He would have argued—he knew nothing of love, and love had nothing to do with how their baby had been conceived, but this was no time for argument. Besides, it wasn’t as if he didn’t feel something for Philly. He wanted her, in bed and out of it, and knowing he had her now, knowing she was tied to him, was more satisfying than he could have imagined.
But that was hardly the same as love…
He watched Daphne’s eyes settle on her daughter, suddenly more alive and alight with possibilities than he had ever seen them, before she pulled her into an embrace, Philly laughing out loud with the reception to their news and the delight taken in it by her mother. Laughter merged with tears as they rocked together and, watching them, mother and daughter, his breath caught in his chest as if something had swung free, something hard-edged and heavy, that rammed against his lungs, winding him, before breaking off and plunging deep into his gut.
Philly’s eyes landed on his and her smile broadened as their hazel lights shone warm and real into his, setting the space inside him strangely aglow.
He felt a deep satisfaction and a good deal of pride, together with a whole plethora of unfamiliar emotions he couldn’t even begin to put a name to.
‘I can’t believe it,’ Daphne said, releasing her daughter from her arms only enough to take her hands in hers. ‘Remember that promise you made to me? That you even cared enough to make that promise meant so much but I never once thought it might actually happen.’
‘Promise?’ Damien shifted, noticing Philly’s back stiffen. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Oh, that,’ Philly replied, shakily trying to laugh it off, her eyes evading his. ‘It seems nothing now.’
‘Nothing?’ said her mother. ‘How can it be nothing, when your daughter promises you something you think only a miracle can deliver and yet she makes it happen? It’s truly a miracle.’
‘What did she promise you?’
‘Damien,’ said Philly, grabbing his hand. ‘Mum looks tired. I’ll tell you later.’
‘But Philly sounds such a wonderful daughter,’ he said, ignoring her attempts to stop him. ‘Tell me, Daphne, about how special my new bride is. What did she promise you?’
Daphne patted Damien on the hand, fresh tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.
‘Well, it was after Monty, Annelise and baby Thomas died in that terrible accident. I was so upset about the family, and about my grandson. It was so unfair—he was just so young. And I felt cheated. I was a grandmother and yet I’d never had the chance to be one. I never even got to hold him or to kiss his soft cheek or feel his tiny hand cling to my finger…’
Damien reached for her hand then and squeezed it, even though dread was seeping inside him, settling into dank, stagnant pools that banished the sensations of contentment and goodwill he’d been feeling just moments earlier.
She stared ahead, her vacant eyes fixed on a point in the middle distance. ‘Not a day goes by that I don’t wonder what he would be doing now or how he would be growing. Not a day goes by that I don’t feel the pain of his loss.’
She swallowed and turned her face back to Damien’s. ‘When they discovered my cancer was terminal I thought I’d never have the chance of holding a grandchild at all. But Philadelphia knew what it meant to me. She knew how much I yearned for another grandchild and she made me a promise.’
She blinked rapidly, clearing the tears from her eyes as she took a deep breath. He held his.
‘It seems quite mad now yet it meant so much to me at the time—and now? Well, maybe it wasn’t so mad, after all. I remember it was my birthday and I was feeling particularly sad and she promised me then that she would do anything she could to make me happy and that I wasn’t going anywhere without holding her baby first.’
‘She said she would do—anything?’ He directed the half-statement half-question to Daphne but his eyes were searching for the answer on Philly’s face, waiting for her to deny it but knowing by the fear in her swirling hazel eyes that she couldn’t.
‘Yes.’ Daphne chuckled, oblivious to the sudden tension now crackling in the air between the newlyweds. ‘I don’t know what Philadelphia had in mind. I thought once the wedding with Bryce fell through that there was no chance but then, as luck would have it, you turned up.’
‘As luck would have it.’
His voice was icy and flat, a slippery track she felt herself sliding along, further and further away from him.
‘And I’m a very lucky woman because of it. But now I must rest. So, if you’ll excuse me…’