Once inside, I find myself gently tackled by Harlow. Pointing her index finger right in my face, she gives me a shortened lecture, one that without doubt I will have the luxury of listening to in full at a later time. “Don’t you ever do that to me again, you understand me?” She places her arms around my shoulders, squeezing me so tightly, I find it hard to breathe.

“Harlow, I…can’t…breathe…”

Releasing me, she sets her hands on my shoulders and narrows her eyes. “I’m leaving, because I know enough to give you your time with your family, but know that I will be back, and you and I will discuss what happened, in length, and it’s not going to be pretty.” She gives me a small smile before letting me go.

I giggle at her threat. “I love you, Harlow.”

“Love you too, babe.” She turns to Blake and throws her thumb over her shoulder in my direction. “Watch her.”

I can tell he’s also trying not to laugh. There’s just something extra funny about Harlow when she attempts to be threatening. “On it,” is all Blake says. He glances at me with wide eyes, and I giggle again.

She turns and embraces the girls before heading on her way.

Once she’s gone, the girls once again latch onto my hands. “We have a surprise for you!”

I look at Blake and this time it’s my eyes that are wide. He smiles and gestures towards the bedroom. A surprise in there? Darn, I was kind of hoping for that chairlift since I obviously have a healthy fear of those damn stairs now.

With Nycole and Kyndall leading me and Blake holding Rylie on his hip, we make our way down the hallway. As we walk, I find myself overwhelmed by the smell of…paint? Why would they paint our bedroom?

But as we get closer, the light bulb goes off in my brain and a smile spreads slowly across my face. I’m going to have to find a new excuse for my dimwittedness as my pregnancy card has officially expired.

Coming to a halt in front of the baby’s room, the girls drop my hands. “Shut your eyes, Mommy.” I throw Blake a sideways look, grin still present on my face. Looking back towards the door, I take in an excited breath and close my eyes. I hear the doorknob turn and the shuffle of Blake setting Rylie down on the ground. A light breeze blows as she passes by my body and through my eyelids I can tell they’ve turned on the light. A masculine hand threads through mine, slowly leading me into the room. “Okay! You can look now, Mommy!”

I slowly open my eyes.

And laugh.

Canary yellow…everywhere.

And I totally love it!

But even if I didn’t, it wouldn’t matter because who cares what freakin’ color the bedroom is? This moment, right now, the love in this room… this is what matters.

Squeezing Blake’s hand, I continue to survey the room. The crib is set up in the corner, with the elephant, giraffe, and monkey mobile we bought hanging at one end. The dresser is assembled and pressed flush against the wall. The changing table is right in between. I look at the walls, and note that there are animals painted everywhere, definitely by children, and they couldn’t be more perfect.

I turn to look at the yellow wall behind me. As soon as my eyes land on it, I gasp out loud and raise the hand not attached to Blake’s to cover my mouth. Because painted in the center of the wall, is a huge butterfly, just like the one in the park. Nycole – I would recognize her artwork anywhere.

My eyes move, catching hers, and in that moment, the day replays itself in my mind. The butterfly, giving her actual butterfly kisses on the cheek and her eyes filling with pure joy at the sight of it fluttering above her head.

Yeah, there’s no doubt in my mind that she understands exactly what happened that day.

And between our glance, something in my heart just knows. It knows that Derek’s watching out, not only for me, but all of us.

As soon as the thought crosses my mind, I feel the air shift and a familiar sensation surrounds me. It’s indescribable, but I know that I’ve felt it before, and something about it eases my soul. I can’t put my finger on it, but I know I have experienced it, and it’s telling me something.

One look into Blake’s beautiful light green eyes and I know without a doubt in my mind what it’s saying.

It’s telling me that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

And that I’m not going anywhere for a very, very long time.

“We have got to talk to your mother about these projectile spit up sessions, son,” I look down at the handsome little man cooing in my arms. Yeah, he looks just like me. I don’t care what Alex says.

I just swaddled him, like Alex taught me, but mine never stay tight like hers. He’s already managed to kick his legs out from underneath the blanket. “Stubborn, just like your mother.” He makes a little sound and then starts sucking on his tiny little hand.

Jacob. Our son. Jacob Derek Morgan. And he’s perfect. I thank God every day for that.

I walk to the kitchen and start warming a bottle. Once it’s at the perfect temperature, I head toward the living room, where I catch sight of Alex who just passed out on the couch after a grueling day with a colicky baby. Her beautiful brown hair splayed over the throw pillow, curled up on her side, mouth wide open, snoring. Minus the gaping mouth, and the drool, she looks absolutely beautiful. Peaceful.

Leaning over, while clutching Jacob close to my chest, I pull the blanket off the top of the couch to cover her with it. I run my knuckles over her soft cheek and watch her breathe for a couple of seconds. The sight of her curled up like that brings back memories of the worst moment in my life. When I saw her, lying there after the fall. There was nothing I could do for her. And the pain that she must have been experiencing. Jesus.

I sigh to myself. But she’s here now, and that’s all that matters. I’m so thankful she found the strength to come back to us. She has always been so strong.

“Strong, just like you,” I say to Jacob, taking a seat in the recliner and repositioning him in the crook of my elbow to give him his bottle. “Let me just tell you a little of what to expect around here, father to son.” I watch his eyes try to focus on me as we begin our lesson.

“Your mother. She’s stubborn and hot tempered, so try not to make her mad. But, she also forgives very easily. Keep that in mind when you do end up pissing her off. Oh, and it helps if you do something really cute too. That’s what Rylie does, and it works, trust me. I’ve tried it.”

Watching him drink his bottle, I decide to tell him the one thing that always makes me laugh about Alex. I smile to myself just thinking about it. “Also, your mom tends to smell me a lot. I’m not sure why, but she does. She smells you too, though, so don’t feel left out.”

Watching his hands opening and closing while he eats, I still can’t believe how tiny he is.

“Rylie. She is extremely high energy and very clever. She’ll most likely try to teach you to do bad things. If she giggles, it usually means that she’s doing something that’s not good. That’s your key, watch for it. You’ll probably be closest to her, so I’ll just tell you now…I’m watching you. I’m always watching both of you. So when you think you’re getting away with doing something bad, with or without Rylie, just know that I know. Got it?”