Page 146 of The Lilac River

"I told you, Miss. Lila," Bertie whispered in my ear, snuggling into my side with a grin so wide it could’ve split the sky. "I told you it was a big surprise. I bet you thought I meant how long Grandpa was being grounded for, didn’t you?"

"I did, sweetheart," I said, voice thick and barely holding back tears.

Then she leaned closer, her breath warm against my cheek, a conspiratorial whisper that wrapped around my heart like a bow.

"Can I call you Momma now? I think it's time."

My heart exploded into a million glittering stars. I looked at Nash who nodded, pride and love shining so fiercely in his eyes I thought I might burst.

"Absolutely," I whispered back. “I’d be honored.”

And I truly would feel it was a privilege to be that little girl’s mother. How could I not when she was the sunshine that filled all our days? She filled my heart with warmth and joy and was proof that unconditional love didn’t just come from blood it came from choice, from moments, from hearts shared.

And when she threw her arms around me, calling me 'Momma' for the first time, I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I had everything I’d ever dreamed of. More than I ever thought I deserved.

Later that night, after everyone had gone home or were asleep, I found myself back out on the porch with my hand curled in Nash’s. The quiet hum of crickets surrounded us. Stars scattered across the velvet sky.

“Lila,” he said softly, “there’s something I need to ask you.”

I giggled. “Well, you asked me to marry you, what else is there?”

“This, which is probably more important.” His voice was thick with emotion as he produced a manila envelope from behind the cushion. “I had these drawn up three weeks ago.”

With trembling fingers, I opened it and instantly tears flooded my eyes. Adoption papers for Roberta Louise Miller.

“Nash,” I whispered, my cheeks wet.

“She’s been yours since the day you walked back into our lives,” he said softly. “Hell, maybe she was always meant to be yours. I want it to be legal, though, Lila. I want you to be her mom in every way that matters.”

“But what if she doesn’t want?—”

“I already asked her,” he told me with that crooked smile I loved so much. “Her exact words were ‘Daddy that would be my wish come true’.”

I didn’t say anything, I just flung myself into his arms, holding on tight to my past, my present and my future. Determined I would be everything to them both. My soulmate and my daughter.

We didn’t talk much after that. Just sat together under the wide Silver Peaks sky, hearts full, futures wide open.

I couldn’t remember the last time the stars looked so close to me. Like if I stood up, I could pluck one down and make a wish on it.

But I didn’t need to.

Because every single wish I’d ever made had already come true.

Chapter 53

Happily Ever After – He Is We

Nash

Two Years Later…

The porch creaked under my feet, worn smooth by a hundred lazy Sunday mornings. The kind of mornings where the world didn’t demand anything except stillness and the people you loved. The scent of fresh coffee lingered in the air, blending with the distant sweetness of horses and hay. And the faint chatter of Billy, my baby boy, floated on the breeze as I watched him toddle around the front yard with his stick and his empty bucket, blissfully unaware he’d already given me the world.

William Adam Miller. Billy to everyone who loved him. My boy. My heart. He was named after my grandfather, but of course Bertie got to pick his middle name, seeing as we bargained with her and were allowed to drop the Pontipee. Whatever his name I knew my boy would make the world shine brighter just by being in it, just like his sister.

Every laugh, every wobbly step, every sleepy snuggle with his sister filled a hole in my chest I hadn’t even known was there. The kind of love that expanded your entire world and remade you from the inside out.

And there was more love where that came from. So much more.