Page 185 of Vega

Denise had already taken Sonnet’s hand. “How far along are you?”

“We don’t know exactly yet,” Sonnet answered.

“Don’t let him stress you out,” my mother warned, pointing at me.

“Ooo, we get to plan a baby shower,” Renee continued.

“It’s too early for that,” Sonnet said.

“It’s never too early to start planning,” Denise replied.

All three women talked over one another. Carla was already asking whether we’d started thinking about names. My mother and aunts had already claimed the pregnancy as family business. They discussed doctors, nursery furniture, and who would keep the baby when Sonnet returned to work.

She hadn’t agreed to any of it, but she also couldn’t stop smiling.

Then her eyes filled with tears.

I noticed before anybody else did. Everyone else was too busy in their own conversations to notice.

I pulled her against me. “You good?”

She nodded, but her breath trembled as she looked around the room. “I’ve never had people this excited about anything happening to me.”

My heart went out to her. Instantly, I felt protective, wanting to destroy anyone who had ever caused her pain, made her feel alone, or who didn't think she was worthy of being loved. She’d spent most of her life without anybody claiming her, while I’d grown up surrounded by people who treated every problem and victory as their own.

I held her closer. “They’re your family now too.”

She looked up at me. “That’s overwhelming.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “In the best way.”

She’d entered a complicated, intrusive, ruthless, deeply loyal family that had chosen her as completely as I had.

I smiled at the appreciative tear. “Give me your keys.”

She frowned, asking, “Why?”

“Just give them to me, baby.”

She took them from her purse and handed them to me, watching me curiously.

She watched me reach into my pocket and slide a new key onto the ring.

“What’s that?”

“A key to the house and proof that no door in my life will ever be locked against you again.”

I watched her chest start to rise and fall with emotion, and the tears in her eyes returned.

“You don’t have to keep proving I’m yours,” she told me.

“I’m proving I’m yours too.”

I handed the keys back to her. Then I gently grabbed the back of her head, brought her forehead to my lips and softly kissed it.

Before Sonnet, commitment had never interested me. I’d dealt with women, enjoyed them, and kept moving without ever wondering what forever with one of them might look like. Then Sonnet entered my life, and my heart instantly recognized her before I understood what I was feeling. I wanted her close. I wanted her safe. Before long, I wanted every ordinary day that came after the chaos too.

She hadn’t only become the woman I loved. She had become the person I wanted beside me for life's ups and downs. I wanted the life that came after surviving everything—the years, the family, and every version of us we hadn’t met yet.

Looking at her, I finally wasn’t afraid of her being taken from me. I was looking forward to the future waiting ahead of us.