Broken Hearts (Light in the Dark 5)

Joel’s and my business has been doing really well. It’s still a work in progress, it’s still a young business, but I think within the next year we’ll be able to do it full time.

“Give a big push, Nova,” Dr. Illias tells me. “You’re about to meet baby number one.”

Jace presses his lips to the side of my head. “Come on, baby.”

“Any last guesses on gender?” Dr. Illias asks. “I can tell you baby number one has a ton of blonde hair.”

I shake my head. The whole pregnancy I’ve had no guess whether it was two boys or two girls. It doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is they’re healthy. Jace and I decided early on we didn’t want to know the genders. Some things aren’t important.

“Push, push, push.”

I squeeze Jace’s hand and push with everything I have and then …

The most beautiful sound in the world fills the room.

Our baby’s cry.

“It’s a girl!”

I burst into tears and Jace kisses me.

“We have two daughters,” he breathes, awe in his voice and tears pooling in his eyes.

They take the baby to clean her up and after a brief break it’s time to push again.

I grip Jace’s hand and push as hard as I can, my heart beating rapidly.

“She’s right here,” Dr. Illias says. “Two more pushes and she’ll be here.”

I close my eyes and push, losing my breath.

“One more.”

I inhale and push again.

More crying fills the air and I open my eyes to see my squirming baby. Dr. Illias cleans out her mouth and turns her so we can see her. She’s squishy and pink and covered in goo, but she’s perfect.

They both are.

In a matter of minutes we’ve gone from the two of us, to the four of us.

They take the baby over to where her sister is to clean her up too.

Jace pushes my sweaty hair off my forehead and looks at me with awe.

“You’re the most amazing person I know.”

I laugh, my head sagging with exhaustion. “You must not know many people then.”

He smiles and kisses my forehead. “Only the important ones.” He gazes down at me, like he can’t believe this is real. “You’re the only person in the world I’d ever want a family with—thank you for giving me this.”

I take his hand. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“Never.” He bends and kisses me, stealing my breath.

“Mom, Dad, are you ready to see your girls?”

The nurse stands there holding both of our daughters.