Page 75 of Flint
I set my water aside and thread my fingers through his.
“You deserve this.”
His eyes flick back to mine immediately.
“You deserve family,” I continue quietly. “And peace. And love. All of it.”
His jaw flexes slightly.
I know he struggles with praise sometimes. Like he’s still waiting for someone to tell him he hasn’t earned it. He lifts my hand and kisses my knuckles one by one.
“I got lucky.”
“No,” I whisper. “We did.”
Emotion passes over his face so fast it almost hurts to look at. Flint immediately focuses downward. “You think the kid can hear us yet?”
“I think the baby hears everything.”
“Great.” He leans closer to my stomach. “Any bad words you might have heard me say, you didn’t. Okay, kiddo?”
I brush my fingers through his hair while he stays crouched there with his hand over our child as if he belongs nowhere else.
I spent years thinking love was supposed to arrive dramatically. Fireworks. Chaos. Intensity so sharp it cut through everything else. This feels stronger than anything my imagination could conjure up.
I stare out at the people scattered across the property. “I just didn’t think life would ever look like this.”
His hand stills over my stomach.
“Me neither,” he admits quietly.
I swallow hard around the lump in my throat.
“Do you ever get scared?” I ask.
“Of what?”
“That it’s too good. That something bad will happen because we’re finally happy.”
Flint goes silent for a moment and I almost regret asking. Then he turns slightly towards me and slides his fingers under my chin until I meet his eyes.
“Yeah,” he says honestly. “Sometimes. I think maybe people like us get used to waiting for the hit,” he continues quietly. “Like if life goes soft for too long, we start expecting punishment.”
My chest aches because he understands me so perfectly.
“But here’s the thing.” His thumb strokes along my jaw slowly. “Bad shit happens whether you’re miserable or happy. That’s life. The difference is now we got people beside us when it does. And I ain’t never leavin’ your side darlin’.”
I look up at him and see nothing but the truth reflected in his expression. Whatever life brings us, we’ll face it together. It might have taken us a while to get here, but sometimes the best things in life are worth the wait.
And for the first time in my entire life, forever doesn’t scare me anymore.
The End.
