Page 154 of Delirium
“Babies cry sometimes, but she’s alright. We fed them not too long ago, and she just woke up from her nap. She keeps doing this lately until he joins her.” She pointed toward Malakai. “Then when he starts crying, she stops, falling asleep as if that was exactly what she wanted to get.”
“Reminds me of someone I know.” Storm chuckled, keeping his hands on my shoulders.
“Can I hold them?” I asked, hopeful beyond measure.
“No, darling, not yet,” Storm answered instead. “They’re still too fragile to be held, but you can touch them. Here.” He pushed my wheelchair closer to their incubators. “Put your hands through those openings.”
I looked at both of them, mesmerized, my eyes volleying between Malia and Malakai, and slowly, with trembling arms, I pushed one hand through the opening of Malia’s incubator, running my finger over her tiny cheek, all the way to her arm, and the other one through Malakai’s, tickling his tiny feet.
“They’re perfect,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. Emotions I had never felt before rushed through my body, filling my heart with so much love, I could never imagine something like this could happen.
My chest expanded as if it was making additional space for the two little souls who were now very much real and very much here. As I looked at Malia, I noticed her looking at me, her little whimpers quieter, observing what I did.
“Hey, Lia,” I blubbered. “Mommy is here.”
The knowledge that I almost lost them, that they could’ve been taken away from me was still at the forefront of my mind, but I pushed it back, focusing on the now, on the two angels I had.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here from the beginning,” I cried, my heart breaking all over again. “But I’m here now.”
The sound of sniffing came from behind me, and I turned around to see Storm trying to hold his tears at bay, but there was no use. Within seconds, he was crying along with me, pulling the chair closer to us and pushing one hand through Malakai’s incubator, cupping his head, while his other hand stayed firmly on my back, giving me strength.
“They’re perfect, Storm.”
“They definitely are.” His watery smile couldn’t be hidden, and I loved this, no matter how we came here.
Our little family.
Our little piece of heaven.
“I love you, Storm,” I told him.
“I love you, too.” He pressed his lips to my shoulder, looking between the three of us. “I never thought I would have this, or that I would feel this happy, but I do. I am truly happy, Sunshine, and it’s all because of you. Thank you,” he murmured, looking at me. “Thank you for giving me this.”
“No.” I smiled at him. “Thank you for never letting go. For fighting for us even when I wanted to give up.”
“You mean even when I was a massive…” he stopped himself, looking at the kids and then added in a whisper, “Asshole?”
“Even then.” I laughed.
There was always a reason why some things happened and I firmly believed it now. Every single heartache, every time I felt like I couldn’t go on, had brought me here, to this perfect moment, and no matter what, I wouldn’t change anything.
My life wasn’t perfect, and I knew that the things I had done were not things I should be proud of, but I would do it all over again if it meant having this moment with Storm and our kids. Nothing had ever felt this good, this right.
“Always and forever, Stormy,” I mumbled, pressing my lips to his.
“And beyond that,” he added, cupping the back of my head as we both looked at our kids, at the two miracles we never expected.
And I promised for a millionth time—I would try to give them a life better than what I had.
EPILOGUE
Storm
Five Months Later
The house was quiet.Too fucking quiet when I knew that our little hellions never went to bed on time, keeping both Ophelia and me up until late, with both of us falling asleep before them.
Malia was a crier in the hospital, but Malakai—dear God, that kid didn’t know when to shut up. I blamed my little princess for that because she taught him how to cry and how to get whatever he wanted. Whenever I tried to lower him down, it was as if he had an internal alarm, and his wailing would start, angrily kicking at me until he figured that I wouldn’t lower him down.
