Page 57 of Emma

“I’llalwaysbe next to you,” Vanessa said as she tucked Emma’s hair behind her ear. “But I need you to give yourself a minute. Because what comes next may not move as fast as you want it to. It could even look differently to the way you’re imagining.”

“Yeah.” Emma nodded, but her voice was still a little too bright. Vanessa wasn’t trying to ruin this, but she did want Emma to be realistic. “But just thechance, Vanessa. The chance to know her and be there for her. That’severythingto me.”

“And you’ll have that chance one way or another.”

“I keep thinking…what if one day she wants to come here? Like properly? To stay the night or spend the weekend with us. We could clear out Lauren’s old room. I’ll paint and order a new bed. You know, turn it into something that feels like hers. Not a guest room, but Freya’s room.”

Vanessa drew back ever so slightly, caught off guard by the speed of it all. “Emma…”

“Too much?”

Vanessa hesitated. “Not too much. Just too soon.”

Emma exhaled a deep breath, her excitement settling. “Right. Yeah.”

Vanessa kissed her forehead. “She’s not a blank canvas. She has a life and a home. She has people she considers her parents, and people who love her like they’re her parents. I don’t want you to think I’m not on board, I absolutely am, but thiswillbe complicated, baby. For all of you.”

Emma nodded slowly. “I just want her to feel like she has options. Like there’s room for her here if she ever wants it.”

Vanessa smiled. “And thereisroom for her. Always, Emma. But maybe we shouldn’t move the furniture and redecorate just yet.”

Emma, finally realising what Vanessa was saying, laughed. “Yeah, okay. You’re right.” She leaned into Vanessa’s touch and sighed. “I knew I’d felt something that day when I met her for the first time. She looked so much like me, and I thought I was imagining it, but now…I just keep wondering what other similarities we share. You know, what other parts of us are the same.”

The trauma, Vanessa thought to herself.You probably share the same trauma.

“You’ll find out,” Vanessa said. “But let her show you. Don’t try to imagine it all before she’s even had the chance to speak.”

“I’ll try.” Emma leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Vanessa’s cheek. “Thanks for pulling me back down to earth.”

Vanessa smiled as she turned back to the stove. “I always do.”

“Hey,” Emma hovered nearby, the excitement and the energy beginning to wear off. “Can we eat on the couch tonight?”

“We can eat inbedif you want,” Vanessa said over her shoulder. “You’ve earned it.”

Emma sighed dramatically. “God, youreallyknow how to seduce a woman.”

Vanessa laughed, and for the first time all day, her shoulders eased. Maybe they weren’t out of the woods yet, but therewaslight breaking through the trees. “It’s why you married me. We both know this already.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Emma woketo bright sunlight spilling over the curve of Vanessa’s hip and the bare skin of her shoulder. She lay on her front with her head turned towards Emma, her hair splayed out in loose waves. Her breathing was slow, her lips parted just slightly, one arm tucked under her pillow. God, she looked peaceful and stunningly beautiful.

For the first time in weeks, Emma hadn’t woken up with that weight of dread pressing down on her. No heaviness, no restless urgency, just this…her wife, the weekend, and the knowledge that yesterday had gone better than she could have dreamed.

She rolled onto her side and drifted her fingers up Vanessa’s spine slowly, tracing the dip down to her waist. Vanessa murmured but didn’t wake. Emma leaned in and pressed her lips to her shoulder, lingering as she smiled against her skin and whispered, “Morning, beautiful.”

Vanessa’s eyes blinked open slowly, then narrowed on Emma with that sleepy smile that always made her stomach flip. “Mm, what time is it?”

“Still early,” Emma said as she shifted closer, her hand smoothing over the warm skin of Vanessa’s hip. “And we have nothing to do today. No plans. Just us.”

Vanessa’s smile deepened. “That sounds perfect.”

Emma lowered a kiss to the curve of her neck and dragged her lips over Vanessa’s skin. “It’s meant to be.”

Vanessa turned onto her back and stretched. “You’re in a good mood.”

“I’m in the best mood,” Emma admitted as she straddled Vanessa slowly. “My attention has been elsewhere, but yesterday gave me my marriage back. So, I’m going to remind you how much I love you.”