Page 140 of Broken Baby Daddy

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"What are you afraid of now?"

"That I'll wake up and this won't be real. That I've gotten comfortable, stopped doing the work."

"The work doesn't stop, does it? We just get better at it."

His hand finds mine. "I love you."

"I love you too."

***

At 2:04 AM, Harper cries through the monitor.

We both groan.

"Rock-paper-scissors?" Daniel mutters.

I laugh despite my exhaustion. We play in the dark.

Daniel loses.

"Get up, Graves."

Through the monitor, his voice drifts back. "I know, little love. The world's still here. I'm not thrilled about it either."

Then, softer: "You want to know a secret? A year ago, I didn't think I deserved this. Your mom taught me something though. You don't have to deserve love. You just have to be brave enough to accept it."

Tears slide down my cheeks.

A year ago, I was alone, pregnant, heartbroken.

Now I'm here—exhausted, my career rebuilding, my family whole.

Not because I found a perfect man.

Because I found a broken one willing to do the work.

And I became brave enough to believe in second chances.

I close my eyes.

In the morning, Daniel will make coffee. Harper will spit up on both of us. It will be messy and imperfect and ours.

I wouldn't change a single thing.

And that's our happily ever after.

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