It had all been too much for her. Hell, it would have been too much for anyone. But her eyes fluttered open only a few minutes later… after I had picked her up and tucked her into bed alongside her child… our child. I stroked the hair back from her forehead and heaved a sigh of relief. My family was safe. It was the only thing that mattered…

“Angel… sweetheart… Violet’s okay, baby. So are you.”

We wrapped our arms around each other and our little girl, and for a while there was silence… just the sounds of our mingled breath and a deep, profound gratitude that was far beyond words…

“Violet…,” she said, taking the little girl’s hand and bringing it to mine. “This is Will, sweetie… You remember him.” I took her tiny hand and her little fingers wrapped around mine with surprising strength. “He gave Miri to you,” Angel went on. “So you could love her and take care of her…” She looked up into my face. “Just like he gave you back to me…

This is your daddy, baby girl.” I watched as beautiful tears washed down her cheeks. They made her eyes so large… so bright… so luminous…

“She’s as much your child as she is mine,” Angel said, her tears spilling over her bottom lip. “You saved her… you brought her back to me… you helped her find her way back to us…” She looked at me, her eyes huge and brilliant. “She has a birthmark,” she whispered, “the same as yours… just under her arm and shaped like a heart…” Our eyes locked and somewhere in the silence between us, we found our truth. It had waited for us, patiently, all along… “We could still have the test done if you want…,” she offered.

“Your love, your trust… is all I ever hoped for, Angel. And now… to be a father, too…” I kissed her, deeply, passionately… wanting her in every way a man could want a woman… “You’ve already given me what I thought was lost forever… No test could possibly give me what I already have…”

She kissed me back, throwing her arms around my neck, pulling me closer. She smelled sweet, like fresh air and sunshine. “But you wanted to know for certain, Will…”

“And I do now,” I answered her reassuringly, pushing her hair back over her shoulders. “In every way that really matters, I do.” I put a hand on my chest, on my heart. “Being a real father is only here, Angel.”

Harry bustled into the room and shot an astute look around, taking everything in at a glance. He smiled down at Violet’s calm blue eyes. “Welcome back, little miss,” he said, kindly. “You’ve had a lot of people worried about you…” He looked over at Angelina with concern. “And how’s mom holding up?”

“Is she okay? When can we go home? Is the danger over?” Angelina shot the questions out in a rush. Two spots of color highlighted her cheeks as she sat up suddenly.

He raised an eyebrow, taking his time to look over the chart. “Everything looks good,” he said finally. “I think we’ll want to keep her a day or two, just to be sure. But it’s only a precaution.” He smiled at her. “I can arrange for you to stay here with her, if you’d like. It wouldn’t hurt for you to take a day or two off your feet, as well.”

“I will, I promise…” She leaned forward and took Harry’s hand. “Did you get the papers…?” she asked urgently. Harry nodded and his eyes slid over to me.

“What’s this?” I asked. “What… papers?”

“I asked him to gather the records together for me,” Angelina said, putting her hands in mine. They felt tiny, but warm.

“The state building’s right over on the next block,” Harry added, his eyes shining. “As you well know, Will…”

“I wanted… if things didn’t…,” she stumbled over the words. “I wanted Violet to have her father. And for you to have your baby girl,” Angel said, looking up at me with big, serious eyes, gripping my hands in hers. “I asked Harry to bring us the forms we needed… so we could put your name on Violet’s birth certificate. To make it real…

It’s your decision,” she added, glancing down at our intertwined hands.

In a second, I was on my feet with my love in my arms. “For God’s sake, Angel… Of course, it’s what I want.” I kissed her, tasting the salt of her tears… and mine.

“Wiseass,” I shot lightly, over her shoulder at Harry. “You knew… and you didn’t fucking tell me…?”

“Doctor-patient privilege,” he said with a smug grin. “I didn’t give away your secret, either,” he added. He looked from me to Angelina, and to Violet. Violet was watching silently, but her eyes slid quickly from one face to the next. I could see her absorbing every look… every emotion.

“You have a secret?” Angel asked, slipping her hands up my waist and around my back. Something hungry raised up inside me and growled with pleasure. “What is it…? Mattie…?” She looked around the room at each of us. Mattie waved her hands in front of her chest and looked innocent, batting her eyes. “Somebody… tell me…”

“Between the two of us, it looks like we’ve been running Harry ragged… I had him make a few arrangements for me, too,” I admitted, kissing her shamelessly in front of the others. We were the center of attention, yet it felt like we were the only two people in the world. “We can wait, if you want… until you’re ready to walk down the aisle on your own two feet,” I said. “But I’m more than ready to carry you down it, Angel. I waited years for this moment, and there were times I was afraid…” I took her face in my hands, so delicate and so strong… “Marry me now, sweetheart. Today.

Harry got the us the paperwork for the marriage license, and there’s a minister on staff. We can have the ceremony right here in Violet’s room. And when we leave here in a day or two, we can go home as a family. In every possible way…

Just say yes…”

Angelina’s mouth was open, her eyes glistening. The moment was perfect and the word was on the tip of her tongue… All of us were was waiting for her to answer…

“Angelina Hollister?”

And the whole room took a noisy breath in at once, breaking the silence. The nurse had a high voice and boisterous nature. She came into the room like a gust of wind, clattering items on a tray and shoes squeaking on the tile floor. “And this sweet thing must be Violet?” She sat the tray down with a loud thump.

“I’ve got lunch here for Miss Violet… Just a little clear broth to start with.” She went about her business, completely unaware of what she’d just interrupted. “If it goes down okay, she can have some gelatin in an hour or so.” She looked up at the faces around her and grinned, oblivious. “And this is for you,” she said to Angelina, and she held out a plastic cup with pills in it and another one filled with water.

Angel took them from her and blinked.

“How long have you and your husband been trying?” she asked, smiling, looking from Angel’s blank face to mine. She glanced down to Violet. “You two sure do make pretty babies…”

“I don’t understand,” Angel said slowly. “They gave me medicine for the pain when they put the splint on…”

“Oh, honey, that’s not for pain,” the nurse went on. “It’s your vitamins. Dr. Kendricks ordered them after she ran the tests. It just took a little while to take care of it on this end.” She leaned in confidentially. “I know I’m not the first, or the last to say this, but congratulations to you both. I just love a happy ending.” And then she was gone, bustling out of the room as noisily as she’d come in.

“Harry…?” I asked slowly, afraid to even think... But inside it felt like a spark had begun… and it was rapidly becoming a full-blown flame. It couldn’t be…

Hope and disbelief were mixed into my voice in equal measure. “…Harry…?”

He made a sound of satisfaction deep in his throat as he eased us both down onto the edge of Violet’s bed. “Forgive me for not telling you sooner,” he said, his whole, kind face creased with the size of his smile. “I’m afraid the two of you weren’t the only ones with secrets…,” he said. I took Angelina’s hand and felt it trembling.

“But there was already more than enough going on… You were both under a lot of strain. I felt it was better to wait until we had Violet safely back with us.” He reached past us and touched the girl’s forehead and she smiled. He turned to us.

“But one of the tests Kendricks ran was a pregnancy test. Standard enough, with a young, female patient.” He looked at me and his smile broke into a grin. “I can’t even explain it, Will. It couldn’t be. Technically speaking, it shouldn’t be…”

“But I did a home test…,” she began. “It was negative…”

“I triple-checked the results myself,” he said. “It’s real… it’s truly real.” He took Angelina’s other hand so we were both holding onto her. “I’ve never been happier in my life to give this kind of news, Angelina…

You and Will are pregnant,” he told her, tears in his own eyes. “You two are going to be parents…

Again.”