Love in the Light (Hearts in Darkness, #2)(56)

Makenna closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, all the stressful uncertainty she’d been carrying sloughing right off her shoulders. It was the most beautiful relief, even as exhaustion from the night stole over her body. Looking at him again, she gave a small smile. “I’m so proud of you, Caden.”

“So,” he said in a low voice. “Do you think…could you give me a second chance to be in your life? To love you? You and the baby?”

“Oh, Caden, I’ve just been waiting for you to say the words,” she said, her throat going tight. “I want you in my life more than anything, and not a second has passed since we’ve been apart that I haven’t loved you with everything that I am.” She rubbed her knuckles along the prominent ridge of his cheekbone and wished her body was in a condition that would let her do what she really wanted—to climb into his lap, wrap herself around him, and never let go. “I’m going to love you forever. I’m not going anywhere, no matter what.”

“Jesus, Makenna, I was so damn scared you’d be done with me for good,” he said, stretching over her to give her a hug.

“You never have to worry about that, Caden. But you have to promise me you’ll never shut me out like that again. You have to let me be there for you the same way you were here for me tonight, when things are at their very worst and everything seems to be falling apart. I want to be there for you. I need to be there for you. And you have to promise to let me. Because I can’t lose you like that again. I won’t.”

Caden pressed their clasped hands to his heart. “I promise,” he said, a fierceness in his gaze. “I want and need that too, and I promise. I’m so sorry.”

The smile she gave him was all joy and love. “Then it’s you and me, ‘til the end. In the darkness and in the light.”

The words healed places inside him he didn’t ever think would get better. “You and me, ‘til the end,” he repeated. And then he sat back enough to gently lay his head on her stomach. “You and me and this little guy.” He pressed a kiss against her belly.

Seeing him nuzzle her stomach, with the little baby bump just starting to show, was something she’d feared she’d never get to experience. And it was so sweet it stole her breath. She gently stroked his close-shaved hair. “I’m so relieved that you’re happy about the baby.”

“I’m f*cking ecstatic, Makenna. You two are the luckiest, best thing to ever happen to me.” He eased off of her and grasped her hand again. “How far along are you?”

“Seventeen weeks on Sunday,” she said, a little thrill going through her at getting to share this with him after all.

“Wow,” he said, a smile dawning on his face. It brought out his dimples. “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl yet? How have you been feeling?”

“I don’t know the sex yet, but my ultrasound appointment is next week. That’s why I came to see you at the station. I wanted you to know about the baby so you could be involved, and I wanted to invite you to that appointment because I thought you deserved to meet your child. Aside from tonight, I’ve been feeling good for the past month or so. Earlier my morning sickness was terrible, but it passed.” And now, talking about how she was feeling, Makenna realized that the cramps she’d had earlier had gone away. Hope flooded through her. They were going to make it out of this night after all—together and stronger for it.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help, Makenna, but all that changes right now,” he said.

“Makenna James?” a man said as he came through the curtain. “Time for your scans.”

“Oh, that didn’t take too long after all,” she said, ready to know just how bad her hand was and whether the bump on the head she’d gotten that’d required three stitches was anything more serious.

“Can I come?” Caden asked, standing.

“Unfortunately not, but you can wait here. She won’t be gone long,” the orderly said.

“Okay,” Caden said, his brow furrowed. “Just give me a minute.” And then he folded down the rail on her bed, leaned over her, and pulled her gently into his arms. For a long moment, he just held her. Held her so damn close. The embrace was love and life and belonging, and it eased so much of the hurt she’d been carrying around inside her. “Love you so much,” he whispered. Finally, he let her go. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“Never be sorry for that,” Makenna said with a smile as the orderly unlocked the brakes on the bed and wheeled her out of the room.

The orderly was right—the hand X-ray and head CT didn’t take long. Even better, several hours later she received the news that her head scans were clean and only the first two fingers on her right hand were broken—the doctors had feared breaks throughout her hand, but it appeared to be mostly sprained. Those airbags had clearly done their job, because everyone who knew what’d happened to her repeated how lucky she was.

And every time she looked at Caden, Makenna agreed.

She drifted in and out of sleep, each time finding Caden right by her side, sometimes awake, other times asleep, his head against her hip, his hand curled around hers. Makenna didn’t think she was imagining the new peacefulness he wore on his gorgeous face. Sleep had never been peaceful for him, and seeing him rest so quietly was further proof of everything he’d said.