Page 182 of Beneath the Mountain Sky

For good reason.

I stand along the edge of the crowd with Niall sleeping soundly in the front carrier, watching Killian do one of the things he does best.

Put on a show that no one can tear their eyes away from.

For a man who doesn’t really “like” people, especially after the entire town has spent the last year gossiping and speculating about our lives, he still insisted on doing a demonstration at the festival.

And this year, the cute bear cub he’s almost done creating has special meaning.

As he carves away with his chisels, gouges, and knives, finishing the fine detail work, his gaze flicks up to find mine, and he raises a brow. I give him a thumbs-up, letting him know Niall’s still sleeping and handling all the excitement well.

The past nine months haven’t done anything to help calm Killian’s constant need to hover. That worry he always carries for me and for the baby just won’t go away.

Always so attentive to anything and everything either of us could need.

Anticipating before I can even ask.

He’s exactly who I always knew he was and would be—an incredible father, the perfect husband.

I glance down at the rings on my finger, his mother’s engagement ring and the matching wedding band.

My heart still aches with the memory of waking in that hospital and finding this finger empty. But now, it’s exactly where it should be.

It may have taken us longer than we had planned to get to this point.

Life, misunderstandings, and things so far out of our control that it felt like constant spiraling seemed to conspire to keep our happily ever after from happening. But we finally made it to where we should have been a year ago.

We’re finally a family, finally happy.

And as he completes work on the baby bear and steps back to examine his masterpiece, the crowd roars with approval.

He tosses me a grin, returns his equipment to the large travel case near Liam, and has a short conversation with him about something before he makes his way over to me.

Watching him approach, the sweat trickling down his corded neck and over his exposed chest, the way the muscles there bunch and flex in his arms as he runs it back through his sweaty hair…

Good God, I’m going to end up pregnant again quickly.

I clench my legs together against the dull ache there.

My body remembers every touch, every kiss, all the gloriously depraved things that man does to it.

And I still crave more of him, even after this morning.

Killian finally reaches us, and he leans in and presses a kiss to my lips, then drops one on Niall’s head before scanning around me. “Where’s Raven? I thought she was going to watch with you.”

I search the crowd, looking for her familiar mop of blond hair, and shrug. “Who knows? She disappears all the time these days.”

He raises a brow. “Really?”

I nod. “She’s working on a story. You know how she is. And this”—I spin my hand around—“is her favorite time of year. So many people to talk to, so much gossip to collect.”

He snorts incredulously. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m peopled out. You ready to go home?”

“Yeah. Are Liam and Connor coming?”

He turns back to where he left Liam reorganizing the tools. The youngest McBride closes the lid on the case and secures it before rising to his feet. Someone approaches him and says something, and he quickly falls into conversation with whoever it is.

But the usual smile that used to so easily cross his lips isn’t there.