Page 108 of Fighting Fate

“It should.”

“It came to me when I was going through the paperwork for the registry and passport office the other day…” Willow shrugs. “We really need to get all of that sorted in the next couple of weeks, otherwise Vegas is going to be a nightmare.”

“We’ll get it done.”

“Anyway, to me, he looks like a Finn. What do you think? Finneas Ronan Knight…” She muses with that face-scrunching, about to burst with happiness grin on her face.

Meanwhile, my chest squeezes tight as I glance down at our little boy sleeping on my chest. I never really thought about naming him after my father. However, the name suits him perfectly.

“I overheard the conversation you had with your mum the other day about how you wish your dad could be here to see him, and I know that naming him after him isn’t the same thing…” Letting out a breathy sigh, she cradles our son’s head gently with her hand while scooting deeper into my side as she sits on her heels and levels me with a dreamy gaze. “But I’d like to think that it’s a little piece of him that this little cutie gets to carry with him for the rest of his life.” A few skips of a beat, she asks, “What do you think?”

Incapable of saying anything, I nod. It’s a wonderful gesture on her part. Something that chokes me up and has me tongue-tied. Willow never ceases to amaze me with her big heart. It’s no surprise she guards it so dearly, because it is extraordinarily special. It’s a wonder, and I can’t believe that it’s entirely mine.

“Well?”

Dragging in a breath to steady myself, I cup her face, stroking over her cheek as she holds me with her expectant gaze. It doesn’t matter how hard I try to get the words out, it’s impossible. There’s nothing I can say that will truly express what it means.

All I can do is bring her closer until our foreheads are touching and our breaths are tickling our lips into smiles. This is something I could’ve never wished for. It’s something I never even imagined. So beyond my wildest dreams that I’m still floored every night that she falls asleep beside me and every morning I wake to her stealing the covers. I never thought I could feel the way I do about her. That I could need someone as intrinsically as I need my next breath to live.

“I love you,” I whisper over her lips.

Her breathy reply is instant and unequivocal. “I love you.”

Always.

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