Chapter 159: The Moment Everything Changed

Chapter 159: The Moment Everything Changed
Travis’s POV

I had been through a lot of shit in my life.

High-stakes business deals.

Nights spent gambling on risks I shouldn’t have taken.

Moments where I had been so close to losing everything I had built from the ground up.

But fuck—

Nothing.

Nothing could have ever prepared me for this.

For watching my wife bring our daughter into the world.

For feeling completely, utterly, and irreversibly wrecked by the sight of both of them.

And fuck—

I had never been more terrified.

And I had never been more in love.

It started in the middle of the night.

One second, Sophia was fast asleep in our bed, curled into me the way she always did.

The next—

She was sitting up, clutching her stomach, whispering my name.

"Travis," she breathed. "It’s happening."

My brain took exactly three seconds to reboot.

Then—

Pure, focused clarity.

Because fuck—

This was go time.

I moved with military efficiency.

Bag? Ready.

Keys? In my hand.

Car? Already pulling up to the hospital within fifteen minutes.

Sophia? Cursing me out the entire way.

"Stop fucking speeding!" she snapped between contractions. "I don’t want to have this baby on the side of the road like some dramatic-ass movie, Travis!"

"Sweetheart, I am not delivering our child in a fucking car," I shot back. "You’ll be fine. You’re in good hands."

"Your hands are currently on the steering wheel, dumbass!"

"And still handling this situation better than you are," I smirked.

She glared.

I grinned.

Then she groaned through another contraction and nearly broke my hand.

By the time we got to the hospital, she was fully in labor.

Doctors. Nurses. Bright fucking lights.

And me?

Me, standing right by her side, gripping her hand, anchoring her to me through every second of it.

It was hours of labor.

Hours of her swearing, breathing through the pain, cursing my existence.

Hours of me whispering how strong she was, how beautiful she was, how much I fucking loved her.

Hours of watching the woman I loved fight through something so brutal and so goddamn incredible that it left me speechless.

And then—

A sharp cry.

A tiny, perfect cry.

And just like that—

Everything fucking changed.

I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath until the doctor placed the tiniest, softest, most perfect little girl I had ever seen into Sophia’s arms.

And fuck—

She was ours.

Her dark eyes, wide and blinking up at the world for the first time.

Her little fists, curled so tightly, so small it made my chest ache.

Her face, wrinkled and pink and absolutely fucking perfect.

I had never seen something so goddamn tiny in my life.

And yet—

She had wrecked me.

Instantly.

Completely.

For-fucking-ever.

Sophia was crying, her lips pressed to the top of our daughter’s head, whispering something so soft, so intimate, I almost felt like I shouldn’t be listening.

And me?

I was frozen.

Just watching them.

The two most important things in my entire fucking universe.

My wife.

My daughter.

My family.

And fuck—

Nothing.

Nothing could ever top this moment.

"Travis," Sophia whispered, turning her head slightly to look at me. "Want to hold her?"

My chest tightened, my throat felt raw.

Because fuck—

I wasn’t sure I could even move.

But then—

Then she lifted her up to me.

And fuck—

I was done for.

I took her so gently—

Like I was terrified I’d break her, like she was the most fragile thing in the world.

Which, fuck—

She was.

But she was also mine.

I pressed one hand against the back of her head, the other cradling her so carefully, my breath catching the second I felt her warmth against me.

"Hi, sweetheart," I whispered, watching as her tiny fingers curled against my chest. "It’s me. I’m your dad."

The weight of that hit me hard.

Dad.

I was someone’s dad.

And this little girl?

She was my entire fucking world.

A deep chuckle broke through my daze.

I looked up, seeing my dad standing in the doorway, a knowing smirk on his face.

"You’re fucked," he said, grinning.

"Completely fucking ruined," Adam added from behind him.

Luke nodded, arms crossed. "Goner."

Travis’s mom?

She was already crying.

"We told you," she sniffled, smiling at me with so much love I almost lost it right then and there. "Dads and daughters… it’s a whole different world."

And fuck—

They were right.

Because I had thought I loved Sophia more than anything.

Had thought she was the only person who could ever completely own me.

But this tiny, perfect, six-pound little girl in my arms?

She had me wrapped around her goddamn finger already.

I looked back down, watching as my daughter’s tiny lips parted in a soft yawn, her dark lashes fluttering.

Sophia reached out, grazing a soft touch over her cheek.

"She’s beautiful," she whispered. "She looks just like you."

"Bullshit," I muttered. "She’s perfect. Which means she looks like you."

Sophia laughed, exhausted but happy.

And fuck—

That sound.

That moment.

This family.

It was everything.

I leaned down, pressing a kiss to my wife’s lips, lingering just long enough to feel the exhaustion melt away from her for just a second.

"I love you," I murmured.

"I love you too," she whispered back, her fingers trailing over mine.

And fuck—

That was it.

That was our forever.

Right here.

Right in this moment.

In my arms.

And fuck—

I wouldn’t change a goddamn thing.

The End.