Amber Eyes (Amber Eyes #1)(51)

“Is that all?”Hunter asked, directing her attention back to him.

“Well, she did mention my weight.”

“I knew it,”Jericho muttered.

“But she said I was strong and healthy and that she couldn’t foresee any problems with the pregnancy.”

“Good,”Hunter said in satisfaction. “Jericho and I can certainly fatten you up.”

Kaya blushed and squeezed his hand, her fingers curling around his in a little flutter. Her gaze went to where Aliyah and Duncan stood across the room, and her hand began to shake in his.

“Relax, honey,”Hunter murmured soothingly. “You don’t have to do this, you know. We can go back to the cabin. You don’t have to see them at all.”

She shook her head. “No, I want to see them. I’m just scared.”

He smiled and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t be scared. Jericho and I will be with you the entire time.”

She looked up at him, her eyes shining. “I know. I love you.”

He dropped a kiss on her lips then turned her toward the door. It had been agreed that the reunion would be held at Duncan and Aliyah’s. That way if Kaya needed to escape, they could simply leave and return to the cabin, and there would be no awkwardness of expecting her parents to leave.

Jericho took her hand as they walked outside to get into their vehicles. The breeze blew over them, lifting her hair at the ends. She turned her face into the sun and closed her eyes, and Hunter was struck by how utterly beautiful she was. And she was his.

He found himself praying when he thought he didn’t believe in prayer anymore. Just a whisper to God to help him to love and keep her and their daughter from harm. If the sun shone a little brighter over her upturned face, he was sure it was a coincidence.

A brief memory flashed across his mind. Rebeccah smiling, her face soft with love. For a moment he grabbed on and held tight…and then gently let it go, watching as it was carried away on the waves of his past.

It didn’t hurt so much anymore. The shadows slowly dissipated. For the first time he looked to his future with such hope and joy that his heart positively ached.

“Thank you,”he whispered, and felt the tight bands around his chest loosen and fall away. Freedom was such a sweet, sweet gift. Love? That he be granted a second chance to love and be loved was more than he could have ever asked for. He was going to grab it and hang on for all he was worth.

***

Kaya paced the interior of Aliyah’s living room despite repeated pleas from Jericho and Hunter to sit down. They worried, she knew, but she positively could not sit down. Not when her stomach bubbled like a cauldron. It was all she could do not to go to the bathroom and be violently ill.

“They’re here,”Aliyah said softly.

Kaya froze, her legs trembling. Jericho and Hunter were immediately beside her, their touches light and reassuring.

Aliyah went out, closing the door behind her. Kaya appreciated the buffer because she was terrified. These people were strangers. And yet they were her parents. They loved her. Aliyah had told her how they suffered, how they all suffered after she’d disappeared in Alaska.

“Are you all right?”Jericho asked.

She nodded then stiffened all over when the front door opened.

A young-looking woman with long, dark hair stepped hesitantly into the living room. Her gaze locked with Kaya’s, and tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

Kaya stared in wonder. She knew this woman. It was the woman from her vision, the one who had placed Kaya’s daughter in her arms. Her mother.

“Mama,”she whispered.

“Kaya!”

With a broken sob, her mother moved forward, her arms outstretched. Kaya stumbled into them, absorbing the warm feeling of homecoming. She inhaled deeply, comforted by the familiar scent.

Her mother stroked her hair as Kaya’s face lay buried in her neck. Oh, there was nothing better than a mother’s hug. So much love, unfettered acceptance. So much that she had missed over the long years.

“Kaya, my daughter,”her mother whispered softly against her hair. “At last, you’ve come back to us.”

Kaya pulled away to stare at her through watery eyes. “I tried. I came back as soon as I could. I waited and waited.”

A strangled noise came from behind her mother, and she looked to see a large man standing just inside the doorway, tears streaking unabashedly down his face.

“Papa?”

He held out his arms for her and she ran forward, suddenly spurred by memories of doing the same thing when she was a girl. He’d catch her and whirl her around, a huge grin on his face. Only now he gathered her against his massive chest almost as if he were afraid she’d disappear.

“My baby,”he said brokenly. “I’m so sorry we weren’t there, little one. You don’t know what it did to me when Aliyah told us what had happened. I’ve died a thousand deaths knowing my little girl needed me and I wasn’t there.”

Any anger or sadness lifted and was carried away as love filled her heart. “You’re here now,”she whispered.

He scooped her up in his big arms and hugged her tight against him. When he finally put her down, she was once more enfolded into her mother’s embrace.

“How beautiful you’ve grown.”

Her mother’s words hummed gently over her hair, and Kaya closed her eyes as she stood between the two people who had given her life.