Chapter 5 - The Sunrise Over Puget Sound
Six weeks later, the crisp autumn wind swept across the private balcony of Sebastian’s waterfront estate in Medina, carrying the salty scent of Puget Sound and the faint, sweet smell of baby powder.
I sat in a plush velvet armchair, cradling sleeping little Julian Rothford against my chest. He had arrived two weeks early—strong, healthy, and breathing with a fierce, stubborn vitality that mirrored his mother’s.
Behind me, the sliding glass door clicked open.
Heavy, familiar footsteps approached, followed by the warmth of a cashmere blanket draped gently over my shoulders.
“You’re going to catch a cold out here,” Sebastian murmured, resting his hands lightly on the arms of my chair.
“It’s sixty degrees, Sebastian,” I laughed softly, tilting my head back to look up at him. He wore a simple black sweater, his sleeves rolled up, looking every bit the exhausted, utterly devoted uncle—and partner.
“The pediatrician said zero drafts,” Sebastian countered with mock severity, though a soft smile touched his lips as he glanced down at the tiny baby sleeping against my heart.
“The pediatrician has never felt a Seattle breeze,” I teased, reaching up to take his hand and pulling him down to sit on the arm of the chair.
Down below us, the morning sun was breaking over the horizon, turning the deep waters of the bay into a shimmering sheet of liquid gold. Across the estate, the security gates stood high and impenetrable, keeping out the media circus, the disgraced ex-husband currently serving time in federal custody, and the toxic wreckage of a past life that could never touch us again.
I had dialed the wrong number in my marriage years ago, tying my life to a coward who watched me break. But in the darkest moment of my life, at forty thousand feet above the earth, the right man had finally stood up.
Sebastian wrapped his arm securely around my shoulders, pulling both of us close against his chest.
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“He has your eyes, you know,” Sebastian whispered into my hair.
“Good,” I smiled, resting my cheek against his warm shoulder as the golden light washed over us. “He’s going to need them to watch his back.”
