Lincoln walks over to the sliding door, pulling it open and calling for everyone inside to gather in the yard. Gwen steps out of the house, wiping her hands on the striped apron with my mother following behind.
“Leah, come over here, sweetheart,” I call to our daughter.
Leah stumbles to her feet and runs to where we’re standing, covered in sand.
Christian leans down, scooping Leah into his arms. “Look at my sandy little girl.”
“Wook at my hands, Daddy. They have sand all over dum.” Leah shoves her hands in front of Christian’s face for further inspection.
“They’re dirty. We’ll clean you up before you eat,” he says, placing a kiss on her cheek.
Everyone gathers around us, including Keith’s parents. They are just as much family as my own. Brandon stands with his arm tossed over my shoulder. I hand Christian a perfectly wrapped gift box. “What’s this?” he asks. “I told you, I didn’t want anything.”
“As if she would listen,” Brandon coughs into his hand. That earns him a swift elbow to the ribs.
“Open it, Daddy!” Leah exclaims excitedly. Christian tears the paper back, revealing a box.
“Leah and I did something special to celebrate your birthday.”
“I’ll help you, Daddy,” she says excitedly.
“Okay, sweetheart.”
Christian holds the box, as Leah lifts the lid off, revealing a manila folder inside.
“I drew dat,” Leah says, pointing at the front of the folder. “Dat my heart. I did it in wed. My favwit color.”
Christian shifts Leah to his hip and lifts the folder out of the box. He opens the folder and his eyes bounce from the papers inside to me. He slowly reads the document, and his eyes finally meet mine.
“Are you for real?” Christian says, with tears in his eyes.
Nodding my head, I whisper “Yes.”
He pulls Leah against his chest, kissing her forehead. “I love you. So much, baby girl.”
He wipes the tears from his face. “Why you cwying, Daddy?” Leah asks, wiping her little hands across her daddy’s cheeks. “Are you sad?”
“No, baby. I’m crying because I’m happy. These are happy tears, not boo-boo tears.”
“Happy burfday, Daddy,” Leah squeals, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him. “I wuv you.”
“I love you, too. More than you will ever know,” he whispers against the side of her cheek, squeezing her tightly. Tears continue to fall down Christian’s cheeks.
Walking over, I wrap my arms around Christian’s waist. Looking up into the whiskey-colored eyes, the eyes I’ve grown to love, I tiptoe to meet his lips. “She’s officially a Townsend now.”
He laughs. “She’s been a Townsend since the moment I met her. A name is just a name, Rory. She’s always been mine, just like her mommy.”
Christian clears his throat. “In case some of you don’t know, Rory and I started the adoption process a few months back. It’s official. Leah is my daughter… legally.”
All of our friends and family erupt in cheers and congratulations are offered.
Christian leans in and snuggles into our daughter’s neck. “But you’ve always been daddy’s little girl. Even before you knew it.”
Leah squeals and yells, “Put me down, Daddy.” Christian squats to the ground, letting our daughter run from his arms.
“I wanted to share this moment with you guys. You’ve all been there for me, for us, in a special way. I’ve been blessed to married two amazing men. If you would have asked me three years ago would I have ever marry again, my answer would have been a firm hell no,” I laugh and shake my head.
Leah runs right to Jaxson by the swing set. Sophie, and her chunky, wobbling legs, follow right behind them. Jamie follows his daughter, picking her up and placing her in the baby seat.
Leah yells, “Can I push Soph, Uncle Jamie?”
“You sure can. Come here, I’ll show you how to do it.”
“I want to push her, too,” Jaxson says, running over to stand next to Jamie.
Each kid takes a turn pushing Sophie in the swing. With each push, Sophie giggles and laughs.
Christian didn’t know the papers were finally approved. Leah’s adoption was finalized. She is now ‘Leah Rose Gormley-Townsend.’
Kathy and John join us. “We are blessed to have you raising our granddaughter. The two of you do everything in your power to keep our son’s spirit alive and do a wonderful job of letting Leah know about him. He may not be here, but he will always be with us,” Kathy says tearfully.
John places his hand on Christian’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I love seeing Rory happy. Thank you for loving Rory. She’s an amazing girl and deserves the best.”
Christian nods. “She makes it easy to love her and I’m honored to have Leah as my daughter. I’ll do my best to let Leah know she was loved by your son.”
“I know you will,” John replies.
Christian’s lips brush against mine. He leans in and kisses my needy lips more demandingly. His hand moves to my swollen belly where our son, Connor is nestled comfortably.
“I say we eat.” Someone clears their throat.
Turning around, Lincoln stands there holding a tray of food in his hands.
“The food. Not each other,” he smiles.
Christian wiggles his brows. “Oh, I plan on eating now, and having my dessert later.” He pinches my ass before he follows the tray of food into the house.
Leah has only known Christian as her dad, although we’ve explained to her, she is blessed to have two daddies, Keith and Christian.
Christian and I vowed to keep Keith’s memory alive. Keith’s parents, Christian, and I have made a few photo albums Leah can keep as her own. Something she can look at whenever she wants to feel close to her biological father.
It’s difficult explaining to a three-year-old how hard life can be, how tragedies happen. We choose to tell her Keith loved her very much, but he is living with the angels now. One day, when she is ready, we will tell her the whole truth. But for now, I want Leah to enjoy the innocence of life.
Life threw me a curveball. But I was able to come out stronger. Christian taught me my heart was bigger than my fears. All I had to do was let him in. And that’s exactly what I did. I pushed all my fears to the side and took a leap of faith. Thank God, Christian was there to catch me. Because if I had to do it again, I would jump without hesitation. And without a doubt, my husband would be there to catch me.
Playlist
Million Miles an Hour by Nickelback
Criminal by Disturbed
The Cure by Lady Gaga
Haunted by Beyonce
Kush by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Akon
Breathe by Through Fire
Let’s Hurt Tonight by One Republic
I’ll See You Again by Westlife
Drown by Brian Dalton
Separate Ways by Journey
Youngblood by 5 Seconds of Summer
Break Me Down by Red
Down With the Sickness by Disturbed
Love Somebody by Maroon 5
Sugar by Maroon 5
Bring Me To Life by Evanescence
Wild Things by Alessia Cara
Two Princes by Spin Doctors
Never Be the Same by Red
Not Alone by Red
The Wedding by James Horner (Legends of the Fall)
By Your Side by Sade
Better Today by Coffee Anderson
About the Author
H.P. Davenport grew up in Philadelphia, graduated from Temple University, and is currently living in southern New Jersey. She is a litigation paralegal by day and romance genius by night! When she’s not tending to her furry children and her handsome husband, H.P Davenport is seamlessly carving beautiful stories from her mind in her comfy PJs.
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Books by H.P. Davenport
The Unspoken Love Series
Unspoken Words
Unspoken Promises
Unspoken Vows
Unspoken Fears
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I want to thank my husband for his unwavering love and patience with me. There have been plenty of nights that my face has been buried in my laptop and I have ignored you. Don’t ever forget how much I want you in my life. You are my heart, my soul, my whole world. I love you.
Michelle Lynn, thank you for the countless hours you put in with helping me. You allowed me to bounce ideas off you every day. You push me to have the confidence to write my stories. I can never thank you enough. I am lucky to have you as a friend.
To my beta readers, Heather McLaughlin and Sarah Arndt you ladies rock. Thank you will never be enough. I appreciate your feedback and how you girls always keep it real. The two of you spent hours upon hours reading Christian and Rory’s story and always offered me honest feedback allowing me to have Christian and Rory’s journey come to life.
My editor, Elaine, thank you for being with me since the beginning and always pushing me to deliver the best work possible.
A huge thank you to Franci Neill, Lisa Buckley, and Sarah Arndt for proofreading Unspoken Fears.
And of course, YOU, the readers. Thank you for supporting me and buying Unspoken Words, Unspoken Promises, Unspoken Vows and Unspoken Fears.
Thank you to the bloggers who have shared my posts, read The Unspoken Love Series, and provided reviews. All of your hard work does not go unnoticed. I, myself, am also a blogger, so I know the time and dedication it takes to run a successful blog. Word of mouth is the best way for me to get The Unspoken Love Series in the hands of readers. So once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Unspoken Fears (The Unspoken Love Series Book 4) Page 27