Page 275 of Beyond the Blue Horizon
Baby gates had been installed on both the bottom and top, and Theo walked directly into the room that we’d prepared for Finn.
Together, we’d picked out the bedding and decorations, and Raven, Charleigh, and Emery had helped me paint it.
Finn squealed and squirmed the second we stepped inside. “Finn’s room?”
“That’s right, little man.” Theo set him down, and he knelt in front of him, holding onto his tiny shoulders with those massive hands. “This is your room. A place where you know you’re always safe.”
I knew that Finn didn’t quite get it, but the only thing that mattered was that he didfeelsafe as he nodded again and turned and raced into the room. He darted from one area to the next, going through the toys in the toybox and the books that had been placed on a built-in bookshelf.
“You like it?” Theo asked.
Finn jumped onto his toddler bed that was covered in owl bedding. “Iwuvit, myFeo.”
Theo crossed the room and pressed a kiss to his head. “And I love you.”
Finn beamed up at him and patted his chest. “I got a happy heart.”
Theo cupped Finn’s cheek and murmured, “Yeah. Me, too, little man. I’ve got the happiest heart there could ever be.”
Hours later, I was in the massive closet, hanging my clothes on hangers.
The night murmured its comfort.
Nelly was downstairs in her room, and Finn had been long asleep in his right down the hall.
I leaned down and grabbed the last shirt from my suitcase, situated it on a hanger, then hooked it on the rod.
I zipped up the suitcase and tucked it into the corner where Theo kept his.
My chest expanded when I realized I didn’t ever have to use it again.
Not unless I wanted to.
I no longer had to run, and if I traveled and wandered, it would be because I was exploring with my family.
Beside Theo.
That energy suddenly washed over me from behind.
Powerful.
Profound.
So perfectly overwhelming as it wrapped me whole.
I glanced back to find Theo leaning against the doorjamb of the closet with his hands tucked in his pockets.
So brutally beautiful he never failed to rob the air from my lungs.
“You gonna miss that thing?” He dipped his attention to the suitcase.
I looked back at it. “I think I could never leave this house and be just fine.”
Then I lifted my gaze back to him. “But honestly, it doesn’t matter where I am. As long as I’m with you, then I’m happy.”
Theo pushed from the jamb and slowly moved my way.
The ground trembled beneath my feet.
