Chapter 11 - A DAWN FORGIVEN
Luke approached the bed slowly, as if a sudden movement might shatter the reality of the moment. Elena looked up at him, a tired but radiant smile breaking across her face.
“Meet your daughter,” she whispered.
Luke fell to his knees beside the bed. He reached out with trembling fingers, brushing the impossibly soft cheek of the sleeping infant. She was healthy. She was perfect. She was a miracle pulled from the wreckage of a poisoned life.
“She’s beautiful,” he choked out, burying his face in the sheets near Elena’s hand.
Elena shifted, freeing one hand to stroke his dark hair. The anger, the betrayal, the divorce—it had all burned away in the fire of his devotion. He had sacrificed his entire world to ensure she had one.
“We need a name,” Elena said softly.
Luke looked up, his eyes meeting hers, clear and completely devoid of the shadows that had haunted him for a lifetime.
May you like
“Hope,” he said.
Elena smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Welcome home, Luke.”
