Page 99 of Finding Peace
Lawson is at my back, solid and warm. Lincoln’s alongside him, arm draped over his brother—despite Lawson’s grumbling—fingertips resting along my stomach. Beau’s near my feet, because he insisted he didn’t care where he was as long as he was in here. And Jasper is pressed close in front of me. His hand rests gently over where mine lies on my belly.
I feel a sudden nip at my toe through the fabric. “We’re getting a bigger bed,” Beau grumbles, but I can tell it’s playful.
“You said you didn’t care where you laid! You can come up here and cuddle with Jas.”
Jasper groans in my ear, and I giggle in response. “I don’t care where I sleep,” Beau replies. “But as much as I love your feet, and you know I love your feet—”
“You and your fucking feet,” Lawson says, already sounding halfasleep.
“Shut up. Hers are the fuckin’ cutest, okay? Anyway… as much as I love your feet, if I could avoid sleeping at the end of the bed like Lucy, that would be preferred.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” is all Lawson says.
I giggle into the dark room and feel the four of them settle in.
“I love you, Sweetheart,” Lincoln says softly.
“I love you,” Beau whispers.
Lawson presses his lips to my temple. “Always.”
Jasper’s forehead rests against mine. “I love you, Abbie girl.”
My chest feels too full. “I love you,” I whisper back.
I lay there—surrounded by them—and listen as they drift off to sleep. In their arms I’m held. I’m protected. I’m carrying something that belongs to all five of us.
And regardless of everything else that’s still going on, I feel more at peace than I’ve ever felt in my entire life, and I know that these four men will never let me live a day without that newfound peace for as long as I live.
I’m never going to be alone again.
And neither is our child.
Chapter twenty-eight
Lincoln
Iwakeupbeforethesun fully crests the windows, and for half a second, I don’t remember where I am.
Then I feel her.
Warm. Curled into my side. Breathing slow and even, her lashes resting just above her pink cheeks.
If she’s next to me, though, that must mean Lawson’s awake and somewhere else in the house. We don’t have chores to do this morning since it’s the weekend and our hired ranch hands are handling things. So my best guess is he’s somewhere stewing.
I shift carefully, easing up onto an elbow. Jasper’s sprawled on his stomach on the other side of Abigail, hand resting flat over her belly, already guarding the little lifeinside of it.
I snort at the sight of Beau still curled up at her feet, one arm hooked loosely around her ankle, wanting to touch her in any way he can—even in his sleep.
I don’t know what prompts it. Maybe it’s the way Jasper’s thumb flexes against her stomach. Maybe it’s the way Abigail instinctively sinks deeper into the mattress at the reminder that we’re around her. Or maybe it’s the realization that this is the first morning of our new life.
Whatever it is, I reach for my phone on the nightstand. Without turning on the flash, I lift the camera overhead and take a picture of a moment I’m not willing to lose.
I slide carefully out of bed, tucking the blanket back around them. My hand lingers for a moment before I reach up and stroke a hand down the side of her head. She nuzzles against the pillow, rolls over, and buries her face into Jasper’s chest.
I smile at the sight.
God, we really are going to need a bigger bed.
