Page 127 of Seven of Hearts

“We’re sure,” I said on an exhale as the weight of the day began to sink in. “Because I want my son to know that he has a dad who loves him because my brother-in-law chose to be one.”

Will pulled me into a hug.

“I’m gonna make you proud,” I said. “I swear.”

“Logan, there hasn’t been a day that I’ve known you where I haven’t been proud of the man that you are. Not a single one.” He clapped his hands on my shoulders and turned me to see Kristin putting Liam back in Leah’s arms. “Now. Makethemproud.”

EPILOGUE

LEAH

“Ithought you said this was going to be a quick trip,” Logan said as he hefted another tote bag onto his shoulder.

I bounced between my feet to keep Liam calm while Logan unloaded the car. He was snuggled up against my chest in a stretchy wrap that Maddie had given me.

“It is,” I said as I smoothed my hand over Liam’s tufts of dark hair. “I just want to show him the beach.”

Logan managed to shut the car door with the toe of his sneaker. “Then why are we bringing half of the house with us?”

Maybe I had gone a little overboard.

The diaper bag was a necessity, but the second one with six outfits, three bottles, and thirty diapers might have been overkill. The beach bag with towels, a pop-up sun shade, and toys for the sand was probably overkill too.

Liam was only two months old. He was still an adorable, snuggly grub worm. We had been waiting for a warm evening so we could drive out to the beach to put his toes in the sand for the first time.

The warm air was unusual for early April, but I didn’t want to pass it up.

I was still on maternity leave, but the three of us were slowly falling into a new normal. After a long and arduous recovery from my C-section, I was starting to enjoy getting out of the house. Still, I hadn’t ventured out much past short walks to Steve and Erica’s house or quick trips to Kristin and Will’s.

“How about this,” Logan said as he dropped the beach tote and slid the second diaper bag off his shoulder. “He’s been fed. You just changed him. We’re going to be out there for—what? Twenty minutes?”

My spirit fell. “I just wanted to be prepared.”

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I know. So how about we bring the diaper bag just in case? And if we need anything else, I’ll come back and get it.”

“Maybe bringing five full-size beach towels was a bit much...I just didn’t know if he’d want to stretch out.”

Logan’s smile was kind as he put the bags back in the car. “He’s in his favorite place right now. Chances are, he’ll hate the way sand feels on his toes and he’ll want to go right back onto your chest.”

With the haul shoved back into the car, Logan took my hand and led us down the beach access boardwalk.

“You all right?” Logan asked as he paused at the end of the wooden walkway that dropped off into deep drifts of dry sand.

My incision site ached just thinking about trudging through it. “Yeah,” I said with as much fake confidence as I could muster. “Just taking a breather.”

“We can do this another day,” he said. “Or I can carry him so you don’t have the extra pressure on you.”

I worked it over in my mind. “Maybe you should carry him.”

Logan dropped the diaper bag on the boardwalk and cuddled Liam against his chest while I untangled myself from the baby carrier. We swapped, me taking Liam while Logan got the carrier tied securely around his torso. When Liam was snug as a bug, Logan picked up the diaper bag and took my hand.

“Let me know if you need to stop. Okay?”

We took it slow, pausing every so often so that I could rest and catch my breath. Finally, we made it down to the wet sand that was packed and easy to walk on.

Golden hour was my favorite time of day. The sun was brilliant, painting the waves and shore in pinks and oranges.

Logan dropped the diaper bag and wrapped his arms around me from behind, sandwiching Liam between us.

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