"Yes." Tears rolled down her face as she smiled at him. "Because I feel the same exact way about you, about all of that. Every wonderful word you said."
He sealed his lips to hers, kissing her passionately. She responded in a heartbeat, kissing him back with so much warmth and affection, it melted the last of the ice that had encased his heart for years.
"I love you so much, Tess," he said. "I'm completely, hopelessly in love with you. From the moment you got on that plane, I've missed you so much it actually hurt sometimes."
"Same here," she whispered, lifting her fingers to play in his beard. "I missed you every day. I've been lost without you."
"Christ, we've both been so dumb." He smiled. "It's so damn good to see you."
"You too." She caressed his skin, traced the lines of his face with her fingertips, her eyes following every movement.
"How's the baby?" he asked, locking his arms around her waist as he gazed down at her. "You're not even showing yet. You feeling all right?"
"I'm fine, and the baby's fine," she said. She paused, swallowing hard. Then she looked right into his eyes and said cautiously, "Our baby is fine."
He stopped and stared. "Your baby. I signed my rights away. I respect your wishes, Tess. I'm not trying to-"
"Do you love me?" she asked.
"More than you can imagine," he said.
"Do you want to be with me?"
"More than I can express."
"Well . . . you got me pregnant. You are the father. So . . . if you do want us to be together . . . we would be a family." She looked directly into his eyes. "I've been thinking about it a lot. I've changed my mind, Logan. About raising the baby alone. That is . . . if I can raise this baby with you. As a couple. For us to be, like you said, really together."
"Jesus," he breathed. "Seriously? Are you sure?"
"It's the only way I'd change my mind on this. Because I want to be with you." She blinked a few times, and he realized she was nervous about putting it out there, that she thought he might still reject her.
"I want to be with you," he said. "I meant that."
"Well, the thing is . . . I'm pregnant. You didn't want kids. So . . . by any chance, has that changed? Because if not . . . I'd understand, but we'd need to come to some kind of understanding. I'm not asking you to be a father if you don't want to be one."
He stared at her, trying to formulate the right words. "I . . . Tess . . ."
"We've danced around too much," she said. "Both of us trying to do the right thing for the other, not saying what we really feel . . . Enough of that. Look where it got us. So just say it. Tell me exactly what you want. Right now. Please."
"I want it all," he blurted out. "I didn't want those things before-a relationship, kids-that's true. I was afraid, I admit it. But when I fell in love with you, it all changed. I changed. I want everything now, because I want it all with you." He took a shuddery breath, but didn't break their gaze. The light in her eyes and tremulous smile on her face encouraged him to go for it. "I want to be with you, I want to marry you, I want us to raise this baby together, I want to have a family with you . . . I want all of it. But you said you wanted to do this on your own, Tess. You don't want a partner, or a husband, or a father figure for the baby. I didn't tell you I'd changed my mind about everything because I was respecting what you said you wanted."
"Like you, I thought I knew what I wanted. And like you, when I fell in love with you, it changed my perspective. It changed everything." She wiped her tears away, sniffled, and kissed him. "I want all of that too, everything you said. Everything, with you."
They stared at each other for a long beat, smiles slowly blooming.
"We found each other," she whispered. "We're perfect together. We're the Dream Team, right?"
"I didn't have dreams anymore," he whispered back. "But you're my dream come true. In every way."
Again her eyes welled. "I did have dreams. But you surpassed them all, and then some." She smiled and kissed him softly. "Don't you ever let me go again."
"Not for anything in the world," he vowed, pulling her closer.
"Okay. Then let's do this." She kissed him again. "Together, we can have it all."
He gave her a gentle squeeze and murmured against her lips, "We already do."
Epilogue
Eighteen months later
Tess Harrison Carter laughed as she watched her husband crawl around on the living room floor beside their daughter. At eleven months old, Annabel was crawling like a pro.
"C'mon, cutie!" Logan cooed to the baby. He crawled backwards, encouraging her to chase him. The sight of her gentle giant on all fours with the baby made Tess's heart swell. "C'mon, peanut! You're fast as lightning, you got this. C'mon, sweetie, come and get me!"
Annabel screeched joyfully and headed for him. He stopped moving when she reached him, scooped her into his arms, and dropped little kisses all over her face. She squealed and giggled, loving it.
"I think your beard must tickle her face," Tess said from the couch.
"I'm trying not to give her beard-burn," Logan said, "but oh my God, I want to eat her up." He gazed lovingly into his daughter's eyes, the same brilliant blue as her mother's.
Tess enjoyed watching him play with Annabel, watching him respond with such light and joy. This child had saved him from drowning in grief. Tess knew it was sheer will and her love that had kept Logan from going under after his mom passed away. Looking forward to the baby's arrival and basking in Tess's love had kept him afloat through the late summer. But when Annabel was born a week before Thanksgiving, Logan was reminded of how much he had to live for, how blessed he was, and he turned a corner in his healing.
His family was everything. He told Tess that all the time.
"We have to leave in an hour," Tess said, "if we're going to make it on time to Charles and Lisette's for his birthday dinner."
"Okay." Logan looked up at her. She was stretched out on the couch, wearing a plain red top and black yoga pants, her hair everywhere . . . She felt a bit worn. But he smiled a wolfish smile and said, "Hot damn, lady. You're gorgeous, you know that?"
"Well, thanks." Tess smiled, delighted. "So are you."
"That nap before must have helped. You look brighter now."
"I was tired," she admitted. She lowered her eyes to the baby squirming in his huge lap. "That little one does wear me out sometimes. And I love every moment."
"Me too," he said. He looked down to Annabel and started cooing at her.
Tess thought back on the past year and a half. She and Logan had split their time between Aspen and Long Island, and married in a small, private ceremony in Aspen in June, with only his mother and brother, her immediate family, and a few close friends in attendance. It had been a lovely, intimate wedding. Knowing a baby was on the way had made Annmarie happy beyond words; but sadly, she had passed away in late July.
After Annabel came, Logan had sold both his mother's condo and his place in Aspen. He'd insisted that he and Tess buy a new house together, his money matching hers, and they'd found a fabulous house on the water in Sandy Point, just a few blocks away from where Charles, Lisette, and their kids lived. Pierce, Abby, and their son lived nearby in Edgewater; baby Michael had been born only three months before Annabel. And Charlotte was only a year older than them. So all the baby cousins were growing up together, and there were Charles's three older children too. It all included Dane and Julia, of course, who lived their fast-paced life in the city at the hotel and took it slow during their downtime in the cottage they owned in Blue Harbor, which was in between Edgewater and Sandy Point. They were a doting aunt and uncle to all the kids.
Somehow, the Harrisons had finally gotten it together and had become a huge, happy extended family.
As for the patriarch, Charles Harrison II had the mammoth land of the Harrison estate all to himself now. Tess had given him back the guest cottage when she moved out, but he wasn't happy about it. He traveled a lot, worked a lot, and kept his distance from most of the family except for holidays. It made Tess sad that it was what he wanted, that he'd ultimately shut himself out of the family instead of finding a way to be more involved . . . but she wasn't going to fight with him about it.