My nerves ratchet up a few notches once we arrive at my house. I wonder if this is how Lainey often feels—and if it is, I’m even more amazed by her, because it’s exhausting to be this amped up.

My house isn’t ostentatious, but it’s big. I’ve seen pictures of Lainey’s family home, and while it’s bigger than average—to accommodate all her brothers and sisters when they were growing up—it’s a traditional farmhouse.

“Oh wow! This is just . . . a lot of house. Is it just you here?” Elaine asks as I show them through to the living room.

“For now, yes. I have a brother who lives in LA, and he often comes to visit with his wife and son during the holidays. My mom and sister will come visit as well.”

“You could lose a person in here!” I’m not sure if Elaine is joking or not.

I turn to Lainey, who’s propped herself up against the wall. I press my lips to her forehead. She’s not warm like she was yesterday, but we’ve had a lot of excitement for someone who was tossing her cookies less than twenty-four hours ago. “You should lie down—you must be wiped.”

“Maybe just for a bit.” She gives me a grateful smile.

“Why don’t I show you the bedrooms, and everyone can get settled?”

I carry both suitcases to the second floor and bring Lainey’s parents to one of the guest rooms, taking Kody from Elaine. We leave them to unpack, and I shift Kody to one hip so I can take Lainey by the hand, guiding her farther down the hall. “I have something to show you.”

“Okay.”

I open the second door on the left and flip on the light. Lainey’s palm covers her mouth, and her eyes go wide. “Oh, RJ, this is just . . . amazing.”

The nursery is decorated in a hockey theme, because, well, it’s my life. The crib is designed to look like a hockey rink, an idea I got from Alex and Violet, and the bedding boasts our team logo.

I set Kody in the new crib. He reaches up, as if he’s trying to grab the mobile hanging over his head. “I figured it would be good to introduce Kody to hockey at an early age. Maybe he’ll have the same love for it as I do. But he might be more like you, so I figured it was good to have a bit of both of us in here.” I turn on the sea creature mobile and motion to the mural of Kodiak Island. It’s a decal, rather than painted, so we can switch it up whenever we feel like it.

Lainey wanders around the room. She takes a seat in the glider and rocks back and forth a few times before she moves on to the dresser and changing table. Eventually she comes back to stand in front of me, eyes bright with unshed tears.

“I didn’t do this because I want to take him away from you, Lainey—you understand that, don’t you? I did it because I wanted you to see that I care about both of you and I want to be part of raising him. Together or apart, he’ll always be ours.”

She smiles, a little sad, a little wistful. “You were right, you know.”

“About what?”

“You’re exactly the man I thought you were.”

“Is that a good or a bad thing?”

“Good. It’s good.” She wraps her arms around my waist and rests her cheek against my chest.

I fold her into an embrace, relieved that she’s here and that she seems to understand and believe that I genuinely want to right my wrong. “I made some big mistakes, Lainey, but I’m trying my best to make up for them.”

“You’re doing a great job.” Lainey pulls back and tips her chin up. She settles a palm against my cheek and smiles softly. “I understand it better now, why you omitted the truth at first.”

“I’m still sorry I didn’t tell you when I had the chance.” That I missed all this time with them is a punishment I’m not sure I’ll ever really get over.

“I know you are, but I can also understand how it became harder to tell me the longer we were together. And I’ll be honest with you—I don’t know how the version of me you knew then would’ve handled all of that, because so much has changed.” She exhales a shaky breath. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Kody right away.”

“I understand why you waited. I blindsided you with the truth.”

“And telling you had the potential to change my entire life, and at the time, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a good or a bad change—so thank you for being patient with me while I figured all of this out.”

“Thank you for giving me a chance to prove I’m the same man I was a year ago.” I press my lips to her temple and hold her, grateful for this second chance.

Since Kody seems content in his crib—for now—we leave him there while I show Lainey the bathroom connected to the nursery. There’s another door leading to a bedroom on the other side, so all three rooms are connected.

“If you want to stay in here, you can.” I don’t want to push Lainey for more than she’s prepared to give.

Lainey nods and bites her bottom lip. “Where’s your bedroom?”

“I’m actually connected to Kody’s room too, through the closet.” It was a design feature I didn’t understand at first. But I realized later that the guest bedroom I’d planned for Lainey to stay in was actually meant to be a nanny suite. I take Lainey through the walk-in closet full of new clothes for Kody to the door on the other side, which takes us to my bedroom.

She crosses over to the bed, which is exactly like the one from the cabin in Alaska. Even the comforter is the same. She runs her hand along the edge of the footboard. “What if . . . I want to stay in here instead?”

“I can take the other room if this is what you prefer.”

She glances over her shoulder, lip caught between her teeth, looking shy and nervous. “No. I mean, what if I want to stay in here with you?”

I bridge the gap between us and wrap her up in my arms. “I missed you every day for more than a year. I missed the smell of your shampoo, the way you feel in my arms, the sound of your voice, the softness of your skin—and even though your dad might kill me if you stay in here with me, I’m willing to take that risk.”

Lainey chuckles. “I’m a twenty-six-year-old woman—and a mother. I think we all know I’m not the innocent little girl he would like to pretend I still am. And I’ve missed the way my heart feels when you’re close to me—so please, be careful with it this time around.”

Despite the fact that Lainey might still be a little on the right side of fluish, when she tips her head back and her gaze settles on my mouth, I dip down with the intention of kissing her.

She turns her head a few inches so I make contact with the corner of her mouth. “I don’t want to make you sick.”

“My immune system is stacked—I’ll chug a bottle of vitamin C and chase it with hand sanitizer if I need to.”

Before I can make a move to kiss her properly, Kody lets out a loud cry.

Figures I end up cockblocked by my own son. “I’ll get him—you lie down.”

“What about my parents?”

“I can handle entertaining them. You need rest, and they’ll want to visit with Kody.” I make an adjustment in my pants on the way to Kody’s room. I close the door behind me so Lainey has some quiet and enter the nursery at the same time as her dad. He reaches the crib before I can and picks up Kody. “Where’s Lainey?”