Page 118 of Sweet Escape
“You were gone.” His gravelly voice is broken up by intense sobs, and my heart lurches in my chest.
“I’m right here, baby.”
“I almost lost you.”
“You didn’t.”
“I almost lostbothof you.”
I’m uncertain whether he’s talking to me or himself at this point, but I let him pour every ounce of his pain into me, sharing the fear, hurt, and heart-wrenching relief until his sobs slow to uneven breaths.
“Your heart stopped. Did you know that? Your heart fucking stopped, and mine did, too.” His voice cracks. “I thought… Ithought I’d never get to see your smile again, hear you laugh. Our home would never smell like cupcakes, and I wouldn’t get to see you picking daisies with our girls. I watched our future disappear right before my eyes, and I wasterrified, Liv.”
I release him, stepping up to his side. “I’m here. We’re okay.”
Reluctantly pulling free from Gracie’s grasp, he tugs me to him and rests his chin on my head, holding me against his chest as he inhales deeply. I stare down at the perfect little bundle, watching her chest rise and fall. Her impossibly long lashes flutter against her cheeks.
When Wilder finally lets go, he glances between me and Gracie, then reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small slip of paper. He lifts my hand and flattens my palm, placing it there. I take it between my thumb and forefinger, reading the faded words on the time-worn parchment.
“Love doesn’t have to be once in a lifetime.”
“It wasn’t blank.”
He shakes his head. “No. It wasn’t blank. It was everything I never dared to hope for. Everything I never wanted. It wasyou, Liv.”
I suck in a sharp breath, unable to speak, but I don’t have to because Wilder speaks for me.
“I love you. Don’t youeverfucking leave me again.” His lips collide with mine.
I taste his salty tears on my tongue, mingling with my own. Two broken souls inextricably linked.
When he pulls back, I look into those fathomless eyes of his, seeing the truth of his confession; it’s a truth I once thought was beyond my reach. “I love you, too.”
Chapter 34
Guiding Light
?My Girl - Joy Oladokun
Wilder
The door creaks open,and I set my sights on Olivia sitting in Mama’s rocking chair, a crescent-shaped pillow on her lap as she cradles Gracie against her breast. The moonlight streams through a gap in the curtains, casting an angelic halo over my girls. Liv’s staring down at our baby girl with something like obsession in her blue irises.
I crouch before them, pressing my lips to Gracie’s head. “She’s asleep,” Liv says. “Using my nipple as a pacifier.”
“Do you want me to take her so you can go get some sleep?”
She shakes her head. “Don’t think I can let her go just yet.”
I sink to the floor, resting my back against the wall beneath the window, propping my forearms on my knees. “Tonight might not be the night, Liv. We can take her back to sleep in the bassinet in our room again.”
Gracie spent two weeks in the NICU, and we’ve been home for nearly amonth. Every night for the last week, Olivia has tried and failed to put Gracie down in her crib. And every night, I find them here like this until she agrees to come back to bed and try again tomorrow.
“But you did all this work. It would be a waste not to use it.”
“I’d much rather have you and Gracie in there with me, I promise.”
She doesn’t argue anymore. “Five more minutes.”
