Page 122 of Rescuing Mary

One translated. “She wants to know if you’re hurt.”

Truck closed his eyes and counted his blessings for what seemed like the millionth time since he’d met Mary. When he felt little Deeba patting the cheek with his scar impatiently, he opened his eyes and covered her hand with his own. He shook his head. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Then she melted his heart even more when she held up her arms in the universal sign to be picked up.

Truck stood up with his daughter in his arms then reached down and helped Mary stand with their son. They stood there looking into each other’s eyes, ignoring the warnings from the caretaker of the orphanage. She was telling them that the kids would probably be scared later, and that they shouldn’t take it personally. She was instructing them on what the kids liked to eat and cautioning them to take it easy for a while on new foods so they didn’t get sick. She also told them last-minute things they needed to do in order to get clearance from the Indian government to take Aarav and Deeba out of the country and back to Texas.

But Truck barely heard any of it. His eyes were glued to his beautiful wife and their son.

“I love you,” Mary whispered as she gazed into Truck’s eyes.

Twenty-three.

“I love you too, baby.”

Then Mary turned to her son and kissed his forehead gently. “I love you, Ford Aarav Laughlin.” She then leaned forward and kissed her daughter’s temple. “And I love you, Elizabeth Deeba Laughlin. Welcome to the family.”

Truck’s throat closed up with emotion once more. He reached forward and pulled Mary toward him with a hand on her nape. He kissed her on the lips and whispered, “Love you.”

Ghost and Rayne, five and a half years after the weddings.

* * *

“Give him to me,” Ghost ordered, wiggling his fingers at his wife. She was holding their four-year-old and struggling to walk with him.

She gladly handed him over and winced, arching her back.

“I told you to take it easy today,” Ghost said, shaking his head at his wife.

She smiled at him but shook her own head. “Yeah? What was I supposed to do, lie around while your son single-handedly clogged up every toilet in the house? Or when your daughter decided to take the permanent marker she found and draw pretty pictures all over the wall in her bedroom?”

Ghost winced. “That’s it. I’m calling that girl Chase recommended tomorrow.”

“We don’t need a nanny,” Rayne whined. “I can look after my own kids just fine. I don’t need someone else to do it for me.”

“It’s not that I don’t think you can do it,” Ghost said patiently. “It’s that I hate seeing you so exhausted. And when this one is born,” he put his hand on Rayne’s enormous belly, “it’s just going to get more hectic.”

When tears sprang to her eyes, Ghost didn’t panic. He put his son down and swatted him on the bottom. “Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner, sport.”

“Okay, Daddy!” the little boy said happily and ran off toward the bathroom.

Ghost pulled Rayne into his embrace and held her as she sniffled. “I feel like the world’s worst mom. I’m awful. They’re going to grow up to be delinquents, I just know it.”

“You aren’t,” Ghost reassured her. “You think every mother is all hearts and rainbows all the time? I don’t give a shit what people post on social media, I’d bet everything I have that there are times when they want to duct tape their kids. This is normal.”

“I’m just so tired,” Rayne said softly.

Ghost kissed her forehead. “I know. And I haven’t been helping, being gone so much lately, have I?”

When Rayne didn’t respond, Ghost felt even guiltier. The team had been on three missions almost back to back recently, and he knew he hadn’t been helping with his family nearly as much as he should be.

“Go lie down,” he told Rayne. “I’ve got the kids tonight.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll get some nuggets in the oven for Billy, and Greta still only eats hotdogs, so I can boil some of those and—”

“I got this,” Ghost interrupted. “Seriously.”

The tears returned to Rayne’s eyes and Ghost felt awful. “I’m sorry, Princess. I’m gonna get you some help so you aren’t so exhausted by the end of the day.”