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He nodded. “That and having a family and…love.”

Vivian went still.

“I love you, Vivian Kelly.”

She smiled, tears shimmering in her eyes, as he brushed his thumb across her cheek.

“I don’t know exactly what this looks like yet. I don’t know how to do any of it,” he said.

She took his hand away from her face, kissing his knuckles before grasping it firmly. “We’ll figure it out together.”

“I’m finished running, sunshine, finished fighting this. Shit, the past week has been hell. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“Stop trying. Because I love you too.”

Vivian wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest. He held her, soaking in her scent and her strength. This woman humbled him in all the best ways.

And for once, he wasn’t waiting for something to go wrong. He’d found something worth staying for, worth fighting for.

Vivian lifted her head. “Should we go to bed?”

“Hell yeah.”

As they walked to the bedroom, Dean was overwhelmed by the sense that he wasn’t just going to Vivian’s room.

He was coming home.

Chapter Thirteen

Christmas Eve had always been a night of magic, but this year, it felt even more special. Maybe it was because Dean was with them.

Not just for dinner, or for a few stolen hours in the afternoon while Pip was at school, or on those rare nights when Pip spent the night at Victor’s.

Tonight, for the first time, Dean was staying with both of them. Pip had been very clear about that, insisting that Dean had to be there when she woke up and opened her presents.

“Santa comes at midnight,” she explained to Dean, as if only kids knew that fact and the adults needed a reminder.

Pip was curled on the couch between them, wide awake despite the late hour, her Christmas pajamas covered in tiny snowflakes.

Dean rose for a moment, walking over to where he’d hung his winter coat by the front door. He withdrew a small package from the pocket, returning to the couch to hand it to Pip.

“I got you an early Christmas present.”

Pip’s eyes went wide. “I can open it now?”

“Yep,” he said.

Vivian watched as her daughter ripped into the wrapping paper.

“A book!” Pip’s genuine delight over the gift did Vivian’s heart good. She and Belle had been reading to Pip since she was a newborn, so the little girl’s love of stories was deeply engrained. Pip’s books were truly some of her most precious possessions, and it was rare that Vivian wasn’t expected to read at least half a dozen of them every night as her daughter always pleaded for “just one more.”

“It reminded me of you,” Dean confessed to Pip.

Pip turned the book over in her hands, studying the picture of the little girl on ice skates, one mittened hand clasped in her father’s.

“Can we read it now?” she asked.

Dean nodded. “Of course.” He took the book from Pip and opened it to the first page. Pip immediately tucked herself against his side as he started reading.