Diane kisses Harper one more time, then pulls me into a hug. "Your parents should be here for this." She says it simply, without cruelty, just as a fact she wants acknowledged. "They're idiots who don't deserve you. But you're an incredible father."
I hold onto that. She means it. And my parents not being here, not calling, not knowing, not caring the way Emma and Diane care, that's their loss, not mine. Harper won't have grandparents on my side who show up. She'll have Emma, who drives eight hours. She'll have Diane, who brings champagne just in case. She'll have a whole family who chose each other.
That's enough. That's more than enough.
By six-thirty, they're gone, and it's just us. Nora, Harper, and me.
Ourhouse. Ourfamily.
We do Harper's bedtime routine together, moving through the familiar motions: bath, pajamas, bottle, story. But everything feels different tonight. Lighter, but not weightless, like we've been holding our breath for months and can finally exhale, even if some of the breath is still in there waiting for the next thing.
Harper is asleep before we finish the second book, completely out, one hand curled near her face.
We stand in the nursery doorway for a long moment, just watching her breathe.
"She's safe," I whisper. "She's ours."
"For now," Nora says quietly. "And for the foreseeable future."
"Yeah."
"That's enough, Tyler."
"I know it is. I'm just letting myself sit with the for now part."
She squeezes my hand. "Sit with it. Then come back."
I look at her. She's looking at Harper, and her face is doing something soft, and I think this is the first time in a month she's let her face fully relax.
"I love you," I say.
"I love you too."
I turn to look at Harper for a beat longer before Nora tugs me gently away from the nursery, and we head back downstairs.
We move to the living room, and I sink onto the couch, pulling Nora down beside me. For a moment, we sit here, the months of fear and hiding finally done.
"I can't believe it's over," she says quietly.
"It's notover. But the part that mattered is over." I pull her closer. "And you and me? We don't have to wait anymore."
"That laundry room seems like a lifetime ago," she says.
"Yeah." I cup her face. "But this is different. We're not hiding now. We're not scared. We're?—"
"Free," she finishes.
"Free."
She climbs onto my lap, straddling me, her hands sliding into my hair. "Show me what it's like now that we're free."
I kiss her, deep and slow, so different from that first time in the laundry room. This isn't desperate or rushed. This is savoring, celebrating, claiming her without fear.
Her hips rock against me, a slow grind that makes me groan into her mouth.
"Fuck, Red. I've missed this. Missed having you like this."
"We've only done this once." She does it again, rolling her hips in a way that has my cock hardening instantly. "And it was so fast. We didn't have time to?—"