Big Man

“I still can’t believe you thought I forgot you,” I whisper, my voice low faux anger.

Grant laughs and rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe you thought I forgot you.” He reaches out with his free hand to cup my jaw. Gently draws me toward him and into a soft, slow kiss. “But hey,” he whispers against my mouth. “All that really matters is that we’ve finally both remembered, right?”

I smile and lean my forehead against his, our eyes still locked. “Believe me, Grant Werther. I’ll remember everything about you until the day I die.”

Epilogue

Grant Werther

One Month Later

I grip Sasha’s hand—or rather, allow her to grip mine, so tight that my fingers scream with protest. But I can’t complain. Really, really can’t. It’s nothing compared to what she’s feeling.

“Fucking hell,” she screams—or at least, I think that’s more or less the gist of it. It’s hard to tell, since she’s out of breath, and the morphine has made her a little bit loopy.

“Deep breaths,” I urge her, rubbing her back, smoothing her damp hair back from her forehead.

“One last push,” the doctor calls from the end of the table. It takes every ounce of self-restraint I have not to leap up from my seat, run down there with him to see. But I promised Sasha I’d hold her hand, stay with her. And no matter what, I always keep my promises to Sasha.

“Come on, honey,” I coax, and she turns a glare on me that could probably set half this room on fire.

But she does it, screams and tightens every muscle in her body, giving one last huge effort. Then I hear a sound that breaks and makes my heart all at once. A sound that changes my life forever. Both our lives.

All our lives.

I hear a high-pitched, wailing cry, and the nurses on either side of the doctor start clapping, even as he reaches up to cut the umbilical cord, starts wrapping the little bundle in his arms up in a towel.

I watch, my heart swelling, aching, so painfully full that I worry I’ll burst right here.

“It’s a girl,” the doctor says, and I turn to catch Sasha’s huge, amazing, gorgeous, sexy, beautiful as hell smile, a matching idiotic one spreading across my face too.

The doctor lays the baby in Sasha’s arms, and I kneel at her side, watching our little bundle of joy open tiny, baby blue eyes and coo at her mother. When those eyes meet mine, I know right in this moment I would lay down my life in a heartbeat for this baby girl. For Sasha.

For my family.

I’ve never felt so whole as I do in this moment.

“She’s beautiful,” I breathe. Sasha turns to face me then, and I have to catch my breath, stop myself from pulling her against me and kissing her until we’re both out of breath. “You’re beautiful,” I add, and she laughs and groans and leans back against the bed, eyes back on our beautiful baby once more, our little miracle.

“Bullshit,” Sasha says, her voice soft and weak. “I just pushed out a damn baby, I’m not beautiful right now.” She laughs.

But I cup her chin gently and turn her to face me once more, shaking my head hard. “Sasha,” I say, my voice low and serious. “You have never been more gorgeous than you are in this moment, right now.”

She swallows hard. Smiles, a little half-smile, my favorite kind. The secret ones she saves just for me. Then she lifts her arms, and my gaze drops to the other most gorgeous woman in the room.

“Do you want to hold her?” Sasha asks.

And my whole life begins, right now.

THE END