Page 49 of The Scars I Bare

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The list didn’t distract my eyes for too long before they settled back on the one word in the letter I couldn’t keep from noticing.

Love.

Love, Lizzie.

I swallowed hard as my heart clenched under the weight of that single word because I knew what it meant to this little girl.

I wasn’t just jumping into one life here. I was diving into an entire family.

Was I ready?

I stared straight ahead at the screen for a long time before my fingers found the keys and typed my reply.

Dear Lizzie,

I’ll promise to keep making your mom smile if you promise to go to bed…

Love,

Dean

I waited less than a minute before I got the reply I had known would come flying back. A single word.

Okay!

I smiled to myself once more, and as I climbed the stairs to my room that night, I realized I wasn’t falling for these two.

I’d fallen.

Hard.

Dear friends and family,

There have been a handful of days in my life that stand out. A few that make a list of greats.

My first day of nursing school.

The day I met Blake.

My wedding day.

But today? Today tops them all. Because, today, I became a mother.

Today, I gave birth to the most perfect little girl. She has ten tiny toes and ten little fingers, and when she looks at me with those newborn eyes, I feel like I understand my purpose for the first time.

To bring her happiness.

To give her joy.

To show her strength.

When the nurse handed her to Blake, I got to experience firsthand what it was like to watch someone fall in love because that is exactly what I saw when he looked into her eyes.

Pure, unconditional love.

And, in that moment, I knew that, no matter what happened in the future, whatever path life had for the three of us, we would love that little girl.

Forever.

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