Now, as she drank in the face she saw in her dreams, the arms that always made her feel safe, and the hands that made her body sing—and had brought him a lifetime of guilt—she wondered if he’d ever be able to truly move forward.

He glanced over, catching her staring. “Like what you see, Blue Eyes?” He winked, stirring the butterflies that had taken up residence inside her.

“More than you know.” They hadn’t said those three special words yet, but she felt his love in every look, touch, and kiss. She felt it in his pained expressions when she knew he was thinking about his family, and in the moments when she found him sitting with his guitar in his lap and a faraway look in his eyes. It was in those moments when he reached for her and held her so tight that they felt like two sides of the same heart.

“I GET IT!” Rosie shouted, and darted out of the living room to get a diaper and a onesie for Leo.

Junie ran after her, shouting, “He’s my baby!”

They’d been at Tank and Leah’s for an hour already, and the girls had been in constant motion. Tank and Leah looked exhausted and happy as Madigan cradled baby Leo in her arms. Even though she’d seen him several times since he was born, she still couldn’t get over how beautiful and tiny he was. His skin was a shade lighter than Rosie’s, his nose broad, like Leah’s, and he had the thinnest layer of feathery pitch-black hair like Tank’s. His fingers were long, his skin as soft as velvet, and his little lips were perfectly bowed. And Madigan couldn’t get enough of the way he smelled like love and joy and everything good in the world.

“I don’t know how you stand it,” Madigan said. “All three of your babies are so freaking cute.”

“It’s good to see the girls are still helping with the baby,” Tobias said.

“I thought they’d get bored of it by now,” Leah said. “But they’re all about taking care of him. They even pretend to nurse their dolls when Leo nurses.”

“That’s so cute,” Madigan said.

“But they’re still little kids. They scream and climb all over the furniture,” Tank said in a way that showed just how much he adored them. “The other night we found them sleeping in the crib with Leo.”

“Yikes,” Madigan said. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“I guess it could be. Rosie was on one side of him, Junie on the other, their arms draped over his stomach. They were both fast asleep.” Tank nodded toward the baby. “This one was wide-eyed between them, legs kicking. That’s the first time he wasn’t crying when he woke up.”