Until sage, p.22
Until Sage,
p.22
We spend the next two days in the hospital with Nash, only seeing Ima once before she is released to go home. During that short visit, she chose not to hold Nash. I could tell she was settled in her decision to give him up for adoption, but she was still hurting and trying to cope with that pain the only way she knew how.
The day after Ima was released, so were we, and I rented us a house close to the hospital, where we waited for our lawyer to call and give us the all-clear to go home. Four days later, we got that call and we headed home with our son.
Kim
One week later
HEARING NASH CRY, I blink my tired eyes open. “Sleep baby, I got him,” Sage whispers, touching his lips to my forehead then lips before he slides out of bed. Rolling to my side, I watch him walk across the room to the bassinet and pick up his boy and rest him against his chest with one hand on his back and one on his bottom. Seeing him hold our son so carefully, my heart warms in my chest. “How about you and I get a bottle and watch some TV?” he suggests, and I smile at that then watch the two of them leave the room thinking no fairy tale has ever been better than this.
Three weeks later
WALKING OUT OF the kitchen and into the living room with a fresh bottle for Nash, I smile when Nalia’s eyes meet mine. “I think he’s getting cuter by the day,” she tells me, looking down at my son, who is now wide awake and looking up at his auntie. The week after we got home, Nalia called and asked if she could come visit for a couple weeks to spend time with her nephew. Sage and I both immediately agreed. It’s been awesome having her around, and I know her being here is good for Sage. He misses his sister; everyone misses her, and we’re all glad she’s back for a while, even if it’s just temporary.
“He does get cuter by the day, doesn’t he?” I hand over the bottle to her, and she adjusts him in her arms, settles him against her chest, and then pops the bottle in his mouth like a pro.
“Totally. I sent my mom a couple pictures,” she says absently, and then her eyes fly up to meet mine as her face pales. “I—”
“It’s okay. I get it. I mean, I don’t get it, because I don’t have any kind of relationship with my birth mother, but I get why you want that.”
“Sage—”
“He’s dealing with it,” I cut her off then drop my voice. “Your brother loves you, and even though he doesn’t want to have a relationship with her, he respects that you do.”
“I wish he would talk to her and get to know her the way I have.”
“Don’t count on that happening,” I say, and sadness fills her eyes, making me feel guilty. But I’ve talked to my husband about this, and he is very firm in his decision. “Who knows what the future has in store for them, honey? But you can’t force that on him if he’s not ready.”
“You’re right, and on the plus side, since he’s been with you, he’s gotten better about talking to me about her. So maybe one day, right?”
“Right,” I agree, and then I look down at my boy and feel my face get soft when I see he’s already asleep.
I don’t know what kind of relationship Nash and Ima will have in the future, but I know she loved him beyond measure. And as he’s growing up, that’s exactly what Sage and I will tell him.
Sage
One year later
“DADA, DADA, DADA,” Nash sings as he waddles around the living room in a T-shirt and diaper, through the hundreds of toys that have gotten scattered across the floor since he got up this morning.
Pulling my eyes from my boy, I look at my wife, who is curled into the corner of the couch asleep, and I smile. She’s tired; it was a long night and an early morning. Since Nash started teething, his schedule has gotten jacked. Last night, he was up until three in the morning. The good thing about it is he’s happy when he’s up. The bad thing is neither of us gets much sleep.
Moving across the floor on my hands and knees toward my son, I watch his eyes light up as he grins. Crawling toward him slowly, he laughs then runs off with me chasing after him. I listen to his laughter fill the room and grin as I catch him and toss him up in the air, making him giggle and babble away. Holding him against my chest, I kiss the side of his head then let him go when he wiggles, wanting down.
As I lean back against the couch, I stretch my legs out in front of me and cross my ankles. Our wedding picture on the mantel catches my attention, and I smile as I study it. The photo wasn’t taken by a professional. My mom just so happened to take the perfect picture on her cell phone. In the photo, Kim and I are standing front-to-front, me looking down on her smiling, her head thrown back in laughter as a million dollars in Monopoly money flutters to the ground around us. She didn’t know I had that planned, so when it happened, her reaction was priceless.
“Mama, Mama, Mama,” Nash sings, and I feel Kim’s hand on my shoulder then her lips at the top of my head.
Turning to look into her tired eyes, I feel my face get soft. “You should go lie down in bed, baby.”
“And miss a second of this?” She shakes her head, and Nash waddles over, holding out his arms for her to pick him up. Cuddling him close to her chest, her eyes soften on mine. “I never want to miss a second of this.”
Fuck, but I love my wife and our son, and I’m thankful every fucking day for the second chance I was given.
Until Harmony
“HARLEN,” I SHOUT as I hurry in my heels across the hospital parking lot, watching him kick up the stand on his bike and plant both his booted feet to the asphalt.
His eyes meet mine over his shoulder and just like the first time our eyes locked, my lower belly pulls tight and my blood sings through my veins.
God, he’s gorgeous, but not in the traditional sense. He’s too scary-looking to be pretty. His eyes too dark and his jaw too hard, the scruff there making him look almost dangerous. The kind of danger you want to see if you can tame. Only I doubt Harlen is the kind of man you tame.
“Hey.” I smile once I’m close, feeling my skin warm as his eyes wander over me and he lifts his chin. Taking that for a scary guy hello, I grin. I remember that from a few weeks ago when I took him home from my cousin June’s house.
He didn’t say much then either, just grunted a few times but mostly he looked at me like I was a mix between amusing and crazy.
“Were you here to see the doctor?”
“Not sure why else I would be at the hospital, darlin’,” he mutters.
“They take semen drawings all hours of the day,” I mutter back, then watch as his lips twitch into an amused grin, which turns that tightness in my belly to something else, something I like even more.
“What did the doctor say?” I ask after a moment of enjoying his expression.
“It’s all good. Stitches are out.”
“Good,” I say softly, reaching out to touch his muscular tattooed arm. His eyes drop to my hand resting on him then lift to meet mine and fill with something that makes me feel off-balance and dizzy. Dropping my hand away quickly, I take a step back. “I’m glad you’re doing okay,” I say, and he lifts his chin once more.
“Why are you here?”
“I had an interview for an RN position that opened up.”
“Did you get the job?”
“I did.” I smile in happiness. I’ve wanted to move home for a while now so getting the job at the hospital in town means I can now do that without having to lean on my parents.
“Feel like celebrating?” he asks, and my stomach does a flip at the idea of celebrating with him.
“Yes,” I say without thinking, and he starts up his bike.
“Hop on.”
“Hop on?” I repeat as he hands me his helmet.
“Yeah, hop on.”
Acknowledgments
First I have to give thanks to God, because without him none of this would be possible. Second I want to thank my husband. I love you now and always—thank you for believing in me even when I don’t believe in myself. To my beautiful son, you bringing such joy into my life, and I’m so honored to be your mom.
To every blog and reader, thank you for taking the time to read and share my books. There would never be enough ink in the world to acknowledge you all, but I will forever be grateful to each and every one of you.
I started this writing journey after I fell in love with reading, like thousands of authors before me. I wanted to give people a place to escape where the stories were funny, sweet, and hot and left you feeling good. I have loved sharing my stories with you all, loved that I have helped people escape the real world, even for a moment.
I started writing for me and will continue writing for you.
XOXO Aurora
Other Books by Aurora Rose Reynolds
The Until Series
Until November
Until Trevor
Until Lilly
Until Nico
Second Chance Holiday
Underground Kings Series
Assumption
Obligation
Distraction
Until Her Series
Until July
Until June
Until Ashlyn
Until Harmony (Coming Soon)
Until Him Series
Until Jax
Until Sage
Shooting Stars Series
Fighting to Breathe
Wide-Open Spaces
One last Wish (Coming Soon)
Alpha Law CA ROSE
Justified
Liability
Verdict (Coming Soon)
Finders Keepers
Fluke my life series
Running into love (Coming Soon)
About The Author
Aurora Rose Reynolds is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose wildly popular series include Until, Until Him, Until Her, and Underground Kings.
Her writing career started in an attempt to get the outrageously alpha men who resided in her head to leave her alone and has blossomed into an opportunity to share her stories with readers all over the world.
For more information on Reynolds’s latest books or to connect with her, contact her on Facebook at
facebook.com/AuthorAuroraRoseReynolds
on Twitter
@Auroraroser
or via e-mail at
Auroraroser@gmail.com
To order signed books and find out the latest news, visit her at
www.AuroraRoseReynolds.com
or
goodreads.com/author/show/7215619.Aurora_Rose_Reynolds
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Until Harmony Sneak Peek
Acknowledgments
Other Books by Aurora Rose Reynolds
About The Author
Aurora Rose Reynolds, Until Sage
