The Light to My Darkness (The Light to My Darkness #1)

by Ivy Smoak

"Shouldn't you be lying down?" I had just defended his ability at keeping a secret to James. Was he seriously going to talk about my heart murmur in front of one of the only people that didn't know? "Why especially now?" Hailey asked. Rob cleared his throat. "Because James Junior in there is going to be a kicker in the NFL. He's practically abusive already. He'll fit into the league perfectly."

"First of all, we're having a girl," James said and handed Rob a drink. "And second of all, if it's a boy, we're not naming him James Junior." "Oh, come on. I'm going to name my son Rob Junior. RJ for short. And we can call your son JJ. It'll be adorable. They'll basically be twins like how we're basically twins.

"Damn it, Penny," Rob said from behind me. "Wait, you knew?" Daphne said to him. "You knew and you didn't tell me?" "James asked me not to tell anyone." "Who else knew?" she asked. Matt, Mason, and Bee all awkwardly raised their hands. "Robert Hunter," Daphne said. "She's basically my sister. How could you not tell me? And here I was going on and on about nurseries and names." She had a horrified look on her face. "Penny, I'm so sorry. Why didn't anyone tell me to shut up?"

"Surprise!" everyone yelled. My eyes landed on the banner strung along the wall. It read, "Welcome Hunter Babies!" I laughed and glanced at Daphne. "Did you know?" She shook her head and glanced around the room. "I had no clue." She pointed to the banner. "But a joint baby shower was a really cute idea."

"James Junior?" He laughed. "Absolutely not. Rob Junior is going to be enough juniors."

"Scar." I frowned. Where had all this sass come from? "Why would you say that? You and Axel get along so well. Did something happen?" "No, Mommy, he's my boyfriend. That's different. You can't be best friends with your boyfriend." Oh my God. I couldn't help but smile. "Actually, you can be. Daddy's my best friend too." "Really?" "Mhm."

"Finally..." James’ voice died away as I walked back into the room with Axel in my arms. "What are you doing?" he whispered. "He wants to sleep up here with us." "Are you serious? Why? Go put him back downstairs." "He's scared downstairs, James. He's just going to wake us up again in a few minutes if I do. It's fine." I set him down in the bed and crawled in next to him. "Fucking Stevenses, always getting in the way." "Language, James."

"When he's older I'm going to do my very best to do to him what he just did to me. It's my new mission." "What are you talking about?" "I'm going to be a total cock block." "Language, James." But I couldn't help but laugh. I reached over and playfully shoved his arm. He smiled. "Fortunately we have a long time before that happens." "Yeah." James pushed Axel's hair off his forehead like I had been doing. "And fortunately for him, he is a cute kid."

"Only with you am I strong. Only with you am I good. Only with you am I whole."

"But it's Matt," Jen protested. "How could you guys not sleep with Matt before you got married? It's like a rite of passage." "Because Rob's a perfect ten in bed," Daphne said. "And so is James," I added. "Stop." Jen put her hands over her ears. "Those are my brothers that you're talking about."

"This is all consuming, terrifying, heart stopping love. It's the greatest kind of love."

There is no me without you."

"You know, some people say another person shouldn't complete you. That you should be whole without having to rely on another soul. That you should just be happy the way you are. Do you know what I say to that? Fuck them. I don't care if no one understands us. I don't care if something like this isn't comprehensible to the average person. Because the average person hasn't experienced this love. Our love. Our story. A great love."

"You've always been the light to my darkness.

Darkness. That was life without my light. Complete and utter darkness.