Page 339 of When a Soul Cries

My smile faded into something quieter as I followed her gaze. "Me too."

Kai stepped up on my other side, his shoulder brushing mine as he stopped beside me.

For once, he wasn't joking.

He watched Sol accept the oversized scissors from the coordinator, his face unusually serious.

"From Cash Market to this," he murmured, shaking his head slowly like even he couldn't believe how much had changed.

I looked at my wife.

"Yeah," I said, my voice lower than before.

That hit me.

Because there she stood.

Six months pregnant.

My last name behind hers.

Her own foundation in front of her.

But for a second, I saw the woman I'd met kneeling in an aisle at Cash Market.

Oversized white T-shirt.

Black leggings.

Red vest.

Messy bun.

Tired eyes.

Still beautiful as hell.

The woman who'd been fighting so hard just to survive that she didn't have room to imagine anything beyond the next bill.

Now thousands of square feet behind her existed because she'd decided other women deserved somewhere safe to breathe.

Sol looked through the crowd, searching until her eyes found mine.

I shifted Halo higher on my hip and pointed toward her mama. "Look, baby. Mama."

Halo followed my finger, and her whole face lit up the second she spotted Sol.

"MAMA!" she screamed, waving both hands excitedly.

Sol laughed and waved at her, her nervous expression breaking into a wide smile.

Someone near the front called out, "Three!"

The crowd joined in.

"THREE!"

Halo bounced in my arms, squealing as everybody around us shouted.