Page 51 of Prairie Nights

He nipped her ear playfully, making her squirm in his arms. “Tell me,” he insisted, planting sweet kisses along the column of her neck.

“I can’t tell you, but I can show you,” she replied, turning to face him.

His eyebrows raised in curiosity, she turned to face him. “Put out your hand,” she insisted, her eyes dancing in the moonlight.

Hayden obliged, and she reached into her pocket, handing him a wooden star ornament.

“What’s this?” he asked, as he squinted to read what it said in the dim light. “Baby’s first Christmas. Sorry to tell you, Whit, but this is Bodhi’s second...” His eyes widened as realization hit and his eyes darted from the ornament to meet her gaze.

“Are you ready for number four?” she asked, her face glowing with excitement as she added. “And dear lord, please let this one be a girl!” She exclaimed, looking to the heavens.

Hayden laughed and wrapped her in his arms, leaning down to capture her lips in a breathtaking kiss. Pulling back, Hayden looked deep into her eyes, shiny with happy tears. “Thank you, Whitney, for our beautiful family.”

Whitney stared up at Hayden, the man she loved more than life itself. A man who healed her heart and gave her a second chance at love. A man who promised her a beautiful life and delivered. Her wish on that shooting star under that glorious prairie night so many years ago, had come true.

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