Chapter 14
AMELIA
There are about eight thousand things I thought might wreck me this weekend.
Our family being with us.
Our vows.
Blackbriar wrapping its arms around all of us.
Gage in a tux looking at me with more love than anyone ever has.
But I did not account for this man—this soul-undoing, heart-healing, love-of-my-life man—handing me two velvet jewelry boxes this morning like he wasn’t about to emotionally assassinate me before breakfast.
Inside were matching engraved necklaces for our girls.
Tiny pendants with interlocking charms—a heart and a star.
The heart to symbolize love without conditions.
The star for the way they’ve always been our constant, even when everything else was shifting.
He designed them. Ordered them. Chose every word on the engravings. Then passed them to me and said, “I want them to know they’re always ours. That neither of them is losing their parent just because you and I are getting married.”
And now I’m standing in front of our daughters, the two souls we’d go to war for, trying to hold it together while Gage kneels down to eye level and shows them what devotion looks like in jewelry form.
My heart forgets how to beat. Because this man doesn’t kneel for anyone.
But for our daughters, he’d drop to his knees a thousand times if it meant making them feel safe, seen, and adored.
And he does it now without hesitation. Like there’s no world where he’d ever look down at them. Only eye to eye. Always.
Sarah’s engraving says: We’re gaining him. But you’ll always have all of me.
Luna’s says: You’ll never have less of me. Only more love around us now.
I’m not okay.
Nobody is okay.
We are gathered here today to witness the softest emotional destruction ever committed by a man in a fitted button-down.
Luna’s eyes are wide.
Sarah’s are suspicious in the way six-year-olds get when adults start acting weird but won’t say why.
I take a deep breath and kneel beside Gage, reaching into my pocket. “We’ve got something for you both,” I say, trying not to sound like I’m about to sob into the floor.
Gage’s voice is soft. “It’s something we want you both to have, to remind you that even though our family is changing, what we are to each other won’t ever change.”
I hold out the boxes. Sarah lifts the lid on hers first, and her mouth drops open. Luna’s eyes go even wider than they were when she opens hers.
Gage watches them both quietly. Intently. Like the moment matters more than breath and he doesn’t want to miss a single heartbeat of it.
“The heart,” I say, swallowing hard, “is to remind you that no matter what changes in our family, our love never does. Gage and I are getting married, but that doesn’t mean anything is being taken away. You’re not losing anything. You’re just getting extra people to love you.”
“The star,” Gage says, “is because you girls have always been that for us. Always there, like stars are. Always shining. And you always will be.”
Luna makes a choked sound. Sarah just stares.
I rest my hand over Sarah’s, where she’s clutching the necklace like it’s the most important thing she’s ever owned. “You’ll always have all of me, baby,” I whisper. “Nothing about that changes. Not ever.”
Gage brushes Luna’s hair behind her ear, his touch impossibly gentle. “This isn’t about losing anything, sweetheart,” he says. “It’s about gaining more of what matters.”
Luna makes a soft, hiccuppy sound as if she might cry but isn’t sure why, then wraps her arms around him in a fierce little hug, her face buried in his neck.
Sarah doesn’t say anything. She just leans into me, wrapping both arms around me with the silent intensity of a girl who feels everything, even if she doesn’t have the words for it yet.
I hold her tight, glancing at Gage while he holds Luna the same way. Our eyes meet and holy air-whooshing-out-of-me. My husband is emotionally ruined.
Luna pulls back first, and then Sarah lifts her head.
She looks between us, a tiny frown of concentration on her face. “So . . . we get to wear these now?”
Gage nods. “Now and forever. Unless you’re swimming. Or sword-fighting. Or sleeping in a pillow fort with very questionable engineering.”
Sarah processes this for a beat, clearly taking it all very seriously.
“I do all of those things,” she says solemnly.
“I know,” I whisper, kissing her cheek while also noting the crinkles at my husband’s eyes. “But you can still wear it. Even in pillow forts.”
Luna removes her necklace from the box, her tiny fingers fumbling with the clasp until Gage helps her. She stares down at it like it’s made of actual magic.
Something in my chest shifts as I take it all in. A slow ache that builds with every second.
I’ve kept myself together until now, but the second I reach for Sarah’s necklace and my fingers brush hers, I feel tears coming.
“We’re gonna need tissues,” I murmur, blinking hard as I fasten the chain around her neck.
Luna immediately retrieves a crumpled tissue from her pocket and passes it to me, her eyes so full of love it makes my throat close over. She’s the one taking care of me now. And just like that, my tears spill.
Then she’s hugging me. Fiercely, like she held her father a moment ago. Her voice muffled against my shoulder as she says, “I’m so glad you’re going to be my stepmom.”
She lifts her face to mine and starts listing things she can’t wait to do with me.
Compose music together, color in every single coloring book together (because, apparently, her dad never wants to), bake cakes together (because neither of her parents ever do that either), and maybe even start a band if I’m free for that.
Before I can respond, Sarah jumps in, chin tilted up with the excitement of a girl who wants to join in on all the fun.
“I want to do all those things too,” she declares.
“And also puzzles. And matching nail polish. And I want us to make a fairy village.” She turns to Gage.
“You can help with the village. But only if you promise to make it cool and not boring.”
He gives a slow, deliberate nod, like this is a contract negotiation. “Cool and not boring. Got it. I’ll bring the rocks, moss, and engineering knowledge.”
Sarah squints at him like she’s deciding if he’s fairy-village material.
She’s still trying to figure Gage out. How he works. Still testing the edges of what’s allowed. How playful she can be. How weird. How bossy. And Gage just takes it. Matches her tone like it’s a language he already speaks.
I do my best not to cry over all the fairy village plans, because these two? They’re building something special already. Not out of moss and rocks, but out of tiny moments like this.
Sarah clearly has no idea what engineering knowledge means. But she doesn’t back down. She wants to understand him. Wants him to understand her. And god, that alone might undo me.
Finally, she says, “No brown leaves. Only fancy ones.”
Gage doesn’t miss a beat. “Only the fanciest. I’ll consult the forest.”
Luna takes her necklace from her father’s hands and holds it out to me. Her voice is shy but sure when she asks, “Will you put mine on too?”
And there go my tears again.
At this point, I’m starting to accept that I might cry through this entire weekend.
I nod, smiling at her. “I would be honored to put it on for you.” And god, if this doesn’t make my heart squeeze.
Sarah and I have been living in Gage’s penthouse for over a month now. Luna and I share routines. Dinners. Bedtime chaos. We’ve been finding our rhythm. Earning each other’s trust.
But this moment? It feels big. Because I’ve been hoping to not just be someone who’s there, but someone she reaches for.
Right now, she’s choosing me. And it feels like everything.
I fasten the chain with shaking fingers, then gently smooth her hair back into place. She turns, gives me a smile so full of light it nearly cracks me open, then bounds over to Sarah. The two of them launch into excited plans for matching nails, fairy villages, and future bands. Sisters already.
I stay kneeling for a moment, just watching them.
My girls.
My life.
I feel a quiet kind of joy, the kind that fills every corner of your chest and settles there like it’s always belonged.
When I look over, Gage is watching me. Not just with love. But with that rare awe he only shows in moments that hit him deep.
He doesn’t speak. But he doesn’t need to. I know what he’s telling me without a single word. Thank you for loving her. Thank you for loving us.
The girls are still chattering as Gage and I stand. Their hands are gesturing wildly, voices climbing with enthusiasm, and then Sarah suddenly pauses and glances out the window.
“Can we go back outside?” she asks. “We were building a fairy nest before.”
“Yeah,” Luna chimes in. “I wanna show the fairies my necklace.”
I laugh softly, my heart still wobbling. “Yes. Just don’t go too far, okay?” Not that it really matters. Gage has fortress-like fences around the entire estate and cameras positioned like he’s expecting an infiltration. Our girls are never getting lost.
They race off, leaving behind a trail of footsteps and giggles.
And then it’s just us again.
Gage’s hand finds mine on instinct, fingers threading together, pulling me in close. He exhales slowly as we come together, and I realize . . . he needs me to steady him.
I grip his shirt. “Luna asked me to put her necklace on,” I whisper, still a little wrecked over it.
“Yeah.” His voice is thick, like his heart’s caught in his throat. And even though he only said one word, I can feel everything he’s not saying. There are whole storms of feelings locked behind that single word. The kind that would level him if he tried to say them out loud.
This man.
I love how deeply he feels. I love that he lets me see it.
I smile. “And Sarah wants you to help her build a structurally secure fairy village.”
His lips twitch. But his eyes? They’re a whole-ass contradiction. Soft and burning all at once. He knows what I’m doing. That I’m giving him space to feel it all.
My smile tips into a grin. “I can’t wait to see you consult with the forest. Who would’ve guessed Gage Black would become a fairy village consultant, all up in the forest’s business?”
His voice is all gravel and purpose when he says, “If that’s what it takes to be a part of her world?” His eyes pin mine with quiet ferocity. “To build our family?” A beat. “I’ll build a fucking empire of moss and glitter.”