Biting her bottom lip, she wraps her arms around my enormous stomach and sighs. “I get to meet you two soon! You’ll know me right away. I’m the cool one.”

We grab my overnight bag and diaper bag and are halfway to the door when Nate and Asher walk in. Nate takes one look at me and the bag slung over Lizzy’s shoulder and says, “Yeah?”

I nod, and before I can say anything, he pulls me into his arms, slides his hands into my hair, and kisses me.

“Knock it off!” Liz says. “You can suck face later. Now it’s time to have some babies!”

Epilogue

Three Weeks Later

“HEY, CRANE!” Asher calls, waving me over. “Is it done?”

I find a seat in the chair next to his and hand him the finished version of the song we’ve been hammering away at since August. Hanna’s song.

“What about that?” I ask, pointing to a new line in the chorus.

“Yeah.” He nods as he studies it. Then he grins. “Yeah, that could work.”

I’ve written a lot of songs in my life and co-written even more, but none of them fought me as much as this one. Or maybe I’m the one who fought it. I wanted it to be about how sometimes loving someone means letting them go, and it didn’t work. Months later, it’s turned into a piece about how love is worth all the pain and heartbreak that comes before and after.

I knew, if I touched you, it’d be more than a kiss.

I need you. I’ll feed you. I’ll be your dying bliss.

Staring at the chorus, I sense her. I lift my head, and Hanna’s smiling at me, my daughter in her arms. Next to her, Liz cradles my other daughter, gazing into her little face like a woman lost in love.

My daughters, Sophia and Josephine, are three weeks old today, and the family is over to welcome them home and celebrate their healthy births. I’m exhausted and sleep deprived and generally the luckiest bastard in the world.

“Are you two going to sing for us or not?” Maggie asks.

Asher winks at her. “Sure. We’ve even got something new.” He strums the first chords of the song, and Hanna’s eyes go wide. She’s heard me working on it and begged me to sing it for her, but I told her she had to wait until it was done. I guess it’s showtime.

You met me in the darkness and invited me to see

The path into the daylight wasn’t what I thought it’d be.

I wanted to slay dragons for you but didn’t understand

The dragons needing slaying were the ones inside my head.

I knew, if I touched you, it’d be more than a kiss.

I need you. I’ll feed you. I’ll be your dying bliss.

I’ll be your superhero. I’d do it all for this.

The words aren’t just perfect for the song. They’re true. And when I look up from my guitar, I know she understands that every word is for her. She turns to Krystal and hands her the baby. Then she comes across the room and takes my hand.

“Are you ready to make good on your promise, angel?” I ask softly.

“What promise is that?”

I produce a ring from my pocket. It’s an emerald-cut diamond framed by our daughters’ birthstone. “Marry me. Be my wife and my family. Wear my ring.”

She grins, and happy tears spill down her cheeks. “I was starting to wonder when you’d ask me.”