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"I love holding your baby, Hudson"

I smiled at him as he put his hand over his heart and sift in the entire world "Good to know, honey, good to know"

It was good to know

It was good to know I could do this I could be a mom, a lover, a sister, a friend, a survivor, and I could be soht need in order for the better out there I could be all the things I alanted to be I could be all the things I’d never been allowed to be before

"Co now in a way that was intimately familiar and impossible to resist They pros They pro They pro pulses They proh I’d already had one that I could still feel, and they pro tothe baby in the crib with a kiss on his forehead and a sweep ofout of the room was that those eyes always, whenever they were directed at me, promised me they would take care of ive me whatever it was I needed, which was nice, because all I really needed was him

BONUS (BECAUSE MY READERS ARE RAD) EPILOGUE

Sometime down the road …

"Two h in Poppy’s ear as I flipped the skirt of her frilly brides she earing under it Her eyes met mine in the mirror over the sink and her hands braced on the vanity I had her bent over She shook her head no but her hips pressed back intothe front of my tuxedo pants Her teeth bit into her bottoood at doing a lot of things in twokid underfoot There were diapers that needed to be quickly changed,that needed its fur rescued fros that had to happen at the drop of a hat, and tantruardless of what the adults in the houseI was quick; often Poppy was quicker when Royce needed so, but we still always tried to take our tiive her more than two minutes, but today we didn’t have that luxury

Sayer and Zeb had gotten married an hour earlier and ere both supposed to be down at the reception before the bride and groo party Zeb had asked me to be his best man and I couldn’t have been prouder to stand up there with irl He also had Rowdy and his brother-in-law stand with hi bearer Sayer asked Poppy to be her ot to walk her down the aisle in a lilac dress shirt that matched the fluffy underlay of the bride’s crea white for Sayer, not anymore She’d also asked Salem, and Zeb’s sister, Beryl, to stand up with her, so the entire wedding had been a family affair

The reception was held at the Crawford, so of course I had gotten us a room Royce ith Kallie for the weekend and I had no plans on letting Poppy out of bed after all the pleasantries of the wedding and reception were said and done That gave me plenty of time to have ry for her, starving for a taste of her unique honey and spice flavor

"You’re going to take longer than two minutes" Of course I was With her, I felt like I could last for hours and even days if my body was capable There was hued my knee between them Her shoulders stiffened and her head dropped forward on a sigh aszipper filled the roo the lush line of her ass before dipping it inside and tickling s She was already wet, already quivering and unsteady on the tall heels her feet were still encased in

"No one will even notice that we’re not there" That wasn’t true, but I was slidingto get her to stay exactly where she was

She gasped as I pushed in, spreading her open and sinking in It never got old, the feeling of taking her and of being taken in by her I groaned into the curve of her neck and movedRoyal will co for me and you know it" She was breathless and I barely heard her warning If Royal did coet an eyeful because there was nothing on this planet that would pullup on her toes so that she could push back against otten close with both Royal and Saint Saint made it a point to stop by and check on her every day she was in the hospital and even asked if Poppy would consider working with the victih the hospital Royal stood by her side through all the court proceedings and even went to court on the day Pastor Cruz was sentenced to twenty-five years in jail for the attely protective offor her, but luckily Asa was good at keeping her distracted Knowing the Kentucky char coerced his wife into finding their own dark corner to race against the clock in They were still acting like needs even though they’d been together for years and iven Royal her drea, a low-key ceremony on the beach in Hawaii that we’d all flown out for a couple of irl, Glory, was born It was the perfect winter getaway and Royal made a beautiful bride It was no surprise to anyone when Shaw announced shortly after the trip that she was expecting baby nu anyone that would listen that he was going to have a little girl with hisabout the balmy beach air that made everyone see on another baby even though his first wasn’t yet at the age where she slept through the night He and Poppy’s sister were in no hurry to getwouldn’t change that Salem was his last and he was hers