Page 212 of Broken Destiny

My muscles twitched with nerves.

I already knew what their answer would be, yet I still needed to ask. I needed their blessing—needed them to feel safe, respected, included in this decision that would shape all of our lives.

Then Emma bounced on the couch.

“Yes! Yes!”

Lucas smiled widely.

“That’s what I’ve wanted from the time you came back into our lives,” he said, looking straight into my eyes with a seriousness far beyond his years.

I let out a huge breath, my shoulders sagging slightly.

“Really?”

“Of course,” Lucas said. “We already think of you as our dad.”

My chest tightened painfully.

Then his expression softened.

“But we want you to know something.”

A flicker of worry rushed through me.

“What’s that?” I asked, my heart beginning to race.

Lucas took a small breath before speaking.

“We can’t forget about Cole. He will always be our first Dad.”

The honesty in his voice hit me straight in the heart.

I nodded immediately.

“There’s no other way I would want it, buddy,” I said softly. “He was, is, and always will be. Nothing will ever change that. I would never take that away from you.”

Lucas’ eyes filled with tears.

“Thanks, Dad!” he whispered shakily.

The word landed deep inside my chest, settling into a place that had been empty for years, shattering me.

I closed my eyes briefly as I held him against my chest, emotion lodging so tightly in my throat that I could barely breathe around it.

Hearing him call meDadwas something I had dreamed about more times than I could count.

“I love you, Lucas,” I whispered. “I always will.”

He clung to me, his arms tightening around my neck as he sniffled softly against my chest.

“Me, Dada?” Emma asked immediately, climbing halfway off the couch.

I laughed softly through the tightness in my chest before opening my arm toward her.

“Come here, sweetheart.”

She launched herself at both of us a second later.