“What now?” she asked, face turned against my chest. “We can’t leave here in the middle of the night, right?”
“Bubba said he’s got a room for us. In the morning, he’ll take us back to civilization, and we’ll catch a ride back home. But I did have a thought.”
“Oh, yeah?”
I squeezed her shoulders. “Yeah. What if we only stop home long enough to pick up our daughter before we catch another flight out?”
Maisy pulled her head back enough to be able to look up at me. In the moonlight, I saw her face scrunch in confusion. “And go where?”
“Well, I believe I promised you dumplings. What better place to get them than in China?”
She stared up at me. “You’re serious?”
“Oh, I never joke about dumplings,” I deadpanned.
Excitement lit up her eyes in the darkness. “I’ve never had dumplings before.”
“I know.” Ducking my head, I kissed her forehead. “And it would be my absolute honor to get them for you.”
Maisy laughed and squeezed my ribs tightly. “Let’s do it! But on one condition.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“On the plane home, we finish that conversation about making Samantha an older sister.”
I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever smiled so widely in my life. Contentment settled over me, and for the first time in such a long time, I realized how complete I felt. I was Tangaloa Ano.Kanaka Maoli, Royal Bastard, arms dealer of both illegal and legal weapons, murderer, warrior…and now father and soon-to-bekane, husband. I was no longer floundering out at sea. I’d found my anchor.