ROBERT She was awake. God, she was awake. I couldn't believe it, but as my legs carried me across the room and toward her, yes, Renee was awake. She was alive. She was conscious. And she was looking at me with teary brown eyes, muttering my name repeatedly. As I reached her bedside in a flash, and despite the doctor's warnings to take things easy, I pulled her into my arms and hugged her hard. Tight. Bone crushingly. The tears dropped faster than ever, and I cried. I sobbed. I turned into a blubbering mess, not caring about the doctor or nurses in the room. I just let the fucking grief out because it was about damn time. "Oh, God... Oh, Renee..." I mumbled, my voice breaking as I buried my face in her hair. "I... I thought you wouldn't make it. I thought I had lost you forever." My body shook violently as I spoke, but it didn’t stop my arms from tightening around her. I wanted to permanently hold her close. To never, ever let go of her. "You didn't lose me." She whispered, her voice muffled by my chest. "I'm okay. It's okay.” But it wasn't okay. It was never okay. There were a lot of things I wanted, no, needed to say. A million fucking things. I didn’t think I’d ever finish saying them. "I… I was scared." I continued, my voice breaking. "So fucking scared. Every minute your eyes were closed, I prayed for death…" I felt her fingers curl softly in my shirt. "I prayed for fucking death, Renee. I wanted it to take me. To take me to wherever you were... I wanted to be with you." I sniffed loudly, letting out a shuddering breath. "Seeing you on this bed, lying stiff, unmoving... God, it was torture. Every second, every minute… I refused to believe it was real. I kept praying, begging for the nightmare to end… for you to wake up, so we could go home." I let out another shuddering breath, my lungs burning. "I just wanted it all to be over, Renee, so I could take you home. Was that... was it too much to ask?” I choked out, pulling back to look at her tear-stained face. Her hands dropped limply from my shirt. “Oh Robert…" Her lips moved slightly.I could tell she wanted to say more, but she didn't. It didn’t bother me, though. I could say the words for us both. She didn’t have to say or do anything. She just had to be alive. "You can’t ever scare me like that again, Renee. Do you hear me? You can’t. I will not allow it." I cupped her cheeks and wiped her tears away with my thumb. "Never again... Never ever again." She nodded shakily, sobbing. The sound crushed and broke my heart. With fresh tears pooling at the corners of my eyes, I pulled her back into my arms. I pressed my face into her damp shoulder and inhaled the scent of her skin. "I don't think I could survive losing you, Renee." "And you won't have to," she murmured, her voice strangely firm and confident. "Good," I repeated, a shaky smile pulling at my lips despite the tears falling. "Good." Silence followed this, and we remained quiet. We simply held each other, locked in our embrace for what seemed like an eternity, until the doctor broke the comforting silence by clearing his throat. We’d completely forgotten he was here. The nurses, however, had left. Renee tried to pull away, but I didn’t let her. I held her tight, ignoring the doctor's pointed cough. She laughed, and the tiny sound vibrated against my chest. "Sorry, doctor…" She sounded embarrassed. "Seems Mr. Clarke here does not want to end this reunion. He has a vice grip on me, and I fear he will never let go.” I laughed at her joke, the first genuinely happy laugh I'd allowed myself since seeing her. "I fear you're right. I can’t let you go." "And I don't want you to," she murmured, patting my back softly. I grinned. The doctor cleared his throat again. "Well," he began, "I have to admit that Ms. Micheal is very lucky. We were able to flush out all the toxins, and while the checkups aren’t complete, her vitals are looking good. The tests we performed while she was unconscious revealed she has healthy liver and kidney functions, good cholesterol levels, normal blood pressure, and no permanent health damage." "This is great to hear, doctor. Really good." I breathed out. “And the babies?"His eyes crinkled at the corners, "They’re healthy and well. All signs are pointing to a quick and complete recovery for both mother and children. And Mr. Clarke..." He paused briefly and smiled. "I have to say you got the miracle you prayed for. Congratulations.” My heart clenched at that statement. Miracle. The miracle I prayed for. The fucking miracle. I kept repeating the word in my head. A miracle. A chance. I’d been given another chance with Renee. I didn't deserve it after everything I put her through, but I still got it. I got that miracle. The one I'd begged God for while kneeling by her bedside. The one I had hoped for and desperately prayed for. "Oh, God." Tears burned behind my eyes once more. "Oh, God." I blinked quickly, trying to stop the tears from falling, but it was futile. They fell down anyway, wetting my cheeks, wetting Renee's shoulders. The doctor was still speaking, but I could barely hear him over the voice in my head and my entire focus was on the woman in my arms. On Renee. My Renee. "Robert." Her voice broke through my fogged mind. "The doctor left." "What?" I blinked several times, only now noticing we were alone. "The doctor left," she repeated. “He said he would come check on me later and give a discharge date, but for now, he said, and I quote, ‘seems your husband needs all the time in the world with you.’ So, I guess it's just us now." She giggled, “By the way, why is he calling me your wife?" I chuckled deeply and chose not to answer that. Dropping a tender kiss on her hair, the soft strands brushing against my lips, I dropped another kiss on her cheek and was about to move to her lips when she asked a question that made me freeze. "What happened, Robert?" I stilled. "What happened?" She repeated, tilting her head to meet my gaze. I couldn't help the small growl that escaped. I shook my head, no. “No?” I tried to look away, but she cradled my face and pulled it back to hers. "Talk to me, Robert. I want to know. The last thing I remember was drinking something that made my stomach turn and…" She paused. “Before that, I saw a man." I raised a brow. “What man?" "The Aspen man," she said, and my brows furrowed even more. "What Aspen man?" "I didn't tell you." She exhaled slowly. "Remember the art exhibition in Aspen?” She asked, and I nodded. "I saw a man that night, dressed in all black, watching me from the shadows." “What?!” I exclaimed. “Yes.” "And you saw this same man at the housewarming party?" "Yes," she acknowledged, "I did and I..." "Oh, Renee.” I hissed. “Why didn’t you tell me about him?” “I didn’t think he meant any harm. Besides, it was fleeting. I saw him one second and the next he was gone.” “He definitely meant you harm, baby girl.” I hissed again. “That man was Kent. Amanda's guy." "Amanda's guy?" "Yes. He was working for her." I rubbed my temple. “We shouldn't talk about this now, Renee. You should rest, and—" "Please, no," she pleaded, “Just tell me." As much as I didn't want to talk about Amanda or mention the name of the monster who had nearly destroyed our lives, I knew I had to. So, taking in a deep breath, I told Renee everything. Every detail, every horrifying thing, everything. I started from the moment we caught Amanda trying to flee the country. To getting the devastating phone call about her poisoning Renee. The events that followed that incident were a blur, but thankfully, I remembered it all. Then I talked about how we caught the culprits who laced her drink with poison. Apparently, the man, Kent, bribed a waiter at the housewarming party. How he got into the mansion was still a mystery, but security apprehended him before he could sneak out. "He's in jail now," I added. "Amanda is also there. And Dylan. Before leaving for New York, Cade helped me get in touch with some higher-ups, and we’re working to expedite their trial." "Oh. And what about the—the waitstaff?" "I let her go, but it might be difficult for her to get a job in the catering field again." I sighed. "I'm so sorry, Renee." "Sorry? For what?" "For this. It was entirely my fault. You were poisoned by the monster I married. The monster I created." "What, no!" she exclaimed, shaking her head furiously. “No, Robert. None of this is your fault. None! Amanda did this, not you.” Still cradling my face, Renee looked into my eyes. "You falling in love, and marrying her doesn't count, and it doesn't excuse the terrible things she did to you. To us. So don’t ever say this is your fault. Don’t ever blame yourself. Okay?" “Okay.” "Good." She smiled sadly before leaning forward and lowering her lips to mine. She kissed me sweetly and tenderly. I kissed her back eagerly and greedily. I wanted her to know how much I missed her, needed her, loved her. When she tried to pull away, I deepened the kiss, continuing until our lips were swollen red and she was giggling into my mouth. "Why can I still taste your tears, though?" she asked, her breath fanning across my lips. "Because I can't stop crying," I confessed. "Why? I don't like it." "You don't?" "No. My heart breaks seeing you this way." "Oh, my baby girl.” "You’ve always had such perfect control," she said. "Why can't you manage now?" The question half-crushed me. "I can't manage now because I still can't believe this is real. That you’re alive and..." I trailed off, my hands moving to her belly. My fingers ghosted over the growing bulge there. "That the little lives growing inside you are okay." I lowered my head and pressed a few kisses on her belly. "Two nights ago, I made the toughest decision of my life, Renee." I whispered quietly. “I learned about your pregnancy, and that you were with twins. Do you know how heartbroken and shattered I was when I heard that?” I felt her hand stroking my shoulders. “Do you know how hard it was for me to know I had to sign off on our babies dying to save you? And I…” I closed my eyes tight. “God, that decision was and is the toughest decision I've ever made in my entire life." I almost laughed, like it was funny. But it wasn’t. Nothing was. And she thought I could stop crying. She thought I could maintain perfect control when I’d signed off on the deaths of our unborn children. That decision would haunt me forever. She had no idea. "Now, do you understand why it's hard for me to stop crying or maintain perfect control? It’s because I fucking can't," I cussed. “I can't." "I understand." Her fingers threaded through my hair as she spoke. “And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the pregnancy sooner. I—” "You don't have to be." I interrupted, raising my head to look at her. “Nicole explained everything." "Oh." "You made the right call, Renee. And I respect it.” "But you shouldn't." "Why shouldn't I?" I scoffed. “And what does it matter?" "It matters because a right-thinking wife would have told her husband she was pregnant once she found out, regardless of what was going on in their life." She pouted, and a chuckle bubbled up my throat. "A right-thinking wife, huh?" I smirked. "Well, you told the doctor we were married. So…" She raised her brow playfully. "I asked you a question earlier," I chuckled again, this time harder. "I did tell the doctor we were married because…" I began with a serious tone, "…we soon will be.""Uh, huh." "Yes," I affirmed. "Oh, Robert." "I already got you pregnant…" I kissed her belly again. "Getting married and giving you my last name would seal the deal. Make you mine forever. Brand you to me like a second skin." "Like a tattoo," she giggled, the sound like music to my ears. "Yeah, like a tattoo." "Oh, how I love you, Mr. Clarke." "And I you, baby," I murmured against the curve of her belly. "More than anything in this world."