46. Chapter 46
forty-six
Sadie
Iwatched him with our little Hattie. He was talking softly, words I couldn’t quite hear, but his voice was low and rough, full of something I’d never heard from him before. His normally stoic face was soft, stretched into a permanent smile that made my chest ache.
He’d taken his shirt off so he could hold her skin to skin. My big, tattooed, gruff man was cradling our tiny girl against his chest like she was made of glass.
I should’ve been sleeping. God knows my body needed it. But I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
Hattie made a little grumpy face, scrunching her whole forehead, and I sniffled a laugh. “She gets that from you,” I teased.
Diesel smirked without looking up, like he knew I was right. She shifted, cooing against him, and he rocked her with this instinctive rhythm that melted me.
And then, just like that, I started crying.
“Hey,” he murmured, glancing up, reaching for my hand with the one not holding Hattie. His fingers curled around mine, grounding me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I sniffed, shaking my head, but the tears kept coming faster. And then I was ugly crying, shoulders shaking, breath hitching, everything spilling out all at once.
Diesel
I didn’t tell her to stop. Didn’t joke it off. I just pulled her into me as much as I could with Hattie tucked against my chest.
Her tears soaked into my skin, hot and unrelenting, but I held her tighter, steady as bedrock. “You’re okay, sunshine,” I murmured into her hair, my lips brushing the crown of her head. “We’ve got our girl. And you’re still with me.”
She sobbed harder at that, but I didn’t flinch. Didn’t move. Just kissed her hair and let her feel it all—the fear, the relief, the crash of everything she’d just been through.
If all I ever did in this life were hold her steady when the storm hit, it would be enough.