Chapter 46 – One Year Later
KAYLA
ONE YEAR LATER
Our wedding is a month away, and I can’t believe it’s almost here. Who would’ve thought that two people like us would ever have what we do?
And sure, I’d be lying if I said things were perfect. Because this isn’t some fairy tale. This is real life.
Adriel has been getting a little closer with his family. We see them more often now, but he’s still reserved—except with Sophia, of course. The man is insane for that child.
He still struggles with everything he’s been through, however. And who would blame him? Trauma isn’t an imaginary thing we can brush aside for prettier, shiner things. But we’re managing as best we can.
Though Adriel won’t attempt therapy, I have. I found someone new. Someone I trust. Someone I can be completely open and honest with, and there’s something beautiful about that.
I still go to school, still pursuing my dream of becoming an oncologist, while also working for Helping Hand. Assisting Jade with finding the girls work, prepping them for job interviews, that’s something I do for me. It gives me purpose. Like I’m really doing good.
Leilani, one of the girls from Helping Hand, peeks at me from behind her shoulder, assessing herself in the long mirror in her room at the center. Her long black hair’s up in a ponytail, a pantsuit on, something she’s never worn before.
“Are you sure about this?” she asks with a grimace.
“Absolutely! You look amazing and professional.”
She’s only twenty and came to us a year ago after her mother sold her to a trafficker for drugs.
When she was rescued by authorities, they brought her here.
She was hesitant at first, not trusting a soul.
Until I met her. We hit it off right away.
And now she’s about to go to an interview for a job as a cashier at a bank.
“You’re smart, capable. I know you’ll do amazing.”
“And if I don’t get it?” She fidgets with her sleeves, eyes downcast.
“Then you don’t get it.” I shrug. “There’s always the next one.”
She sighs. “You’re right. Thank you for the suit.”
“It was my pleasure.”
My phone rings, and when I see Adriel’s name, I can’t help the way my heart beats.
“Hey, fiancé.”
“Hey, baby. I’m here. Ready for lunch?”
“Sure! Give me a minute.”
“Take your time.” His voice oozes with that deep rasp that has me intoxicated already.
Hanging up, I look back at Leilani. “Please let me know how it goes. I’m just a phone call away if you need me.”
She sucks in a big breath. “I’ll be fine. I’ll text you after.”
“Okay.” I get to my feet, giving her one last reassuring grin.
Then I’m out the door and in the elevator, taking it to the main floor. As soon as I cross past the exit and onto the street, I see him in his black SUV, rolling down the window.
Excitedly, I start toward him, and as I do, something catches the corner of my eye. A large cardboard box just sitting at the corner of the building.
That’s strange. Really strange.
My heart hammers, and I don’t know why, but for some strange reason, I feel it calling to me.
I know how that sounds. Crazy Kayla. But what if it’s a bomb?
Before I can even make it to it, Adriel is beside me. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know…” I mutter, staring at the container. “The box. It’s just sitting there. Isn’t that weird?”
He squeezes my hand. “Let me go see what’s inside. Wait here.”
“I’m coming with you.” No way will I just stand around, and he knows me well enough by now to know that.
He gives me a harsh look, but I return it.
He rolls his eyes and shakes his head in frustration. “You’re infuriating.”
I let out a laugh.
Together, we head toward it, but the closer we get, the more fearful I become. My throat thickens, the air around stirring like it knows something I don’t.
Whatever’s inside that box is dangerous.
With my heart in my throat, anxiety ebbing through my veins, we make it that one final step until…
“Oh my God,” Adriel coughs out. “What the…”
My trembling hand meets my mouth as I stare at a sleeping baby wrapped in a simple, thick white blanket, a paper there beside him.
I don’t even know if it’s a boy. But something tells me it is.
Snapping out of my shock, I reach in and pick up the child, who looks only days old, if I had to guess. An ache lumps in my throat as I stare at him, small mouth moving while in deep sleep, not bothered by anything in the world.
“We have to get him inside and have Jade call someone,” I whisper, afraid to wake him.
But maybe we can keep him.
The thought is insane, of course, but when his tiny fist grabs a chunk of my hair and doesn’t let go, my heart only wants him that much more.
Adriel senses my emotions, gathering me close to him.
“He is awfully cute.” He chuckles under his breath.
“Do we even know it’s a he?” I ask.
“I have no idea.” The deep, raspy sway of his voice has me wondering what having a child with him would be like.
Could we even do that? Could we do the things we do? Kill and be parents through it all?
We both continue to watch this little person while I hold him protectively.
Won’t let the monsters get you, I promise.
Adriel gathers the paper left abandoned in the box. “Let’s go in and see if Jade knows who may have left him here.”
“Okay.” I hold the baby closer.
I’ve come to terms with not having a child. Closed that chapter of my life. There was nothing there but pain.
We considered adopting, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to have one of my own. But now, with this little one in my arms, I wonder if that chapter is really closed.
We make it into the elevator, and while we ride up, A opens the folded piece of paper and reads it.
His name is Jameson. He was loved for two whole days, but I couldn’t keep him. So love him for me. Love him like his mother did. Because he deserves that.
-N
He folds the note back up and connects his eyes to mine while my heart breaks, eyes misting at the pain this woman must’ve felt at giving up her own child. What it took to be that selfless.
As the doors open, we stride out together and straight to Jade’s office. She’s gonna call Child Protective Services, and they’re gonna take him. We’ll never see him again.
I fight the pain building behind in my throat. But the longer his hand stays clasped around the thick strands of my hair, the harder it gets. He hasn’t relented, like he’s fighting to stay with me just as hard as I am to keep him.
Tears stream down my face at the thought of letting go of this child I only just met. It makes no sense. Yet it also does.
“Kayla…” Adriel grabs my forearm, halting me. “You want him, don’t you?”
I nod, my chin trembling. “Is that stupid? I mean, assuming we even can. He could have a family. A father out there who wants him. They could say we aren’t qualified to adopt him. But…but I wanna try.”
Blinking back the tears, I stare at the baby once more, knowing deep down that he’s meant to be ours.
“Kayla?” Jade walks out of her office, only a few feet in front of us. “Whose baby is that?” Her attention travels between us.
“We found him in a box outside,” Adriel explains, handing her the note.
She reads it quickly. “Oh my God. I don’t think it’s anyone from here.” Her brows stich as she looks fondly at the child. “Come inside my office. We’ll call social services and figure this out.”
We head into her office, and I settle on the sofa.
“My goodness,” Jade gushes. “He really is holding on tightly to you.”
“He is, isn’t he?” I smile sadly, knowing our time together is limited.
“You look good with a baby in your arms,” she tells me, affection fastened to her features.
“Do you think they’d let us adopt him?” Adriel asks, completely taking me aback.
Jade’s eyes widen. “Well, the head person at the agency is a good friend, and assuming no one claims him, I don’t see why you guys couldn’t be first on the list. You did find him.” She grins.
He nods, his eyes gleaming as he looks at me.
“Are you sure?” I ask my fiancé.
His hands reach out for the baby, and slowly, I unclench the boy’s fist from my hair and hand him to Adriel.
Staring down at him, Adriel looks lost, yet also like he’s found something that means much more than he’s ever known.
“I’m sure.” His mouth twitches. “With everything I’ve been through, the way I was left at the hands of people who never knew how to love, I want his life to be different.
I want him to have more.” He gazes at me and smiles.
“And I think we can be the people who give him that. So, what do you think, baby bird? Want to make this life of ours even crazier?”
I take his hand and hold it tightly. “I do. I want all my crazy days with you.”
ADRIEL
SIX MONTHS LATER
Holding my son, Jameson, in my arms while Kayla makes us lunch, I wonder what the hell happened to the man I once was.
The one who didn’t know how to love or how to touch another human being.
Yet, over the time I’ve been with Kayla and now our boy, I don’t know how else to describe what I feel except love.
They’ve been my purpose, my redemption. A calling in life I never knew I needed.
And for all the bad days I’ve endured, I’ve had many good ones. Those days are the ones I hold on to.
After we took Jameson home the night we found him, we fostered him for a couple of months until we were able to officially adopt him.
Jameson Quinn.
Though I’m still working on the dynamics of my relationship with my family, I chose to take a step in the right direction and change my last name to that of my father. I’m building my relationship with my parents, brick by brick. Though it’s not easy, we’re getting there.
They often babysit at their place while Kayla and I go on our dates—and usually, by dates, I mean slaughtering someone and watching his body burn in our furnace. Some things never change, I guess. I don’t think they ever will.
My company is still very active, too. I even had Michael update his tech with a retina scanner. He did like this little addition, considering how easy it was for me to penetrate his system.
Staring at my wife while she carries over two plates with roasted potatoes and cheeseburgers she made, I wonder who I’d be if I’d never met her. How dreary and dead my life would really still be. Living in hate. Now all I have is love.
I place our son in the bassinet beside me while he coos, and I take the plates from her, lowering them on the table.
Scooping her up, I place her on my lap. “Thanks for this.”
My lips land softly on the corner of hers.
“It’s just lunch.” Her mouth slants up and she holds my face in her palm.
“I don’t mean the food, Kayla. I mean all of this. Our life. You. This boy. Everything. You don’t know how truly lost I was before you came along.”
“I do know.” Her thumb brushes the stubble across my jaw. “Because I was lost too.”
The deeper I stare at my wife, the harder my heart beats and the more I want to say the words I’ve never said out loud.
“What is it?” she asks, stealing all my breaths away.
“I just wanted to tell you…”
“Yeah?”
“I wanted to tell you that I love you, little wolf.”
“Wh-what?” She chokes up, tears forming in her eyes like raindrops. “Can…can you say that again?” she whispers on a cry.
It breaks my heart to know how desperately she needed to hear those words. And from now on, I plan on telling her how much I love her for the rest of my life.
“I love you, baby. I’ll love you until my heart no longer beats, and even after that, because what I feel for you is stronger than anything I’ve ever known.”
She sighs. And tenderly, her lips fall to mine, and she kisses me passionately and with promises of a future that is now ours.
Rising to my feet, I carry her out onto the sofa, strip off her clothes along with mine, and show her just how much I love her with my body the way I love her with my heart.