Page 52 of Dark As Coal

Our baby was still there, its heart beating strongly.

My woman was still breathing on her own. Her heart was still beating a rhythm that only I understood.

But it wasn’t right in my world because my woman’s eyes were not shining brightly.

She wasn’t smiling while calling me Coal Baby.

No, all she was doing was lying in that hospital bed, resting, and breathing.

I had her right hand in mine, holding on as tight as I could without hurting her.

Closing my eyes, I rested my head on her thigh, took in a deep breath, and let it out.

That was when I heard the most amazing sound in the entire world, my head snapped up, and my eyes went right to her face, seeing those shockingly, mesmerizing, sea-green eyes of hers, her words, washed through me, “We’ve gotta stop meeting like this.”

I chuckled, then stood, leaned in so my face was a breath from hers, with my hand braced beside her face, my other hand cupped her cheek, I titled my head and pressed the softest kiss upon her lips.

When we broke apart, I whispered, “Fucking missed you, Soulshine.”

“Missed you too, Coal Baby.” Not once did I berate her for the name, she started calling me.

I wouldn’t ever do it.

Because never hearing it again from her lips had been a real possibility hours earlier.

Fuck. That.

My eyes were trained on hers, and at her words, I couldn’t help but smile, that was my woman, “Umm, Coal?”

Still smiling, I asked, “Yeah, Soulshine?”

She lifted her left hand and asked, “Wanna tell me what this is on a very important finger on my left hand?”

I smirked, “What’s it look like?”

That was when she smirked, “The fifth greatest thing I’ve ever seen?”

I lifted a brow, “Yeah, and what’s before that?”

She smiled, “Well, the first greatest thing I’ve ever seen is your eyes. Second, it’s your smile. By the way, your full-blown one is in the same running as when your eyes crinkle at the corners. Third, it’s the look on your face when you come inside of me. And the fourth thing is the look in your eyes every time I tell you I love you.”

“Well, that’s all good, because all of it is a requirement,” I stared simply, waiting for her to correctly fall into the hole she had dug herself in.

And that was when she asked, “Wanna explain that?”

I shook my head, wanting to say something first, and muttered, “Fuck. But I’ve missed you.”

She smiled, but then lost that smile, and I knew what was coming, and I wasn’t wrong. “I missed you, too. Now, explain.”

Smirking, I said, “It would be my pleasure. It’s all a requirement of being my wife. So, you see, since you already met ‘em all by your words, what’s the point in me asking you?”

And my woman who could spit words like it was nobody’s business simply shook her head and whispered, “Fucking caveman.”

I grinned, “Yours. All yours.” I brought her hand to my mouth and kissed her knuckles.

“There’s something I want to talk to you about,” she said, and then still holding her hand I pressed it to the side of my face and gave her my undivided attention.

She smiled, “So when we first met in the hospital three years ago, it umm, it wasn’t the first time I ever saw you.”

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