Audrey Anne Lindstrom lay in her crib in her nursery, my perfect little angel.

The whirlwind of activity that started within days of me seeing the little pink plus on the pregnancy test hadn't stopped until mid-January.

I loved the house where we’d lived, where I first slept with Jal, but he’d been insistent that his child – his children – have the kind of house that was a home, not a fortress. And he wanted us to pick it out together.

Granted, the place was still huge, but it definitely looked like a place for a family. There was a yard and a playset. And a pool – behind a stone fence with a gate.

All these ands – along with others like a family room with an in-home theater – were courtesy of Jal, who simply didn’t know the meaning of excess and whose bank account seemed to have no end.

I’d drawn a line at the bowling alley in the basement.

“It’s not like you’re going to go bowling anytime soon, huh?” I asked her, reaching down to stroke one plump cheek.

She jumped, but it was the touch that had made her move, not my voice.

We'd had her tested as soon as possible since there was a good chance that my mother's hearing loss was genetic. I'd been torn when the news had come back that Audrey was profoundly deaf. It didn't make her any less perfect in my eyes, but I knew how the world worked, how things would be harder for her.

But as my mother had told me a hundred times, obstacles in life are what makes us strong.

Audrey would be just fine.

We’d make sure of that.

Arms, warm and strong, came around me, and Jal pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “Hello, my beautiful wife,” he said softly.

“Hello, my handsome husband.”

We stood there, watching Audrey sleep.

Jal stroked his hands up and down my arms, and I relaxed into the warmth of his body. “I can’t believe we have to wait three more weeks,” I said.

“After what I saw?” Jal sounded strained. “It might take me six years before I’m ready to put you through that again.”

I laughed softly. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you get over it.”

Turning, I slid my arms around his neck, my stomach clenching at the heat in his eyes. We might not be able to have actual sex yet, but there were still plenty of things I enjoyed doing to him in the meantime.

But that wasn't at the front of my mind at the moment. We hadn’t talked about certain…things much. After a minute, I pulled away because we needed to talk, which was hard to do it when we were so close.

I twisted my wedding ring as I looked out the window.

“You know, there are changes in medical technology, new breakthroughs,” I said. “There are so many options that weren't available for Mom or Tyson, or even TJ. We can–”

Jal cut me off with a soft kiss.

Then, he signed, “She’s perfect. If she wants to look into options when she’s older, then we’ll support her. But to me, she’s already perfect.”

I stepped into his embrace and rested my head on his chest. The steady sound of his heartbeat worked through me, relaxed me. It'd been nearly two years since we'd first met and our lives had been turned upside-down. Getting to where we were had been hard, but it'd been worth it.

I had a tentative, but real, relationship with my biological father now. Mallory was one of my closest friends. Jal's parents were amazing. The last of the chill between Ginnifer and me had thawed when I told her I was pregnant. Tao, Tony, and Lyrrie were still together. Diamond and Paisley were still furious, but word had gotten out about what they'd done – I was pretty sure Ginnifer had been responsible for it – and now it was the two of them that people talked about behind their backs.

“You know,” I said softly. “When you first walked into FOCUS, I couldn't have imagined that we'd end up here, like this.”

“Me either,” Jal admitted. “But I wouldn't change a thing.”

As I thought about everything that had happened, the good and the bad alike, I realized I wouldn't either. Those months had been hard, but it'd made the two of us stronger, made our relationship stronger.

“I love you.” I pushed myself up on my toes to brush my lips against his.

“I love you too.” He brushed my hair out of my face and then grinned. “Now, what do you say we find some creative ways of relieving tension that don't break the doctor's orders.”

I laughed and let him pull me from the nursery, down the hall, and into our bedroom.