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"Abigail Hayley Casarazzi," I whispered, feeling more love in this moment than I ever thought I could. "Goddamn, Hope Carter, it's you and me, baby. Lifers."

"Ride or die, right?" she shot back, smiling.

"Ride or die, baby," I confirmed with a wink.

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Chapter Seventy

Hope

At 6:38am on the fourteenth of February, weighing a hefty nine pounds six ounces, Abigail Hayley Casarazzi made her grand entry into the world, having come very close to being born in the middle of a crime scene.

Thankfully, she was brought into the world at St. Luke's Hospital in Boulder by an actual doctor with an MD and not the overly helpful, criminal gang member Gonzalez had vouched for.

Childbirth was by far the most amazing feeling I had ever experienced – the most painful too – made bearable by the fact that herfatherwas in the room and by my side the entire time.

Her father wasthere.

Alive.

In the hours since she was born, Hunter told me everything; explaining every single mind-blowing detail from the night he 'died' at the Ring of Fire to his return to Boulder last night.

When he told me, I was stunned.

I was angry.

I wanted to shout at him.

Ididshout at him.

I was so unbelievably overwhelmed about the whole ordeal that I actually threw up in a disposable bed pan.

And then I cried in his arms for what felt like an eternity, before I dared to allow myself to acknowledge the truth that he was reallyhere.

He really came back to me.

Not only had Hunter come back home to me, alive and breathing, but he had managed to do the impossible.

David was finally gone.

He was dead.

Hunter did that.

He did that for me.

For our daughter.

He kept his promise.

And he was still right by my side, keeping his promises, loving me andonly me, giving me protection, nurturement, loyalty, support, and unconditional love.

Sure, he was capable of terrible things, but he was one hell of a good man.

For several hours after Abigail's birth, Hunter and I locked ourselves away from the rest of the world, together with the baby we had created, holding onto each other because we knew how unbelievably lucky we were to have been given a second chance.

Because there had been a time in both our lives when we thought we would never see each other again, and we refused to take it for granted.

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