The next few moments were a blur for Thomas-he watched as Emma and Leelee were cut loose and hugged each other, crying. A STATE team member led them to sit on the edge of the bed and called for the EMTs.

They were alive. That's all that registered in his brain. They looked cut and bruised and beyond exhausted, but they were breathing.

He hadn't lost them. Now he prayed he hadn't lost them.

Emma slowly turned toward Thomas. His heart lurched. His eye squinted. And after a second that seemed to hold his entire world over his head, Emma offered him a soft smile.

"I knew you'd figure it out," she said, and held out her hand.

He got to her instantly, squatting down, his hands racing all over her body.

"Are you hurt? Where did they touch you?"

"I'm okay," she said, shaking her head.

Thomas reached over for Leelee. "Are you all right, Lee?"

She nodded, mute, her lips trembling. She had a shiner that was going to take up most of the left side of her face. Thomas took another look at Emma, and saw a swelling welt along her cheek and a split in her lower lip.

What he really wanted to do was kill Aaron with his bare hands.

What he did instead was open his arms, and the two women fell against him, sobbing with relief, shaking from the adrenaline crash, and all he could do was pull them tighter, kiss them both, tell them they would be all right-everything was going to be all right.

Then he allowed himself to believe it, too.

Thomas felt something worming its way between his feet, and Leelee pulled back enough that Hairy could jump into her arms. His little tongue licked her face and he yipped in joy, tail twirling like a propeller.

"Hairy!" Leelee screamed. "Our hero!"

Within a few moments, an EMT escorted Leelee to an ambulance and Thomas asked the crowd in the motel room for a few minutes of privacy. Once everyone left, he sat next to Emma and cupped her face in his hands.

"We need to get you checked out, too." He drank in the sight of that sweet freckled nose, those shell-shocked blue eyes, the face of the woman he loved.

She nodded. She sniffed. In a very small voice she said, "I'm glad you didn't give up on us."

Everything inside of Thomas clenched. "Forgive me, Emma. There's no excuse for the things I said to you. I went crazy. It's just… well… I'm not very used to believing in miracles, you know? It's kind of a challenge for me."

She smiled.

"I acted like a conflicted idiot."

"You did."

"But I'm a conflicted idiot who loves you with everything I am-an idiot who trusts you completely."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"And God, here's the deal, Emma-you can do whatever you want to me now-poison my cornflakes-"

She was already laughing.

"-put a bomb under the hood of my car, or ground glass in my popcorn, or booby-trap the basement steps, and baby, I'd never see it coming because I love you so much it's killing me."

Emma finished laughing and kissed his cheek. "Or, I could just put all that creative energy into loving you-did that ever occur to you, Thomas?"

He raised her scraped wrist to his lips and kissed tenderly. "It does now."

"I'm glad we've got that cleared up."

"I'm going to do my best, Emma." Thomas's voice went rough and his gaze held hers. "I might screw up again, but I'll always do my very best for you and our family."

She looked into those tortured silver eyes and knew that was all she could ask. It was all she needed-all she'd ever needed.

"I don't think love is perfect, Rugby Boy." Emma pulled his big hand to her heart and held it there. "It's messy and confusing and complicated, but what else is there? What else is there besides love?" She grinned, clutched his hand tighter. "I'll take my chances with you if you'll take yours with me."

He pulled her to him, and Emma felt herself relax, curve into his sturdy body, safe and complete.

"I want to love you every day for the rest of my life, Emma Jenkins."

She moved his hand to her belly and pressed it close. "I think we're free."

"Tommy?"

Regina Massey stood in the doorway, smiling. "I'm sorry, but we need to get back in here. We also need to get the doctor and her daughter to the hospital."

He walked Emma to a waiting ambulance, got her settled, and kissed her softly. "I'll be back in a minute. I've got a few loose ends to tie up."

Leelee sat on a stretcher, back straight, chin steady, holding a cold pack to the side of her face with one hand and clutching Hairy with the other. Two EMTs busied themselves around her in the ambulance bay.

She turned toward him, letting the cold pack fall away. She grinned.

"Hey, Thomas."

He smiled, propped a foot on the ambulance fender, and leaned toward her.

"I hear you gave the bad guys a hard time in there."

"Nerves. I talk a lot when I'm nervous."

"Thank you, Lee." She turned away.

Thomas met the gaze of one of the EMTs, and they both hopped down from the vehicle to give him a moment alone with the girl. He nodded in gratitude.

Thomas cleared his throat. Emma had been right-Leelee was never an easy crowd to work. "Do you know what I'm thanking you for?"

That got her attention. She looked down at him warily. "Sure I do. Emma got out of there alive."

He shook his head. "That's not all."

Leelee tried hard to cloak her expression in her all-purpose bored look, but was failing miserably. Her shoulders were starting to shake and her fingers trembled as they stroked Hairy's skin.

"What, then?"

"Thank you for being the smartest and bravest kid I know. Thank you for loving Emma as much as I do."

"Sure." She shrugged.

"I have something I'd like to ask you."

Leelee sighed and rolled her eyes to the ambulance ceiling. "I know. You want to marry Emma. I know she's pregnant. Nice going, by the way. Ever hear of a condom? So whatever. Go ahead. I don't care."

Thomas chuckled. "That wasn't what I wanted to ask you."

Leelee gazed down at him, shocked by the tender look in his face, the affection she saw there. And it wasn't a creepy kind of affection at all-it was just nice. Just warm and nice, and it was the weirdest thing, but the hole inside her was being filled up-filled up with whatever it was she saw in this man's eyes.

"Do you think Emma can learn to share?"

"Share what?"

Thomas grinned, raised a hand and began to fiddle with one of her errant blond curls. He let his fingers stray to her cheek. "You, Elizabeth. I was hoping Emma might be willing to share you. I was hoping you might be willing to become my daughter when Emma becomes my wife-kind of like a package deal."

There was nothing Leelee could say, because this was the single most wonderful moment of her life. Of all the men in the world who could have been her father, she'd wound up with Thomas.

She'd somehow ended up with the best.

"So what do you say, junior?"

She felt herself smile, despite her best efforts. "Sure. Whatever." Then she tossed Hairy to the stretcher and flung her arms around Thomas's neck.