Kim and Jared stood next to the crib watching Chloe as she slept. He turned to Kim, placed a loving kiss on her lips, then folded her into his embrace.
“Tell me, Mrs. Stevens, is all of this real? I keep asking myself if it’s possible to have everything I want and to be as deliriously happy as I am, yet here it all is—a wife I love very much and a darling little daughter to make us a family.”
She rested her head against his shoulder. “I know what you mean. Everything happened so quickly, it’s taking me a while to catch up with reality.”
“I thought it would take longer for all the paperwork on Chloe. Grant really earned his money on this one. He had the appropriate documents drawn up in record time, got the mother’s signature and Terry’s signature showing that they relinquished all claim to the child and gave her up for adoption.”
Kim reached over and adjusted Chloe’s blanket, then they walked quietly out of Chloe’s bedroom and continued outside to the deck. The full moon cast a silvery glow over everything, enveloping them in a mystical aura.
“I love you, Jared. I really do.”
He let out a soft chuckle. “It’s a good thing, Mrs. Stevens, because you’re stuck with me forever.”
“I like the sound of that…Mrs. Stevens forever.”
Jared pulled her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled her head against his shoulder. It was, indeed, a love that would last forever.