Chapter 38


    “I’m going to assume the drugs you’ve been under have addled your brain or something, because if I


    believed you meant any of that rubbish you’ve been spouting, I would take you over my knee and


    spank your butt right now.” He smiled grimly at her sharp intake of breath. “Okay, that’s a lie. I wouldn’t


    do that now, you’re not well enough, but so help me that ass of yours will be red raw when you’re fully


    back to health. I made a vow at our wedding, in case you’ve forgotten, little dove. To cherish and


    protect you in sickness and health, so where all that you being an inconvenience nonsense ising


    from I do not know.” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to say something.


    “No, you said your piece. Now it’s my turn, and you bloody well listen, woman. I know our marriage


    started off out of necessity, and had you been any other woman it probably would have stayed that


    way, but you…” He took a step closer, and dragged a deep, almost desperate gulp of air into her lungs.


    “You’ve challenged me from the first moment I really saw you. Do you have any idea how long I had to


    sit in that bloody conference room to wait for my boner to go down, all because you popped one damn


    button on your blouse?” Hannah couldn’t help but smile at that, and his lips, too, quirked.


    “Well, do you?”


    She tried for a shrug but that move hurt her chest, so she settled for shaking her head.


    “That’s just lust, and you can’t base a marriage on that.”


    Logan growled and took another step until he stood over her, still ring and oh so angry, but she


    sensed it wasn’t directed at her but himself.


    “Yeah, I’ve been telling myself that lie ever since, almost believed it, too. But you, little dove.” He took


    her hand back in his and ran his thumb over the back of it in small, absentminded circles. “You insisted


    on showing me how wrong I was. Every time you pulled me up on my stupidity, made me face my past


    and forced it down my throat that Rick turning out the way he has wasn’t my fault. Every time you cried


    at some stupid happy ever after in one of those Disney ros you watch with Rhia every Saturday


    afternoon. Every time you made her smile, you stood up for her against the assholes that call


    themselves her grandparents, the way you were with my mum…” His voice cracked, and he dropped


    her hand.


    “Jesus, Hannah, don’t you see? You of all people, with your upbringing, you still believe in love. Oh, I


    know you said you didn’t, but I knew even then that you did.” He paused and cupped her face. “When


    you smile, truly smile I mean, your whole being lights up. It draws me in like ma, makes me want to


    see that smile again, to be the man who puts it on your face. You never were a convenient wife,


    sweetheart, but you’ve always been my wife, my little dove, far too fragile and honest and pure for a


    bastard like me, but so help me, I need you. Rhia needs you. Hell, when they said you had sepsis, and


    weren’t responding to treatment at first…” He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, she


    saw sheer terror reflected back at her, and something else. So much deep emotion the broken pieces


    of her heart slid back together, one hoarse word he muttered at a time. There was no doubt in her mind


    that he meant them, as he talked her through the days she’d lost. Days filled with despair and


    ultimately love. She listened in awe as he told her of Rhia singing to her, once she was allowed to see


    her, of Sarah and even big George in tears, because they couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t be left with


    some sort of permanent damage, and the sheer relief when she turned a corner.


    “So, you see, we simply can’t live without you. I can’t live without you. I love you, you damn stubborn


    woman, and I refuse to let you walk away from us.” He crossed his arms over his chest, and red at


    her. At least she assumed he was ring. She couldn’t really tell because he’d gone all blurry through


    the tears she was once again shedding. He moved then, pulled her back in his arms, and she clung to


    him as she somehow managed to get the words out he needed to hear.


    “I’m not stubborn. You are, and I love you, too, so much.” The arms holding her so carefully tightened


    around her in stranglehold for a few far too fast beats of her heart, before he released her and kissed


    her. This kiss stole her breath, her soul, and all the parts in between as the world tilted and righted itself


    again.


    Repeated throat-clearing finally broke through the bubble of utter happiness surrounding her, and


    Logan released her with his usual cocky grin. Lord, was she d to see that.


    “Jeez, man, put the woman down. I’m sure behavior like that is illegal in a hospital, you know.”


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    George’s deep, amused baritone bounced off the walls, and warmth spread through Hannah’s being


    when she saw all the people she cared most about in the whole wide world were here in her hospital


    room. George carried a bouquet of flowers, and grinned from ear to ear. A teary-eyed Sarah held onto


    Rhia’s hand, and as for Rhia… Sheunched herself across the room the minute Hannah looked at


    her. Logan helped her onto the bed, and Hannah buried her face in the sweet-smelling curls of the little


    girl who’d been at the center of all this, and who was in part to thank for bringing her and Logan


    together.


    “Mummy all better now?” Rhia asked when Hannah released her. “Not like my old Mummy?” Her


    bottom lip wobbled as she said that, and Hannah wished with all her might she could make that better


    for her.


    “Hannah will be fine, munchkin, don’t you worry. You have to promise me something though?” Logan


    tapped Rhia’s nose, and she nodded eagerly.


    “You have to help me make sure we keep this one, okay, and we’ll keep visiting your…” He hesitated


    as though not sure what to say.


    “Sleeping Mummy?” Rhia helpfully suggested, and he nodded.


    “Yes, we’ll make sure we keep visiting her, because you know, she might not wake up, but she’ll want


    to hear all about you growing up, won’t she?”


    Rhia mulled this over for a bit and then nodded.


    “Not see nasty Daddy though?” she finally asked.


    Logan’s jaw clenched, and Hannah saw the silent fury in his dark gaze as


    he nced at her.


    “No, munchkin, you don’t ever have to see him again. No one is going to hurt you, not on my watch,


    deal?”


    He held up his hand, and Rhia eagerly high fived him.


    Of course, the reality of their situation wasn’t quite as easy. It took Hannah some time to fully recover


    from her hospital stay, for starters. There were also several more hearings and a nasty exposé in the


    papers to ovee—Rosamunde and her boyfriend spouted a whole lot of crap as Logan had refused


    to pay them off—but in the end, it all worked out.


    The day they left court officially permanent legal guardians of Rhia was only surpassed in happiness by


    the day a little stic stick showed the following.


    Pregnant.


    The End


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