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“Are you my Daddy?” he asked.
I nodded and tried to speak through the waves of emotion crashing over me. “Yes,” I whispered.
At once, he burst into tears and flung his little arms around my neck. I stood, lifting him into my arms, feeling the rapid beat of his heart pressed tightly against my own.
“I love you, Camden,” I said. “I’m your daddy, and I’ll never leave you or your mother ever again.”
Epilogue
SAMI
One year later
“More potato salad, Hija?” Alma asked, offering me a scoop from the serving bowl.
“Yes, please,” I answered, raising my paper plate eagerly.
Heather moaned from the lawn chair next me and fanned herself with her free hand while her infant daughter happily cooed in the crook of her other arm. “Another summer, another pair of swollen feet,” she said. “Why can’t I learn to have my babies in the winter?”
I laughed. “The joys of motherhood. By the way, could you please pass the jar of dill pickles?”
Gazing around the Walker’s backyard where they were hosting their annual summer barbecue party, I remarked on what a difference the past year had made. Cord never went back to the East Coast, instead moving in right away with me and Camden. We’d gotten married in a small church ceremony in April, in which Camden served as the ring bearer while Ashley was one of our flower girls. Cord and I had hired an architect and the builder had just broken ground on the site where our new house would be. If all went as scheduled, it should be ready for move-in just before the cold season.
“Mommy, watch me!” Camden called. I glanced toward him where he stood at the end of the diving board of the Walker’s swimming pool. He’d become quite the avid little swimmer this summer, thanks to Cord taking him to weekly lessons.
“I’m watching,” I called back with a wave.
He raised his hands above his head, took a deep breath, and dove headfirst into the shimmering water. A second later, his brown head popped up. “Did you see?”
I nodded and gave him a thumbs-up. “That was great, honey!”
“My turn,” said Cord, stepping up to the diving board. “Get ready for a cannonball!”
With a soaring leap, he clutched his knees to his chest and entered the water with a giant splash, sending a shower of cool droplets over us.
“That feels good,” said Leann, turning her face into the spray with a smile.
“Anyone want another burger or hot dog?” Jake called from the grill.
“What do you think?” Heather asked. “Interested in splitting a second hot dog?”
I nodded, rubbing my own swollen belly.
“Another hot dog for the pregnant ladies!” she called.
Cord got out of the pool and grabbed the towel he’d left on his lawn chair. Wrapping it around his waist, he bent down to kiss me softly on the lips, and then lowered his head to my stomach and planted a kiss there as well.
“Enjoying yourself today, my queen?” he asked with a smile.
“Each and every day that I’m with you,” I answered, my heart bursting with happiness so bright it would outshine the sun’s.
“It feels like heaven,” said Cord, gazing at me with eyes full of emotion. “I’m so glad I bet on love.”
“To love,” I said loudly, reaching for my glass of iced tea and lifting it into the air.
Around me, my beloved friends and family raised their own glasses in response.
“To Love!”
