Page 95 of His to Destroy

"I don’t need more," she whispers. "I just need you."

There’s a soft shuffle of feet in the hallway.

Both Almeria and I turn our heads toward the sound.

A moment later, Luca appears, standing in the doorway to the living room, rubbing his sleepy eyes with the back of his hand.

He’s wearing a set of pajamas a size too big, the pant legs puddling around his ankles.

He clutches his stuffed tiger against his chest, looking so small, so heartbreakingly innocent, that my heart feels like it might burst.

"Can I..." he mumbles, his voice thick with sleep, "sleep with you guys tonight?"

Almeria smiles and opens her arms.

Without hesitation, Luca rushes over, climbing into her lap and curling against her side.

She strokes his hair gently, murmuring soft reassurances.

I shift to make room, wrapping my arm around both of them, tucking them in close.

Luca yawns, blinking up at me.

"Goodnight, Dad," he whispers.

I lean down and press a kiss to his forehead.

"Goodnight, son."

His smile is small and sleepy but pure.

Within minutes, he’s fast asleep, his small body rising and falling in the steady rhythm of dreams.

I glance over at Almeria, and she meets my gaze, her eyes shining.

There’s so much emotion between us—love, gratitude, fear, hope—that it feels like the air around us hums with it.

I lean in and kiss her—soft, slow.

A silent promise.

She kisses me back, her fingers twining with mine over Luca’s sleeping form.

When we finally pull apart, we don’t speak.

We just lie there, the three of us, tangled together under the thin summer blanket.

A family.

Built not on blood.

But by choice.

On love.

On battle-scarred hope.

And as I close my eyes, listening to the steady, perfect rhythm of their breathing, I know with a certainty deeper than anything I’ve ever known:

---