chapter 182 Farewell

chapter 182 Farewell
Joey's POV

I hadn't cried once tonight. Not when I'd faced Eric and screamed at him for his betrayal. Not during the grueling journey back, dragging Caleb's weight through rain and mud for hours until my hands were raw and bleeding. There had been too much to do, too much urgency driving me forward to allow for tears.

But now, sitting here in the quiet of the medical tent with just Caleb and me, the reality finally hit. This was goodbye.

The sobs came suddenly, violent and uncontrollable. My whole body shook as months of suppressed emotion poured out all at once.

"Joey," Caleb lifted his hand with obvious effort and touched my cheek. "Breathe, love. Just breathe."

It took several minutes before I could speak coherently again. Through my tears, the words tumbled out before I could stop them.

"I'm pregnant," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Eight weeks. I... I was going to tell you when we got back from the mission. I wanted it to be special, wanted to surprise you properly."

The change in Caleb's expression was immediate and complex—shock, wonder, joy, and devastating sorrow all flickering across his face in rapid succession. His eyes widened, then filled with tears of his own.

"Joey," he breathed. "A baby? "

I nodded, unable to speak as fresh sobs wracked my body.

Despite his weakening condition, Caleb's hand moved to rest gently on my still-flat stomach, his touch reverent and protective. "Oh, love, This is... this is wonderful. And terrible. And..."

"I'm so sorry," I sobbed. "I should have told you sooner. I should have—"

"No," he said firmly. "No apologies. This is the most beautiful news you could have given me. Do you hear me? Our child... Joey, our child will carry the best parts of both of us."

His thumb traced gentle circles on my stomach as tears rolled down his cheeks. "I wish... God, I wish I could be there to see them grow up. To teach them to ride, to tell them stories, to protect them from nightmares."

"Caleb..."

"But they'll have you," he said. "They'll have the most loving, fierce, beautiful mother in the world. And maybe... maybe they'll have my eyes, or my stubborn streak, so I'll still be there in small ways."

When I finally looked up at him through my tears, he was watching me with such tenderness that it broke my heart all over again.

"I know you never wanted to be a doctor," he said quietly. "You only went to medical school because your parents expected it. But you've never been happy with it, have you?"

I shook my head, surprised he'd brought this up now. "How did you—"

"I know you, Joey. I know you love flower arranging, that you light up when you talk about riding horses or managing a farm. I know you get excited about new things and then lose interest when they become routine." His smile was soft and knowing. "I know you've had crushes on half a dozen different men since I've known you, which is exactly why I didn't believe you were serious about me at first."

Despite everything, I almost laughed. "You noticed all that?"

"I notice everything about you." He reached into his jacket pocket with shaking fingers and pulled out a folded document. "Before we left for this mission, I bought you something. A farm about two hours south of Silver Moon territory. It has stables, flower gardens, everything you've ever mentioned wanting."

I stared at the deed he pressed into my hands, unable to process what he was saying.

"I've been saving money for years," he continued. "I wanted to surprise you after the war was over, but..." His voice trailed off, and we both understood the 'but.'

"I can't take this," I whispered.

"You can and you will. If you don't want to run it yourself, you can sell it. But I wanted you to have choices, Joey. Real choices about how you live your life. And now..." His voice caught as he looked down at where his hand still rested on my stomach. "Now it's not just about you. It's about giving our child a place to grow up happy and free. "

"Caleb..."

"Promise me you'll raise our child well," he said, his voice growing weaker. "Tell them about me. Tell them how much I already love them, even though I'll never get to hold them. And maybe... maybe find them a good stepfather eventually. Someone handsome, since we both know you have a weakness for pretty faces."

"Don't," I sobbed. "Don't talk like that."

"Joey, look at me." His amber eyes were growing dim, but they were still warm. "You saved my life once when I was injured. Now I've gotten hurt trying to save yours. We're even."

"I can see my whole life flashing before my eyes, and you know what I see? Your face when you first told me you liked me. The way you laughed when I tried to pretend I wasn't falling for you. That moment at our bonding ceremony when you actually cried happy tears." He smiled faintly. "Getting to experience your love, Joey... it was worth everything. I wouldn't trade a single day with you for a lifetime without you."

I was crying too hard to speak, clutching his hand like I could somehow anchor him to this world through touch alone.

"I need you to promise me something else," he said. "Don't forget me. Because I'm going to become part of everything around you. When the wind blows through your hair, that's me. When the rain falls on your garden, that's me helping your flowers grow. When you smell spring blossoms or feel snowflakes on your skin..."

His voice was barely a whisper now, and I had to lean close to hear him.

"Wind and rain, bells and songs, winter snow and autumn frost—that will be my voice calling to you. I'll never really be gone, Joey. I'll be everywhere you look. And every time you look at our child and see my eyes looking back at you, you'll know that the best part of me lives on."

"Caleb," I whispered, squeezing his hand tighter. "I love you. I love you so much."

"I love you too," he breathed. "Both of you. Take care of our baby."

His eyes began to flutter closed, and panic seized me. "Caleb? Caleb, stay with me!"

But his breathing was becoming shallower, more irregular. The hand holding mine was growing looser.

"Caleb!" My voice rose higher, more desperate. "Don't leave me! Please don't leave me! Don't leave us!"

I could see the exact moment when the light faded from his eyes. The moment when his chest stopped rising and falling. The moment when the man I loved became just a shell.

"CALEB!" I screamed. "CALEB, NO! COME BACK!"

But he was gone.

The love of my life was dead.