"About Vincent? " "About the hearing. " Elias crossed the room in three strides and sat on the edge of the bed. Without hesitation, he reached out and placed a large hand on Tommy's small back. "Listen to me, son. Nobody's taking you anywhere. Not Vincent, not anyone.
You're staying right here with your mama and with me. That's a promise. " "But what if the judge says I have to go? " Tommy's voice was muffled against Nora's shoulder. "What if he doesn't believe we're a real family? " "Then we'll make him believe it. " Elias said firmly. "Because we are a real family. Maybe not the way most families start, but real all the same.
You understand? " Tommy pulled back enough to look at Elias with red-rimmed eyes. "You really mean that? I'm really your son? " Something in Elias's expression cracked open. Nora watched, her breath caught, as this guarded man finally let down the last of his walls. "Yeah. " Elias said, his voice rough.
"You're really my son. Been thinking of you that way for a while now, even if I didn't say it out loud. And nobody, not Vincent, not a judge, not anyone, is going to change that. You're mine, mine and your mama's, forever. " "Forever and then some? " Tommy asked, using a phrase he'd picked up from one of the ranch hands. "Forever and then some. " Elias confirmed.
Tommy launched himself at Elias, wrapping small arms around his neck with the fierce grip only a frightened child can manage. Elias caught him, held him, and over Tommy's head, his eyes met Nora's. In that look, Nora saw everything they'd been dancing around for weeks. Not just care or affection or practical partnership. Love.
Real, deep, impossible to deny love. For Tommy, certainly, but also, she dared to hope, for her. "Thank you. " she mouthed silently. Elias nodded, his arms still wrapped around the boy who'd somehow become his son. They stayed like that until Tommy's breathing evened out in sleep.
Elias carried him back to his small bed, tucking the covers around him with surprising gentleness. Then he and Nora stood together in the doorway, watching their son sleep. "He's terrified. " Nora whispered. "He understands more than I thought. " "Kids always do. But he'll be okay.
We'll make sure of it. " "How can you be so certain? " Elias looked at her, and in the dim lamplight, his expression was open in a way it had never been before. "Because I'm not losing another child. I couldn't save Sarah's babies, but I can save yours, ours. And I will. Whatever it takes. " "Elias, I know what I said, about this being practical, about not expecting anything beyond an arrangement.
I meant it when I said it, but" He stopped, struggling with words he clearly wasn't used to saying. "But somewhere along the way, you stopped being just a solution to a problem. You became someone I want to protect, someone I care about. Hell, Nora, you became someone I need, both of you. This family we've made, it's real to me, more real than anything's been in 5 years. " Tears spilled down Nora's cheeks.
It's real to me, too. I didn't want to admit it because I was afraid. Afraid of caring again. Afraid of losing again. But I can't pretend anymore.
You're not just my husband on paper, Elias. You're She didn't get to finish because Elias kissed her. Not like the chaste brush at their wedding, but real and deep and full of all the things neither of them had been brave enough to say. Nora's hands came up to grip his shoulders and she kissed him back with equal fervor. Five years of grief and loneliness and fear dissolving into this moment of connection.