I rubbed her wrists after reaching up and untying them, never slipping out of her. She fisted my hair and brought me in for a kiss, running the tip of her tongue along my mouth, prying it open and entering without warning.

“Faster.” She breathed the word inside my mouth, and I felt it rumble all the way down to my chest.

“Fuck!” I shouted, a loud growl escaping as I came hard inside my wife.

I tumbled off her and trotted off to the bathroom, my dick loose and rubbing my thigh. When I came back with a cloth to wipe Aly with, she was sitting on the edge of her bed, fastening on her prosthetic. “What are you doing, babe?”

“I just wanted to feel complete when you came back.”

“You are,” I told her. “You’re always complete.”

I knelt on the floor in front of her, taking her hands in mine and slipping off the prosthetic. I set the piece of metal and fake flesh to the side, bent my head, and kissed her stub. I knew she missed her leg. She couldn’t run stairs anymore. I owned a gym, exercised for a living, and that was something she’d always struggled with—the women all around.

“Aly, there’s no one but you for me. Not yesterday, today, or tomorrow. This”—I ran my finger along the scar where the doctors severed her leg to save her life—“this is nothing but another piece of your beauty. How you held on and survived for me, so we could live life together.”

Her eyes were pained as she looked up at me. “How will we have babies with me hobbling around?”

I knew she thought about it a lot. Since Bess and Lane announced they were pregnant with their second, Aly had mentioned babies here and there.

“What? I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. I promise.”

“How do you know?” she asked as she ran her hand down my face.

“I just do. What are you trying to say?” I brought my hand under her chin and lifted her eyes to meet mine. My knees dug into the floor, my forehead rested on hers, and my heart beat at a furious pace.

“I’m pregnant.”

For a single millisecond, my heart stopped and my throat went dry. Then I remembered this was Aly, and we were meant to save each other; that with her I felt I deserved life, and now we had created life.

I grabbed her cheeks between my hands and kissed the fuck out of her face before I lifted her off the bed and up into my arms. “We’re going to be parents?”

“Yes.” She nodded, her eyes shining.

“Do you think I’m going to be okay? A good dad?”

Another nod from her. “But what about me? And this?” Her gaze wandered to her stump.

“I’m not worried, Aly-cat. I’m never worried when it comes to you.”

I could see her swallowing back tears, and I didn’t think we deserved that on our honeymoon—or ever—so I begrudgingly carried her outside the hotel room and onto the balcony. I set my wife, the soon-to-be mother of my child, into a chair, and I pulled up one right next to her.

Hand in hand, we sat and watched the sun rise. If this was what absolution felt like, I liked it.

No, I loved it.

Jake

Another year later

Oh my God, there were kids and dogs everywhere. Maverick rolled in the grass with Lucky, Bess and Lane’s new golden retriever puppy, and Luna, our new chocolate Lab pup, while Brooks staked out a quiet spot so he could keep a watchful eye on everyone.

Maddy was running through Lane and Bess’s backyard with a kite flying behind her, helped by James, who was all dolled up in linen pants and a dress shirt and carrying the baby he’d recently adopted, Cliffie. He couldn’t let Bess have one up on him with her gorgeous family; he wanted one too. He’d finally settled down with a man named Zach, who worked at the hotel where Bess used to work. The two of them gave a baby left at the local church a second chance. Now they were permanent fixtures in all of our lives. Weston toddled behind all of them, desperate to catch up to his big sister, chanting his favorite word for Maddy, “Ma, Ma, Ma.”

And under the tree, next to calm Brooks, my beautiful Tabitha slept in a Pack ’n Play, her tiny pink-covered bottom facing up, the mass of red curls matted on her head, her back rising and falling with each breath. I didn’t miss a one; my heartbeat was in sync with that little baby.

When Tabitha was born, I decided to take a final stand with Shirley. The tiny person placed in my arms right after she was delivered deserved a whole me, and it was about time I punched the past in the gut.

I knew Shirley had wanted to reconcile and be a part of our lives, but that was never going to be possible with me. I’d gone to see her and thanked her in person for returning Aly—I even gave her a gentle hug. She’d thought it meant one thing, but it actually meant the opposite. I’d explained how I needed to leave her in my past with all the other crap. I was moving forward, and I couldn’t do it with her hanging around. I had a new family that was depending on me, and they kept me grounded in the present. To maintain that, I needed to give up my fight with what happened.

I asked her to be happy for me and understand, and if she couldn’t, Lane and I would be taking legal action. She’d been upset and disappointed, but after her husband had urged her to cooperate, she’d agreed and stayed away.

Aly supported me in whatever I chose regarding Shirley, but I’d obviously pick Aly and Tabby any day of the week. No contest. With them, I permitted myself to go forward, to stop internalizing my anger. It wasn’t exactly perfect absolution, but more a new beginning, “starting over” or whatever Doc Wells called it. I’d come out the other side of whatever hell I’d resided in for so long.

Surrounded by my small circle, I felt confident in my purpose. Like today.

Lane was wearing some designer getup as he manned the grill, and looked as ridiculous as he usually did when I caught him venturing into the outdoors around their house. Bess and Aly came out the back door carrying various salads. Bess was pregnant again; my brother really needed to keep his dick to himself or wrapped the fuck up. Aly’s cheeks were slightly pink from the sun, her curves still a little rounded from having a baby, but her limp was now barely noticeable. She wore yoga pants despite it being summer because she still preferred not to put her prosthetic on display. I thought she looked gorgeous either way.

Pregnancy had been rough. The hormonal surges weren’t easy to begin with, let alone when you’re missing half a leg. But ever since Tabitha was born, Aly had been good. Really good. She’d worked for the last year for me, trading in defense strategies for business law. Apparently, while she was home recuperating from the whole incident, she took an online course on business malpractice and how it pertained to exercise facilities. That had been her grand plan, and I’d loved it the moment she’d shared it with me.

Aly had decided she was better suited for contract work. It was objective and clear-cut, and rarely resulted in abductions. Now she headed up my legal team. Actually, she was my legal team, but had been on maternity leave, taking a few months off to be with Tabby. I was her boss; she could do whatever the fuck she wanted.

“How do you want your burgers?” Lane called out.

“Cooked by a real man, not one in some Prada shit!” I yelled back, surreptitiously giving him the finger, to which he responded by mouthing fuck you back to me.

“Lane, why don’t you let Jake handle the grill?” Bess asked, laughing.

“Oh yeah, I want to see you behind that hot, smoky grill!” Aly chimed in, turning her grin toward me.

“Both of you, stop! I’m perfectly capable of grilling,” Lane said in his own defense before turning his attention back to his burgers.