Campbell was dozing in and out, exhausted from a day of labour. Cici was born late into the night and she wanted to stay awake to savour every moment. Now, she was more than a little exhausted. They would be taking their daughter home soon and she needed to take advantage of this time to rest. However, hearing her husband's voice, soft and low, whispering sweet words to their daughter kept her from fully sleeping.
In her sleepy state, Cam smiled and squeezed his hand back as he spoke, opening her eyes a little to speak to him, "You know, if you keep talking like that, Cici might have a sibling sooner than planned," she joked, smirking a little as she sat up a bit more to get a better view of their baby, "She's so beautiful. I didn't think I could ever be this in love," she admitted, looking back at Grayson, "With you, with our family. It's perfect," she said. Her free hand reached for Cici's little fingers.
THE LAUGH THAT LEFT HIM WAS QUIET, warm and utterly h e l p l e s s. grayson ducked his head for a moment, shaking it as his thumb brushed over the back of campbell's hand. “ we're not even twenty-four hours into this one and you're already negotiating for another? ” he teased, glancing at her from beneath tired eyes. “ cici, your mom is a menace. i hope you know that. ” the smile lingered on his face, but softened as he watched campbell reach for their daughter's tiny hand. for a moment, he simply looked at them. really looked. his wife. his daughter.
h i s f a m i l y.
the realisation hit him all over again, stealing the breath from his lungs just as effectively as it had the first time. “ yeah, she is. ” his voice dropped quieter. “ beautiful, i mean. ” though whether he was talking about cici or campbell was impossible to tell. maybe both. grayson's gaze settled on their daughter, watching her impossibly small fingers curl around campbell's. he felt his throat tighten. “ there were days i thought this might never happen. ” the admission came softly, honest in a way he rarely allowed himself to be. “ not because i stopped wanting it. i just... after everything, i didn't know if we'd ever get here. ” his eyes found campbell's again. “ but we did. ” the words were simple. they carried years inside them. the loss. the separation. finding their way back to one another. the fear that had followed them through every step of the pregnancy. all of it.
grayson lifted her hand to his lips, pressing a lingering kiss against her knuckles. “ it's not perfect because everything went right. ” his smile was small but certain. “ it's perfect because it's ours. ” his gaze drifted back to cici before a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “ though i am gonna need the two of you to take it easy on me. ” he nodded toward their daughter. “ one carr woman already keeps me on my toes. now there's two of you. ”














