Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 29645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 148(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 148(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
“You’re incredible,” I tell her at one point.
“Obviously,” she pants.
The moment the doctor says, “One more push,” my heart lodges in my throat.
Sadie squeezes my hand hard enough to bruise. Then—a cry. Sharp. Clear. Alive.
Everything stops.
They place her on Sadie’s chest, tiny and furious and perfect.
Simone.
Our daughter.
Sadie’s face softens in a way I’ve never seen before.
“She’s loud,” she murmurs.
“She’s ours,” I reply, voice breaking despite myself.
I brush a finger against Simone’s tiny hand. She grips it instinctively. And something inside me rearranges permanently.
“I can’t wait to add to our family,” I say quietly, overwhelmed.
Sadie’s head snaps toward me. “Levi.”
“What?”
“Give me a minute.”
I blink. “A minute?”
“A recovery period.”
I grin weakly. “Reasonable.”
She smirks faintly, exhaustion and love mixing in her expression. “I just delivered your first little mountain heathen.”
“Simone is not a heathen.”
“Yet.”
I lean down and press a soft kiss to Sadie’s forehead. “You were unbelievable.”
She exhales slowly. “You’re still dramatic.”
“Yeah.”
“But you stayed,” she adds.
“Always.”
She looks down at Simone again. “You didn’t let me go.”
“Never.”
Outside the hospital window, Devil’s Peak glows in late afternoon light. One year ago, we were fighting in church hallways and pretending this was fake.
Now?
We’re holding the future in our arms.
And when Simone’s tiny cry fills the room again, I know one thing with absolute certainty.
The slow burn was worth it.
Because this?
This is forever.
The End