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They dragged him out, his venomous threats trailing behind him until they were drowned out by sirens.

Lachlan and I stood in the ruined hallway. Plaster dust clung to our hair. My throat throbbed where Ray’s hands had been. Around us, the wreckage of his final tantrum. But he was gone. And I was still standing.

“Let me see.” Lachlan’s hands were gentle as he checked my throat, the developing bruises. “We should get you checked?—”

“No, I’m fine.” And I knew I was. “By now, Beckett should be back at Resting Warrior with Sadie, right?”

“Yes, any minute.”

This time, I cupped Lachlan’s cheeks. “We need to go get our children.”

We walked through the destroyed house, past the shattered picture frames and scattered papers. None of it mattered. It was just stuff. What mattered was waiting for us at Resting Warrior Ranch.

The drive passed in silence, our hands clasped over the console. His thumb traced circles on my palm—comfort and promise and partnership all in that small touch.

I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. There would be consequences for my actions over the past few weeks.

But tonight?

Tonight, both my babies would sleep in our bed. Safe. Together. A family.

Tonight was for healing. For holding them. For believing that maybe, just maybe, broken things could be rebuilt into something stronger.

Lachlan squeezed my hand as we pulled into the ranch driveway. Through the lodge windows, I could see warm light. Safety. People who’d fought for us.

“Ready?” he asked.

To face whatever came next? To pick up the pieces and try to build something new? To believe I deserved the family waiting inside?

“Yes.”

The lodge door opened before we could reach it. Emma stood there with Caleb in her arms, his little face lighting up when he saw us. Behind her, Beckett appeared with Sadie.

“Mama’s here,” Evelyn whispered to Caleb, passing him to me just as Beckett placed Sadie in Lachlan’s arms.

Then we were both moving at once, coming together in the doorway. I shifted Caleb to one arm as Lachlan did the same with Sadie, and suddenly, both babies were between us, safe in the circle of our arms.

Sadie’s tiny hand found Caleb’s, their fingers tangling together like they’d never been apart. Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks—happy ones this time—as I pressed kisses to both their heads.

“We’re a family,” Lachlan whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “All four of us. Finally.”

I looked up at him through my tears, saw my own joy reflected in his eyes. “Finally.”

The babies cooed at each other, some secret twin language already reforming. And there in the doorway of Resting Warrior Ranch, surrounded by the family we’d chosen and the family we’d made, I knew that broken things really could be rebuilt.

Stronger. Better.Whole.

Epilogue

Piper

Six months later

The smellof pancakes filled the kitchen as I flipped another golden disk onto the growing stack. Behind me, Caleb’s delighted squeal mixed with Sadie’s answering giggle—the soundtrack to every morning now. Six months of mornings like this, and I still couldn’t quite believe they were real.

“No, no, no,” I said without turning around, recognizing the particular pitch that meant trouble. “Whatever you two are plotting over there, the answer is no.”

More giggles. Definitely plotting.