When the mother began to give chase, Elise laughed. “I guess some things don’t change.”

“Nope.”

“I love this world,” she said with a sigh. “I feel as though I’ve come home. Really come home. I never thought in the course of my life that I would ever know such happiness.”

He hugged her. “I feel the same way.”

He couldn’t believe that all this bounty had come to him, unexpected, unrequested. Before he had met Elise, there had been no deep-seated need that he’d been aware of, but truthfully, he must have been kidding himself. Now his heart was full and he couldn’t imagine a life without her. He’d become the moon to her earth and he would spend the rest of his life in constant motion around her, seeing to her, tending to her, keeping her safe, teaching her how to wield a sword, and maybe one day filling her belly with child.

“I hope we have children some day, Gideon.”

He kissed the side of her neck. He knew she wasn’t reading his mind. She didn’t have that kind of power to push past his shields without him knowing. But that she had been thinking the same thing, at the exact same moment, meant a lot to him. It was one more sign that their decision to complete thebreh-hedden had been the right one. “I would love to have a little Eliserunning around, mounting her wings when she wasn’t supposed to.”

“Or a little Gideon.”

“Yes, a little Gideon.”

Once more he gave her a squeeze, his heart stretched to capacity, his world expanded beyond anything he had ever imagined for himself. He had loved the day of his ascension, because he belonged in this world. But now, with Elise pressed close to his heart, he knew the real gift of ascended life and it was love. Now and forever, it was love.