’d have stayed, even if he’d had to sleep in the chair by her bed. He kissed her again, kissed the top of his son’s head, and then straightened and threw a glance at the door. “The family’s waiting to come in. You ready to face them?”
“Absolutely.”
He walked over, waved in the crowd of Wyatts and moved to the head of Lacy’s bed as everyone crowded around. His parents were beaming, his father clutching an impossibly bright purple teddy bear, his mother carrying a vase of sunshine-yellow roses. His sister, Kristi, was there, holding her husband Tony’s hand. The two of them had finally married last May, and Kristi was already pregnant with their first child.
“He’s gorgeous,” Connie Wyatt exclaimed.
“Handsome boy,” Bob agreed.
“What’s his name?” Kristi asked, looking from Lacy to Sam.
He looked down at his beautiful wife and smiled when she said, “You tell them, Sam.”
He dropped one hand to Lacy’s shoulder, linking them, making them the unit they’d become. Sam looked at his family and said, “His name is Jackson William Wyatt. Named for Jack and for Lacy’s dad.”
Sam watched his mother’s eyes well with tears and she didn’t try to stop them as they spilled along her cheeks even as she gave them both a proud smile. “Jack would be pleased. We are, aren’t we, honey?”
Bob Wyatt dropped one arm around his wife and pulled her in tight. “We are. It’s a good thing you’ve done, you two.”
Sam watched the family talk in excited whispers and half shouts. He saw Lacy hand baby Jack over to his mother and watched as she turned to Sam’s father and the two of them cuddled and cooed at their first grandchild.
Life was good. Couldn’t be better. All that was missing, he thought with a lingering touch of sorrow, was his brother. He wished that Jack could know somehow that they had survived his loss. Found happiness, in spite of missing him.