Page 93 of Sin and Redemption

“Ambra,” I whispered.

Maximus stared at her, then at me and back at her. “Ambra.”

I leaned back against the tree and unbuttoned my cardigan with trembling fingers, then tugged my boob out of my top. I reached for Ambra and put her on my chest. She immediately latched onto my breast. I covered her with my cardigan to keep her warm. Maximus removed his sweater and covered us with it. “I should get help,” he said, a bit out of it. He pulled out his phone as if he didn’t know that the signal was almost nonexistent in this spot. He knelt beside us. “What—”

Bacon let out a warning bark.

Steps rang out, and Maximus shot to his feet, reaching for his gun. Bacon began wagging his tail.

“It’s me. I heard screaming,” Cara said as she stepped into view with wide eyes as they settled on me and Ambra. She held a shotgun in her hand and had three pit bulls with her. The fourth hadn’t survived the attack, and they hadn’t yet taken in another family dog. When the dogs moved forward with interest, Bacon stepped in their way and bared his teeth. With a snap of her fingers, the pit bulls returned to Cara’s side.

“Oh wow,” she breathed. “I’ll run back to the house and call your midwife and the doc. Can you carry them?”

“Of course,” Maximus rumbled. He bent over me and lifted me into his arms with Ambra still on my chest. She was still connected to me with the umbilical cord.

“You’ll get dirty. I’m bleeding.”

“It’s fine,” Maximus said gruffly, his eyes locking on mine with warmth and concern.

I tore my gaze away from Ambra and glanced down at the small cross. Deep down, I knew it was a sign that Ambra had decided to be born here, and it filled the last crack that had remained in my heart.

I huddled on the comfy couch. Cara had prepared tea for me and turned on the heater, though it wasn’t very cold in the house.

Maximus had pulled a kitchen chair up to the sofa and was watching Ambra and me.

I stroked her cheeks, her forehead, her tiny nose, loving how squishy she looked pressed against my boob as she drank. I’d never felt more…arrived. As if I’d finally found my true purpose. Eventually, she stopped nursing and blinked up at me sleepily.

The midwife and doc had already left. Maximus had cut through the umbilical cord, and I’d changed into clean clothes while the doc and midwife had checked on a protesting Ambra and me.

“Do you want to hold her?” I asked Maximus.

Maximus gave me a look as if the question took him completely off guard. He wiped his hands on his jeans and nodded. He rose to his feet, and with my help, he lifted our tiny daughter into his arms.

“Are they always this small?” he asked, worried. Cara watched with teary eyes, then slipped out and left us alone.

I bit my lip. “She’s average size.”

Maximus’s brows puckered. “No, nothing about you is average, Ambra. You are magnificent.”

The floodworks opened, and I cried.

Maximus raised his head, alarmed. “Are you in pain? Should I call the doc?” He reached for his phone, but I quickly put my hand on his to stop him.

“No, I mean, I am, but I’m fine. I just… I’m just happy.”

Maximus nodded, still with an air of confusion.

“I’m really tired. Can we go up to the bedroom? I don’t think I can return to our apartment tonight.”

Maximus handed me Ambra again, then carried us both up the stairs. He put us gently down on the bed, then stretched out beside us. He too had changed out of his dirty clothes when the doc and midwife were here. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I leaned my head against him. Ambra had fallen asleep on top of me in the bonding shirt that my midwife had given me. I loved the skin-on-skin contact, and I could tell that Ambra did too.

Maximus shook his head and blew out a breath. “I never understood when people said their whole world turned upside down because they became parents. I do now.”

I nodded because I felt different. I felt protective of Ambra, and a love so unconditional and powerful took my breath away.

I met Maximus’s gaze. “It hasn’t always been easy, and our beginning was tough. But now, knowing where it leads us, I’d do it all over again. I’d live through every dark moment, every fear, and every second of pain just to arrive right here, right this moment.”

How could I match this declaration? I took after Dad when it came to my emotions. It made me feel uncomfortable and as if I was deeply out of my element. I wasn’t good with words, especially if they were supposed to encompass the enormity of my feelings.

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