Page 30 of Diary from an Inked Throne

Meanwhile, Luca and Lynx hadn’t even come home for clean clothes.

Not until today.

Lynx had messaged to say they’d be here, and I knew Lynx didn’t make promises he wouldn’t keep. Nerves over seeing them both again after so long apart fluttered around my belly until I felt like vomiting.

A knock came from the hallway, and Violet stuck her head into the room. “Lynx and Luca are up at the gates. I asked Levi to let me know before he let them in, just in case you wanted to see them first. In private. There’s a lot of people here for this, but you can have a few minutes alone if you go up there. It’s been so long since you’ve seen them, I just thought…”

Violet proved over and over again that she was the best sort of friend. Thinking about what I would want or need even when I hadn’t considered it myself.

I glanced over at Dax. “I think I do want that. Will you come with me?”

I already knew he’d say yes.

Violet spoke into the phone and told Levi we were coming. Dax and I slipped out of the clubhouse via the back door, so we didn’t have to walk through the crowd of people all waiting to celebrate our baby with us.

He deserved that. Even if he wasn’t here. He was ours and he was too important to just be called baby all the time.

Violet walked with us, and at the top of the gravel drive, Reaper stood with their new baby in his arms.

Luca and Lynx stood at his side, staring down at the newest addition.

My heart squeezed.

Because it should have been Lynx and Luca staring down at my baby. I loved Violet’s son TK. He was beautiful, and I hadn’t had to force myself to go see her in the hospital and to hold the little boy who was just weeks younger than mine.

I had loved him just as instantly as I’d loved the baby I’d birthed.

So I knew how much it hurt Violet to not be able to do the same for me.

Violet took TK from Levi’s arms, and they quietly moved out of the way, giving us the privacy she’d promised.

I couldn’t say anything. They both looked different, and yet beneath the longer hair, the beards, the clothes I didn’t recognize, were the two men I loved.

Lynx took a step forward. “Nyah.”

I broke. A sob I’d been holding in burst free, and I rushed to Lynx, throwing myself at him.

There was a safety here, between the three of them that I didn’t feel anywhere else. A wholeness that couldn’t be broken even while I was missing the part of my heart that belonged to my son.

Lynx smelled the same. I inhaled, feeling my nervous system slowly shut down, one neuron at a time, until I could breathe again.

He stroked my hair and whispered he was here now and he wasn’t leaving again. Not without me. He promised it until my sobs subsided, and I wiped my eyes, remembering all the times this man had been my rock.

Today was no different.

“I really want to kiss you,” he said quietly. “But I don’t know if you want that from me anymore.”

I didn’t even have to think. I just cupped the sides of his face and drew his lips down to meet mine. “I love you,” I whispered in between slow, sweet kisses. “I’ll always want that.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and lifted me off the ground, kissing me properly.

Then he quickly pulled away, his expression full of horror. “Fuck, did I hurt you? Are you okay?”

I nodded quickly, assuring him I was fine. “I’m good. Physically anyway. Clean bill of health at my appointment during the week.”

He stroked his thumb over my lips. “That’s real good, baby. So good.”

He glanced over at Luca, and I did the same.