Carissa peered in and gasped. She stared for several moments, then her eyes filled with tears, and she looked to Ronan.
“Joyful tears, my love?” he asked, and scooped the tiny sleeping puppy out of the basket and handed him to his wife.
Carissa hesitantly reached for him, then drew her hands away.
“No one will ever hurt him or you, I promise you that,” Ronan said. “Now take him, he’s yours to love.”
Tears fell freely from her eyes as she reached out and took the tiny pup into her hands. He barely filled them and, when the little fellow opened his eyes, Carissa brought him to her chest, and he yawned, licked her chin, nestled against her, and went back to sleep.
“I never thought that I could love you more than I did,” she said through tears, “but I was wrong. I love you, Highlander, so much more than I ever thought possible.”
She kissed him then, the first of many kisses throughout the night and the many years to follow.