Her beautiful eyes lifted to his. Tears continued to fall. “She was a drug addict. More concerned with her next fix than her child. She would disappear for what felt like days. I was a tiny girl.” She swallowed thickly. “Just a little girl. I would eat whatever I could find, which wasn’t much.” Julie rubbed her face with a hand. “I screamed when they took me away. I reached for her but she didn’t reach back. Why didn’t she reach back?”

He pulled her into his chest. His eyes pricked. His heart felt heavy.

“I was her daughter. Her blood ran through my veins. She was a horrible mother. I wouldn’t know the first thing about being a good mother. I’ve never been taught how to be one. I wouldn’t know the first thing.”

Coal held her while she sobbed. “I don’t know much about these drugs. Only what I have been told. I know that they take away emotion. That they strip away a person’s soul. I know that if your mother was capable of loving you that her heart would’ve burst with the emotion.” He pulled away so that he could look into her tear soaked eyes.

“You have so much love to give. You are caring, loving and fierce. I will be so happy to call you my mate and I would be thrilled to have you as the mother of my children. If you never trust anything else I say ever again, believe that. Your mother would’ve reached for you if she hadn’t been so numbed by the substances in her veins. Know that you will never be alone again because I will always reach for you. Just the mere fact that you are so afraid tells me that you will be a great mother.”

She sniffed. “Do you think so?” Hope filled her eyes.

Coal nodded. “More than sure.” He knew from the way she had spoken earlier that she did want children. Deep down inside. She was just afraid, and with good reason. Julie was wrong about being a bad mother.

She might not be pregnant. He felt a pang at the thought. If she was pregnant they had time. He would make sure that she was fully onboard and that any doubts she had were dispelled. If she wasn’t pregnant, he would work on patience. Coal was sure that there were children in their future regardless.

Julie nodded. “Okay. We’ll get through this together.”

“I’m not worried, Julie. We will be fine. Our children will love you and you will love them right back.”

“I might not be pregnant, so don’t say that.” She gave his arm a slap.

“I hope you are but if you aren’t we will work on it at some point in the future.”

“How long do we need to wait?”

“About a week.”