"So what now?" I ask as we reach Sawyer's truck.
"Now we go home," he says, settling Tommy into his car seat with practiced ease. "Now we live our life."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that." He straightens, pulls me into his arms right there in the courthouse parking lot. "Lisa McKenna, you are officially and permanently the mother of the most beautiful boy in Montana."
"And you're officially and permanently his father."
"Best job I've ever had," he says, and kisses me like we're not standing in public, like we're not surrounded by lawyers and court officers and people dealing with their own legal dramas.
Like we're just a family celebrating the best day of our lives.
Which, I realize as I kiss him back, is exactly what we are.
9
SAWYER
The house is finally quiet.
It's been six hours since Judge Henley handed down her ruling, six hours since Derek Morrison learned that money and connections don't always win against love and family. Six hours since Lisa and I walked out of that courthouse as the legal, permanent, unshakeable guardians of Tommy McKenna.
My stepson. My family. Mine to protect forever.
The celebration dinner at Luke's house went longer than planned, with every McKenna brother and their families gathering to welcome Tommy officially into the clan. Lily insisted on teaching him to clap, even though he's still too young to understand the concept. Cade grilled enough burgers to feed a small army. Boone brought out his guitar and played lullabies until Tommy fell asleep in Lisa's arms.
My brothers, who've been watching me live like a hermit for so long, couldn't stop grinning at the sight of me with a wife and baby. Like they'd been waiting for this moment as long as I have.
Now we're home, and Tommy is sound asleep in his crib, worn out from being the center of attention. Lisa is in ourbathroom, running a bath, and I'm standing in our bedroom trying to process the fact that it's really over.
Derek Morrison is on his way back to Connecticut with his tail between his legs and no legal claim to my stepson. The custody case is closed. The threats are gone. The family I've dreamed about for twenty years is safe, secure, and mine.
"Sawyer?" Lisa's voice carries from the bathroom, soft and questioning. "You okay out there?"
"Yeah." I head toward the sound of her voice, needing to see her, to touch her, to reassure myself that this is real. "Just thinking."
The bathroom is filled with steam and the scent of whatever fancy bath salts Lisa uses, the ones that make her skin smell like vanilla and flowers. She's sitting on the edge of the tub in her robe, testing the water temperature, and the domestic simplicity of it hits me like a punch to the chest.
This is my life now.This woman, this home, this quiet evening routine that I never thought I'd have.
"Thinking about what?" She looks up at me with those green eyes that have been driving me crazy since we were kids.
"About how different today could have gone. About what would have happened if Derek had won."
Her face goes serious, the way it does whenever the custody case comes up. Even now, even with the victory fresh and final, the fear hasn't completely left her eyes.
"But he didn't win." She stands, moves toward me. "He lost. Completely and permanently."
"He lost because he showed the court exactly who he is. A man who sees children as possessions instead of people." I reach for her, pull her against my chest, need the contact to calm the protective rage that still simmers whenever I think about Derek's testimony. "A man who abandoned you and Emma when you needed him most."
"A man who's never going to hurt Tommy again." Lisa's voice is fierce, certain. "Because Tommy has you now. He has us."
The word 'us' does something warm and dangerous to my chest. Us. A unit. A family that no court, lawyer, or manipulative bastard can break apart.
"Lisa." I frame her face with my hands to make sure she's looking at me. "I have a confession to make."
"What?"
