Torn (Lords of the City #1) (65 page)

“You’re just in time,” I said, accepting her arm. She pulled me to my feet and I noticed she was downright glowing.

“What’s going on, Claudia? Does this have something to do with your big surprise?”

She nodded and blushed. “Walt’s bringing her in.”

Her?

I looked up just as my uncle stepped through the open gate with a baby carrier in his arms.

“What’s going on, Claudia?” I asked.

“Is that a baby?” Ethan added, moving beside me with the boys. He set them on their feet and toweled them off, his eyes fixed on my uncle.

Claudia nodded as Walt joined us. I’d never seen him smile so wide.

“Emily, Ethan… everyone. I’d like to introduce you to Isabella Rylan Kinkaid.”

“When did this happen?” I gushed, staring down in awe at the tiny baby girl. I could tell by her tiny fingers that she was two weeks old, tops.

“I didn’t know you were even looking into adoption,” Ethan added.

Walt sat Isabella’s carrier down on the chaise so Eli and little Walt could get a better look at their cousin.

“We filed the paperwork a few years ago,” Claudia confessed. “We didn’t think we had much of a chance of getting a placement, being so old.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Melissa insisted. “People in their late forties have babies all the time.”

Walt unfastened Isabella’s safety straps and lifted her from the carrier. I reached for her instinctively and he laid her in my open arms. Little Walt tugged at the bottom of Walt’s shorts.

“I like your new baby, Grandpa. But can we have our cupcakes now?” Walt laughed and lifted both of the boys in his arms.

“Yes. It is definitely time for cupcakes,” he agreed, turning toward the picnic table.

“Will you light our candles?” Eli asked him.

“Of course.” Walt winked at me and sat the boys down on the bench. The other kids joined them, and Walt and Claudia lit the boy’s candles. Everyone started singing Happy Birthday except Hugo, who couldn’t resist shoving his cupcake into his mouth.

Ethan leaned against a nearby tree trunk and I joined him, still cradling Isabella. I leaned back into his chest and we watched our sons blow out their candles.

“She’s beautiful,” Ethan whispered over my shoulder.

“She’s a miracle,” I agreed.

“This is a pretty spectacular life we have, Emily.”

I shifted Isabella to my left arm and moved Ethan’s right hand over my belly, where our daughter was turning somersaults.

“It’s amazingly spectacular,” I agreed. “And it’s only going to get better from here.”

The End

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Alice Ward is the author of the Bestselling New Adult series, “Reckless.” Reading and writing romance is her passion and she writes with her true heart. Living in Miami, the beach is her favorite place to relax with her laptop and write her next spicy romance. However, when she is not reading or writing romance, she also enjoys being with her beautiful family.

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2016 Alice Ward

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