by Jessica Wood
“They will be okay,” I said as I turned to Uncle Tom and Aunt Betty. We hugged each other as we let the relief wash over us.
***
“Hi,” I said as I knocked against Chloe’s hospital room door.
She looked up at me with a weak smile. “Have you seen her?”
I nodded, my heart filled with more love than I’d ever dreamt possible. “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Clo.”
I kissed Chloe gently on the forehead. “Our daughter is the most precious thing in the world. I’ll take you to go see her in a little bit.”
She sighed in relief. “I’m just happy she’s safe.”
“Me too.”
“So I brought this in for you.” I took out a box from the bag I’d brought with me.
She looked at it and frowned. “Is that my future gift?”
I nodded. “When I saw you with all that blood last night, I thought I might lose you from my life. I realized that I don’t want to wait until sometime in the future for you to know how much I love you. I want you to know all the time, so you don’t ever doubt my love for you.”
“I do trust you, Jax. Your dad said a lot of things last night to convince me that you didn’t love me, but I know you do. I don’t need a future gift to tell me that.”
“I’m sorry about what happened last night, Clo. I should never have invited that man into our home.”
“Jax, you have nothing to be sorry about. I encouraged you to give him a chance. He’s your father. I didn’t want you to ever regret not trying to rebuild a relationship with him if you had the chance.”
“Clo,” I began in a labored voice as I squeezed her hand. “In my mind, my father died a long time ago. He died the moment he decided to pursue you even though he’d known about my feelings about you. That man hasn’t been my father for a very long time.”
“—Jax,” she interrupted. “He wasn’t the only person that hurt you. I’m not an innocent bystander in all that.”
“Clo, please,” I cut in. “I spent almost ten years being angry at you about that. But you didn’t know it was him when it first happened and I’d pushed you away when you tried to tell me it’d happened. You didn’t do it to hurt me the way my dad did. You didn’t know how I felt about you. And I hurt you too. So let’s just move forward and not look back anymore.”
“Okay,” she said with a nod.
“Now back to this future gift, which we should just say is a gift now because I want to show you what’s inside.”
I placed the box in front of her. She looked at me before gingerly opening the box.
“Why does this look so familiar?” she asked in awe as she pulled out a multi-color rotating disco ball.
“Because you’ve seen it before.”
“I have? When?” I watched her turn the ball around in her hands, studying it for clues.
“It was right after your mom had passed away. Remember I brought this over and tried to make—”
“The Aurora borealis on my wall,” she finished. Then a beautiful smile appeared on her face as she looked into my eyes. “That was so magical.”
“We were only thirteen then and already in love,” I said with a light chuckle.
“We were?” she asked, half teasing, half serious.
“Fine, I was thirteen and already in love.”
I leaned down and kissed her tenderly.
“Oh, there’s also a note that I wrote that went with the future gift. You should read it.”
“Okay…” she answered hesitantly and looked back inside the box for the note.
When she found it, she opened it and read it out loud:
Clo - When we were thirteen, I used this disco ball to make a makeshift display of the Northern Lights in your room. I knew even then that I was in love with you.
I fell for you early and fell for you hard. If you must know, I have never recovered from that fall and I don’t ever want to recover. Please let me continue to fall deeper and deeper in love with you. Please forgive me for whatever asshole thing I’d done to hurt you.
Love,
Jax
Tears welled in her eyes as she finished reading the note.
I cupped her face with my hands and wiped away the tears with my thumb. I leaned down and our lips met in a passionate yet tender kiss.
“Baby,” I said as I looked into her eyes, “I’ve loved you from that very first day you entered my life. I may not have known what love felt like back then, but I knew I wanted you to notice me, because I had noticed you from the very first time I saw you.”
Just then, a knock came from the door. We turned to see Charlie and Kendra at the entrance.
“We’re sorry if we interrupted something,” Charlie said. There was a somber expression on both of their faces that seemed out of place.
“What’s wrong?” Chloe asked, picking up on the same thing I had.
“We just saw this local news article that we think Jackson should see.”
Kendra walked over to us and handed over the newspaper that was folded to the article with some hesitation.
I took the paper and read the headline out loud: Man and woman die after car hits tree and bursts into flames near Norristown.
Chloe and I exchanged quick glances and I placed the article on her lap so we could both read it. It didn’t take long to realize why Charlie and Kendra brought over this paper. The two people identified in the fatal car crash were Neil Semple—my father’s fake identity—and Amber McDermott.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Chloe
When her tiny hand grabbed around one of my fingers through the NICU and I felt the tiniest squeeze that could ever be possible, all my worry in the world melted away. My heart felt full as she looked up at me in wonder. She had the most pure and rich emerald eyes, full of wonder and dependence.
“She has your eyes, Jax,” I whispered as I looked at our baby daughter for the first time. I was so emotionally pulled into the moment that nothing else mattered. This is my baby girl. A miracle. This is the proof of Jackson and my love for each other.
“She’s going to be daddy’s little girl for sure,” Jackson cooed at her.
“Jax?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you remember how one time you’d told me that to me, love wasn’t just a feeling?”
“Yeah, I remember. I told you, ‘Baby, to me, our love isn’t just a feeling. Our love is tangible and I can feel it in every breath I take.’”
“Yeah.”
“What about it?”
“I finally get what you meant by it.”
He smiled at me.
“Jax, I feel the same way. To me, our love is so much more. To me, our love is tangible—it exists in every smile we give to each other, it exists in every laugh we share together, it exists in every moment we share with each other. And now it exists in this perfect and beautiful baby girl we created from our love.”
He leaned over the NICU and kissed me. When we finally pulled away, he smiled and said, “What do you think of the name Sophie Judith Pierce for her?”
My heart swelled with love. “Sophie Judith Pierce sounds perfect.”
EPILOGUE
Jackson
Five Years Later
“Daddy! Daddy!” Sophie’s high-pitched squeals traveled through the hallway as she ran to me.
“Honey, shhh,” I said in a loud whisper while pressing my extended index finger against my mouth. “Cory is taking a nap right now. You don’t want to wake up your baby brother, do you?”
Sophie immediately pressed her own tiny index finger against her mouth and looked at me intently with her big emerald eyes that sparkled back at me with innocence. “Shhhh,” she mimicked. “Baby is sleeping.”
“Good girl.” I smiled. “Now what were you so excited about just now?”
Her face lit right up again when she remembered the reason she was being too loud in the first place. With wide, cautious eyes, she slowly mo
ved her finger from her lips. “Daddy,” she whispered, “there’s a really big truck in front of your old house.”
“Oh? Let’s go check it out.” I picked her up from the ground, causing her to erupt in a fit of giggles. Even at the age of five, she still loved it when I picked her up and carried her around. Then she quickly covered her mouth with both of her hands when she realized she was being noisy again. “Oopsy.”
With Sophie in my arm, I walked us to the window facing the front of the house and looked out toward the neighboring house. Sure enough, there was a large Mayflower moving van parked outside the front of the house I’d grown up in. “You’re right, Soph. Looks like our new neighbors are moving in today.”
“Daddy, are you sad?” She looked at me as her hand reached over to touch my face.
I furrowed my brows and flashed an amused smile. “Why would you think I’m sad, sweetie?”
“Because we don’t live there anymore?” She spun her body to face the window and pointed through the glass pane at the house next door. “Mommy said you lived there with your mommy and daddy when you were a kid like me.”
“No, I’m not sad at all.”
“Why?” She tilted her head to one side as she looked at me, waiting for an answer.
“Because we don’t need two houses. So your mommy and I decided to sell that one.”
“Why?” She persisted, demanding a response that’d satiate her curiosity. Like her mother, Sophie was full of wonder and it never took too long before a conversation with her would turn into a series of whys.
“Well because your Great Aunt Betty and Great Uncle Tom are living in their retirement home in Tampa now and your Uncle Charlie is living with his family in San Francisco. So your mommy and I decided to move into this house.”
“Why?”
“Because we both preferred this one so we decided to sell the other one?”
“Why?”
I chuckled as she said her favorite word again. “Because this one feels more like home.”
“Why?”
“Because,” I said and started to tickle her, “the cutest little girl lives in this one.” She probably didn’t hear my last answer to her series of whys because as soon as I started to tickle her, she giggled uncontrollably and hunched forward to try to block herself from my hand.
“That tickles, daddy,” she managed to yell out as she gasped for air.
“Sophie Judith Pierce,” Chloe’s stern voice came booming from the top of the staircase, “Didn’t mommy tell you that you shouldn’t make too much noise when Cory is sleeping?”
Sophie immediately straightened up her body and stopped giggling. She didn’t respond to her mother’s question. Instead, she looked up at me, flashing me an innocent frown as she pouted.
“Now you woke up your baby brother.” Chloe walked down the stairs holding Cory in her arm. Cory rubbed his eyes with both of his fists, his face twisted in discomfort like he was about to cry. He was entering his terrible twos and without a nap in the afternoon, he tended to become cranky and difficult to handle by dinnertime.
“I’m sorry, mommy. I—I didn’t mean to.” Sophie bowed her head and avoided looking up at her mother who had just entered the room.
“Don’t be so hard on her, honey. We didn’t realized how loud we were.”
“Daddy was tickling me too,” Sophie added.
“You little tattle tale,” I made a face at Sophie. When she saw the grin appear on my face and realized I was just teasing her, she stuck out her tongue at me in defiance. Then she wiggled out of my arms and ran to the window closest to the house next door and peered out to watch the movers unloading items from the large truck.
Not wanting to miss out on anything fun, Cory quickly followed after his older sister and walked over to the window and tried to peered out as well.
I turned to Chloe. “I’m so sorry, babe. That was my fault.”
“Jax, our daughter has you wrapped around her little finger.” Chloe sighed. “You seriously spoil her too much and never discipline her.”
“Well she is daddy’s little girl.” I grinned over at her, trying to lighten the mood.
“But how will she take us seriously if we don’t enforce any consequences for things she does wrong? You know we need to keep a united front when we discipline her. She shouldn’t see me upset with her about something and then see you smiling and teasing her like nothing’s wrong.”
“I know, Clo. I’m not trying to undermine you. It really was my fault for tickling her and causing her outburst.” I closed the distance between us and flashed her my innocent puppy-dog frown that always made her laugh. “I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad.”
And just like that, the hard composure on her face softened. She sighed and shook her head. “You’re really impossible sometimes, Jax. Why do I always have to be the bad guy when Soph does something wrong?”
“Oh, I thought we had a deal before she was even born—I was going to be the good cop and you’d be the bad cop.” I flashed her a crooked grinned and wrapped my arms around her waist.
Chloe rolled her eyes. “And how is that fair to me? You get to be the coolest dad ever, and she’ll grow to hate me and have another reason to ignore me when she becomes a teenager.”
“Well, if it helps, I’ll try to put in a good word for you.” I teased with a wink.
She laughed. “Why do I think you’re not going to try all that hard?” she teased back as she playfully slapped her hand against my chest.
I chuckled. “Don’t worry, baby. Soph’s a good kid. She can never hate you. You know she thinks the world of you. She reminds me a lot of you actually when we were kids.”
That put a smile on her face. “How so?”
“Well like her beautiful mother, Soph is selfless and has the biggest heart. You see it in how she takes care of Cory when they’re playing together.”
I looked over at Sophie and Cory at the window. Chloe followed my gaze. Sophie had gotten out her step stool from the playroom and placed it in front of the window. Standing on top of the step stool was Cory. Now that he was tall enough to look out the window and see the moving truck next door, he was laughing and pressing his finger against the glass with sheer glee. Instead of crowding up next to him, Sophie was standing directly behind her baby brother. As she was telling Cory what the people outside were doing, she held onto her brother and peered out the window from behind his shoulder.
When I turned back to look at Chloe, there was a sentimental smile on her face and gleam in her eyes that I’d only seen since she’d become a mother.
“You see,” I said in a low voice, “she’s going to grow up just fine.” Chloe met my gaze, her eyes wet with emotion. I leaned in closer to her and whispered, “She has the perfect role model of a mother.”
“Oh, Jax,” her voice cracked, “You always know what to say.”
“And that’s why you love me,” I said playfully.
“It’s one of the countless reasons why I love you.” She looked up at me, her eyes filled with so much meaning and promise that I felt my almost overcome by the intensity of her unwavering love for me.
“Clo, to be loved by you every day for the rest of my life, I’m seriously the luckiest man alive.” I tilted her chin up slightly and leaned down for a kiss. What started out as a tender kiss quickly turned into something deeper. Her soft lips were sweet, eager, and intoxicating—the more I tasted her in my mouth, the deeper I fell. Even after all these years together, our kisses were still as potent of a drug as ever, with the ability to pull me into a sublime state of being where the only things that mattered were her, us, and that very moment.
“Ewwww! Kissing!” Sophie’s cries pulled me back to reality.
“Eee! Kishing!” Cody cried out as he tried to mimic his older sister.
As our mouths reluctantly parted, Chloe gave me a devious smirk and from the promising look in her eyes, I knew I couldn’t wait until tonight when I had her alone and all to myself.
> I turned to Sophie and chuckled. “Ewww? You think kissing daddy is gross?” Before she could respond, I charged toward her. She squealed in delight as I grabbed her waist and raised her up in the air and started planting kisses and blowing raspberries on her stomach.
“Daddy!” she shrieked between fits of uncontrollable giggles. “Tickles!”
When I finally put her down, her face was beet red and she was gasping for breath.
“Corrry! Corrry!” Cory cried out as his outstretched hands grasped for me in the air.
I laughed and lifted Cory in my arms. His high-pitched giggles filled the room as I showered him with kisses and raspberries. When I finally put him down, he was laughing and clapping his hands together.
“See, Soph. Your baby brother doesn’t think kissing is gross.”
“Daddy’s kissing’s not gross…but kissing mommy…” Unable to explain herself, she ran to Chloe and hugged her leg, burying her face against Chloe’s skirt.
Chloe laughed with amusement. “Jax, don’t be so mean to our Sophie,” she said as she bent down and hugged her daughter. “Daddy’s kisses confuse me too, baby,” she said to Sophie, humoring her.
I chuckled and lifted Cory into my arms. “Well, son. Looks like it’s us against the women in this family.” He laughed as he ran his fingers along my six o’clock shadow.
I looked over at Chloe and noticed she was looking out the window.
“Should we go say hi?” She asked as she met my gaze. “We only met them briefly at the closing. I think they mentioned they have a son about Sophie’s age. It might be nice to go over and welcome the whole family to the neighborhood.”
I smiled and nodded. “Yeah, good idea.”
“Soph, do you want to come with us to meet our new neighbors?”
Sophie’s face immediately perked up. “Okay, mommy. Do you think we can go inside the big truck?”
She laughed at the eagerness in our daughter’s eyes. “I suppose it won’t hurt to ask, right?”
“Okay! Yay!” Sophie leaped into action and ran to the front door.
