“Send them in,” Josh replied with a smile, and gently placed Aria in my arms before standing from the bed.

With a smile and quick nod, the nurse closed the door. Within seconds, it reopened, and Ky, Eden, Austin, Ben, and Josh’s parents stepped into the room. All eyes fell on the sleeping baby in my arms, and a loud sob from Eden filled the room. Austin, Ky, Ben, and Josh’s dad all stood with Josh, while Eden made the first move to the bed. Our eyes met, and the first tear rolled over my cheek as I witnessed my best friend fall in love with my daughter.

“Would you like to hold her?” I whispered as emotion strangled my voice.

She simply nodded, and her eyes welled up as I placed Aria in her arms. I looked around the room, and immediately my eyes trained onto Ky, who was looking at Eden adoringly while she held his niece.

“I promise I will protect you from absolutely everything, baby girl. Your Aunt Eden will never let anything bad happen to you,” Eden whispered with a shaky voice.

I looked at my best friend, and the pride and love I had for her was unexplainable. This girl had faced hell, yet she was the happiest person I’d ever met. Her promise to my daughter had so many meanings, and every one of them made me proud to call Eden my family.

“She is absolutely stunning, Ash,” Eden said.

Ky made a move to the bed, then stood behind Eden and looked down at Aria. “So damn proud of you, Ash,” he whispered in a voice echoing with emotion.

“Aria will need a cousin to play with,” I said with a suggestive wiggle of my brow.

“We are working on it,” Ky replied firmly. “Hopefully sooner rather than later.

The beginnings of another beautiful sunset filled the bedroom, and I stretched as I woke refreshed and ready for another night with our little party animal. Aria was six months old, and had a newfound love for the night life, which meant that mommy and daddy had become well acquainted with late night infomercials and coffee.

There was no sign of Josh or Aria in the silence of the bedroom. Josh had come home from work early and crawled into bed beside Aria and I, just as we were getting ready for our usual afternoon nap. As soon as Aria heard Josh’s voice, her sleepy eyes shot open and she held her arms out for her Daddy. The love those two had for each other was phenomenal.

The past six months had been an incredible journey. Aria was becoming more beautiful by the day, and watching her learn and experience new things was amazing. It was an honor being her mom. Josh never ceased to amaze me. He was born to be a father, and his devotion to Aria was like nothing I had ever witnessed. He was absolutely wrapped around her tiny little finger and, wherever Aria was, Josh wouldn’t be too far away. Every morning he would get up and get her bottle ready, then bring her into bed with us so we could have family cuddles before he went to work. Seriously, it’s shocking I never died from swoon overload. During the day, he would regularly call to check in, and he wanted at least two photos of her a day sent to him. When he got home from work, she was in his arms, and they would more often than not fall asleep on the couch together.

It had taken us six weeks before we even considered being away from her. Ky and Eden offered to watch her for three hours, after Josh decided to take me out for our six-week anniversary of being parents; in other words, the time we could finally have sex again.

Now the sex. Holy fuck, Josh and I always had an amazing sex life, but now he was insatiable. Whenever we could, we would, and just about anywhere. The bathroom, the couch, the car, and the garage had all witnessed intense fucking over the past six months. The only place off-limits was Aria’s nursery. He couldn’t get enough of my new curves, and I couldn’t get enough of him. It was like my hormones were in overdrive, and every day I was either walking around in a haze brought on by being over fucked by Josh, or lack of sleep from Aria. It was the greatest haze I’d ever encountered.

Life was amazing.

After climbing out of bed, I walked through the house in search of my boyfriend and daughter. The low rumblings of Josh’s voice floated down the hall, coming from the direction of my office. I pushed opened the half-closed door, and smiled at the sight before me. Josh was sitting at my large oak desk with a wide-awake Aria on his lap. He was having a video chat with Savannah and her son, Max.

“What’s happening here?” I asked softly, causing Josh to spin around and greet me with a million-dollar smile. I leaned down and kissed him, and was greeted by the cutest little smile from Aria, before I turned to the computer screen and waved at Savannah.

“She is like sleeping beauty. She is so pretty. Can she come and play with me? I can show her my Thomas train, she can take Thomas home,” Max said in awe while his gaze didn’t budge from Aria. “I want to play with her.”

“Baby, she doesn’t live here,” Savannah said softly.

Max’s little face scrunched into a scowl. “I’m not a baby. I’m a big boy.”

“I bet he learned that from Tate. I’ve heard him declaring himself a big boy more times than I care to remember.” Josh snickered beside me.

“Jealousy doesn’t become you, Josh,” Savannah shot.

“I have absolutely nothing to be jealous of. Ask Ashy, I am a very big boy.”

“Are we really talking about the size of C.O.C.K.S in front of the children?” I asked with a laugh.

Savannah’s soft laughter filled the office, while Max’s eyes went back to Aria. Aria was completely oblivious, and was too concerned with a pencil that was on my desk.

“Maxey, maybe you and your mommy and daddy can come visit one day. You’ll have to bring Aria a girl train to play with. You can have a sleep over. Would you like that?”

“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!” he squealed excitedly, and starting talking a million miles an hour to Savannah. His accent was adorable. He had a unique blend of American and Australian. He was going to have the girls falling at his feet if he still had it when he was older.

“I’m going to set Maxey up with Aria when they are older,” Savannah said with a hoot, and the excitement was evident in her voice. “How adorable would that be?”

“No fu . . . way. There is no way in hell a Connors kid is coming near my princess. I know who his parents are,” Josh said sternly.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Savannah shot in dismay.

“Do you remember the stories of you and Tate that you’ve shared with me over the years? Both of your blood runs through his body. Jesus, your kid is going to be a lady killer by age ten.”

“He doesn’t just offer to share his trains with anyone . . . especially Thomas. I think it’s love already,” she said.

I chuckled beside Josh, who shot me a look that told me not to encourage her. Aria became unsettled on Josh’s lap, so he immediately stood from the chair and tucked her into his chest, then began rocking her softly. Ovary explosion commenced.

“And just so you know, when a man with the Connors name wants something, he gets it. Just like you Crawford boys. I’m signing off to do some wedding planning for Max and Aria. Ash, call me next week for a virtual play date for the young love birds.” Savannah smirked and, just as Josh was about to complain, she logged off.

“I need to get that shotgun. She is barely six-months old, and look what is happening already. He might be four-years old, but I know that look. Christ,” Josh mumbled as we left the office and moved through the house. “Princess, you are being locked away till you are thirty-five now. Thirty is too young.”

I burst out laughing, and he shot me a look. “This is not a laughing matter, Ashy.”

We headed straight for the sliding glass door that led to the balcony, which provided us with perfect views of the cove. I couldn’t believe that this was my life. I had the man of my dreams, my precious daughter, and my dream house in my favorite place in the world. I swear I asked Josh to pinch me every second day so I could convince myself I wasn’t dreaming, but he’d just look at me and shake his head in amusement.