Page 125 of Seven of Hearts

I jotted down notes in my phone of what Leah’s preferences had been so I could make sure they were stocked at home before we were discharged as a family of three.

“I’m okay,” Leah said as I braced my arms beneath her armpits to help her ease back on to the mobility aid. “I know you want to be holding him right now.”

She was right. I wanted to hold him.

“You will always come first,” I said.

It was the truth. I wanted our son to feel safe and secure because of how undeniably I loved his mother. I wanted to prove that love to her every single day.

I was in it.

I was all in.

“Can you bring him to me?” Leah said when she got settled back in bed.

Eva slipped out, giving us some alone time.

“Hey, buddy,” I soothed as I scooped him out of the bassinet.

He let out soft grunts of displeasure at being jostled, but quickly settled when he was back in Leah’s arms.

She was looking at him, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

“You’re so beautiful,” I said as I eased into the bed beside her and tucked my arm around her shoulders. I pressed a kiss to her temple. “You did so good.”

“Wedid good,” she said as she gently stroked the baby’s chubby cheek with her finger, then looked up at me. “I couldn’t have done this without you. I wouldn’t have made it through without you.”

“You would have,” I said as she shifted as much as she could to lay her head in the crook of my shoulder and chest. “I’m just thankful you let me into your life.”

“He needs a name,” she said as she trailed her fingers over the tufts of dark hair peeking out beneath the tiny knitted hat. “We can’t just keep calling him ‘Baby.’”

I chuckled. “You’re probably right.”

A thought had taken root in my mind late last night as I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the call from the hospital to come.

“What do you think about naming him William?” I asked.

Leah glanced up at me. “You want to name him after Will?”

I nodded. “Maybe we call him ‘Liam’ for short, just so we don’t confuse the two. I just...Sometimes I think back and wonder if I would have ended up where my parents did if it hadn’t been for Will coming into my life. I don’t think I’d be ready to be a father if he hadn’t shown me what it means to be a man.”

“I like that,” she said as she stared down at his rounded cheeks and cupid’s bow lips. “Hi, Liam.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “We’re your mom and dad.”

“Liam Holloway has a nice ring to it,” I said, though I had something else in mind.

“I think we should stick with Solomon,” Leah said. “I want him to have your last name.”

“Yeah?”

She smiled. “Yeah.”

“Good,” I said as I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out the ring I had been holding on to for months. “Because I want you to have it too.”

“Logan,” she gasped, her arms tightening around Liam.

I held the ring between pinched fingers. “I tried to come up with the perfect plan. The right way to do this. The best words to say. But everything kept falling short because nothing is as perfect as the moments in life where we let go long enough to actually live.” A sharp laugh broke free from my chest. “All my life I’ve been searching for perfection. But it wasn’t something I could find in mitigating risk and playing it safe. I found perfection the day I found you. You’ve given me more than I could have ever dreamed of, and I will exhaust my last breath trying to be a man worthy of your goodness.”

“Please just ask me already,” she blubbered between sobs.

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