Headstrong Like Us (Like Us 6)

Fair Warning: if you fuck with our son, we’ll wipe you from the face of existence.

It takes me a second to look away from Ripley. But I sweep the sky one more time, breathing in the crisp air.

And Farrow smiles over at me, a drop dead gorgeous one.

My heart is so damn full. “You think Ripley will be more like you or me?”

“Both.” He bites on a camelbak spout, lips quirked. “I have a feeling he’ll be headstrong like us.”

“Yeah.” I smile. “I think he’s already there.” I eye Farrow more. My husband. Christ—my brain is never going to get over that. “Need a break?” I ask him and gesture to our baby on his back.

“Not yet, wolf scout.” He’s still smiling. “I’m waiting for you to point something else out to our son.”

I near him. “There’s the sky.”

“Wrong thing.” He catches my hand, our fingers instinctively threading.

I feign confusion. “Has to be the trees, then.”

“Not your little trees.”

I gesture to his chest. “Then it’s you. The guy who loves to irritate the fuck out of me.”

“He already knows me, but good air-ball. Throw again.” His eyes stroke mine in loving affection.

I know exactly what to point out. The significance of this place.

And maybe I should say the words to Ripley, but in this moment, I can’t look away from my husband, our eyes already welling. “This is where we said I love you for the first time.”

His smile stretches from cheek-to-cheek, and he holds my face with two hands. Breathing life into my lungs. I clutch the crook of his neck as Farrow whispers into a kiss, “And I’ll always love you, wolf scout.”

I’ve never been happier.

Never loved stronger or more.

Dear World, thanks for the love. See you next time. Love your friendly neighborhood human, Maximoff Hale