Page 139 of Tangled Hearts

Everyone works on climbing out of bed, and when it’s just Eli in the middle and Asher tucked beside him, Nic leans over and picks Asher up, cradling him to his chest.

Watching my son become a dad, watching Nic become a dad? Easily one of the top five moments of my life. Holding Asher’s tiny bodyin my arms for the first time? Indescribable. Staring into his green eyes? Unbelievable. We don’t have any photos of Eli as a baby, but I’d imagine that Asher is a miniature version of him.

Eli rolls out of the bed, landing on his feet and giving Beck a quick once-over. I glance between the two of them, already fighting a smile.

“Nice pjs, Dad,” Eli says, flashing Beck a blinding smile.

Beck stares at him in shock for a second, then shakes his head. “This is all my fault.”

With a shrug, Eli glances at Lexi. “Last one to the living room is a rotten egg,” he says, then takes off running.

Lexi catches up to him, shoving him against the doorframe before rushing past him into the hallway. They clearly don’t stop their roughhousing if the banging against the wall is any indication.

Beck follows them, pausing at the door to shoot me a smile before disappearing into the hallway, and when they’re gone, Nic rounds the foot of the bed and stops in front of me.

He glances down at his son, his smile so adoring and sweet that it honestly gets me choked up. Then he holds Asher out to me. “Here you are, Papaw Ro.”

When I have a bundled-up Asher in my arms, Nic grins. “Come on. There’s another surprise in the living room.”

I follow him out, and when we step into the living room, it looks like a bomb went off. There are blankets and pillows strewn around everywhere. Julian and Holden are sitting up, bleary-eyed and looking confused about life.

Eli and Lexi are still picking at each other, and Warren is slumped against Wren on the couch.

My heart swells to the point of pain.

“I’m gonna go get coffee started,” Julian says, pressing a kiss to Holden’s temple and standing up from his blanket nest. Holden nods, his hair sticking up in a million different directions.

“Looks like Santa brought the whole family,” Beck says, turning back to me with a smile.

“I’ll help, Uncle Julian,” Eli says, finally giving up on annoying his sister, and stumbles over the blankets to follow Julian.

“Bean water?” Nic gasps from beside me. “How the mighty have fallen. Besides, you’re already full of energy.”

Eli narrows his eyes. “Boba isn’t gonna keep me awake. Parents have to make sacrifices. My first is my taste buds. And also, whatever the opposite of a second wind is? That’s what I have right now.” Julian chuckles, and Eli waves a hand in front of him. “Lead the way, Uncle Jules. I need sustenance in the form of caffeine.”

Nic joins Holden in his blanket nest, both of them lying down, and Beck sits down on the couch by Lexi.

I can do little more than stand and stare at my family. If only I could go back in time to a terrified and heartbroken eighteen-year-old Roman and tell him what’s waiting for us.

If only I could tell him that it gets better.

That one day he’ll wake up to chaos and blankets and the low hum of a coffee pot. With giggles and laughter and happiness. That he’ll fall in love, over and over, with the same man who used to wipe his tears and tend to his wounds.

That he’ll have a daughter with a fiery heart and a son with gentle hands with a son of his own.

I would tell him that pain was not the end of our story.

I would tell him to hold on. Joy is coming.

That family andlove are coming.

Asher squirms in my arms as the sound of laughter and coffee mugs clinking reaches my ears. I glance down at my grandson. Perfect and tiny and warm, blinking up at me with bright eyes and rosy cheeks. I press a kiss to a forehead. “You are so loved, little Asher. And so safe.”

I look up in time to catch Beck’s gaze. His lips curve into my favorite smile—the one that never fails to unravel me. I step fully into the room just as Eli and Julian come back in from the kitchen with a coffee mug in each hand.

“Who wants to go make hot chocolate with me?” Beck asks, glancing between Lexi and Warren, and both of them shoot a hand into the air. “Perfect. Let’s go, and then we’ll open presents.”

I sit down beside Eli, rocking Asher gently in my arms while I take in all the things I thought I’d never deserve.

My heart nearly bursts from the joy of a dream coming true. A dream I didn’t even think I was allowed to have. Pain and heartache were never meant to be the end of my story.

This was.