Aria's POV
"Yes," he said. "But you held it together when I didn't know how. When Noah was taken. When Marcus — all of it, you held it down."
"So did you."
"Not the way you did."
I didn't argue because it was late and because there was something true in it and because arguing with Damien when he was being genuinely humble was a battle I'd learned to let go.
I moved closer instead and he adjusted around me without being asked, arm around my shoulders, careful the way he had learned to be careful in the last few weeks.
"I love you,"
"I know," he said. Then: "I love you. Both of you, in fact all three of you."
I put my hand over his where it rested on my stomach, feeling the gentle curve of my small bump under his palm.
