I moved so I was sitting next to him. My fingers traced a lazy pattern on his chest and my eyes met his. Smiling, I whispered, “I can only see one thing slowing us down.”

He frowned. “What?”

“The kids we’re going to have.”

He sat up, the look on his face changing. Staring at me with a look of amazement, he asked, “Are you about to tell me what I think you’re about to tell me?”

I nodded, a wash of emotion taking over me. “Yes. You’re going to be a daddy.”

His eyes widened and a huge grin filled his face. And then he practically crushed me to the bed and kissed me. He kissed me for an eternity, and when he’d finished, he looked down at me through eyes that couldn’t hide his love even if he tried, and said, “I love you, Evie Hanson.”

I looped my arms around his neck, and said, “Not as much as I love you, Kick Hanson.”

He chuckled. “You might think you wear the pants in this relationship, sweetheart, but I’m telling you now, if we have a daughter, I’m the boss of her. And that’s a ‘we clear’ statement.”

I laughed. “Oh God, I hope we have a girl. Kick Hanson scaring off boys . . . I want to watch that.”

He groaned, a look of pure pain flashing across his face. “Fuck, that’s gonna be worse than dealing with men watching you.”

As I watched my man declare his love for me in more ways than one, I realised how happy I was.

Finally.

We’d been through so much and we’d fought so hard for this over the years. And we’d finally done it. We’d created our own family, and this family would always love and protect its own.

Always.