I push harder than I did before because a feeling of renewed strength fills my body.
“That’s it, baby! You’re doing so good!” Jacob’s voice is heavy with awe.
My throat is raw, and I cry out again.
And then, I hear him gasp.
The pain is gone, and I lie back, feeling empty and beaten and triumphant.
“You did it.” Jacob kisses my cheek. “You did it, beautiful.”
The loud cry comes from the tiny baby a second before the doctor places him on my chest.
“Is he okay?” I ask.
She nods. “He’s perfect.”
Jacob’s arm wraps around me as we both stare down at our tiny little boy.
“Jacob,” I say, looking up with blurry vision. “He’s so tiny. I forgot how tiny they are. We have a son.”
“We do. And you have made me the happiest man in the world.”
We kiss softly, both our hands touching our son in some way.
The nurse comes back to clean him up a little more and do some tests. Jacob hovers over him, so protective already. They walk back over, placing him back on my chest.
“We need a name,” I say for the millionth time.
This has been the great debate at the Arrowood house. Sebastian wants us to go with Mason, which is Jacob’s character in the Navigator. Melanie wants to name him Eric so that we have a Little Mermaid theme or something. I want the name Caleb, but Jacob, he’s the one who has me completely freaking baffled. Thankfully, he’s not wanting a ridiculous name like Apple or Compass. He doesn’t have a name he loves at all.
“I don’t have any ideas. Nothing comes to mind that we can agree on.”
“That’s fine, but we need to come up with something. We have to agree at some point.”
He chuckles once and smooths a palm over our baby’s peach-fuzz hair. “We need a strong name then.”
“Caleb isn’t?”
“He’s not a Caleb.”
I want to groan, but instead, I look at our son and start to try to fit a name to him.
“The one thing we agree on is that we want an Irish name,” I say, and he nods.
His mother named all four boys that way, and Sydney sort of followed that. I’d like to as well. Elizabeth Arrowood was a strong and extremely wise woman. Her tradition should be kept alive, even if it’s just in this small way.
“Blaine?” I offer.
“No. Maddox?”
I shake my head. “What about Sawyer?”
Jacob snorts. “Sawyer Arrowood? Is he best friends with Huck?”
“It does sound a bit . . . much.”
“Mason isn’t bad.” He was never really against Mason. I love the name, but it feels all wrong because people will automatically think it’s tied to his movies.
“We talked about why it’s a bad idea.”
“I know.”
I press my lips to the baby’s head, closing my eyes as I inhale the sweet baby scent.
“Owen.”
“Owen?”
I look down at him, and it feels so right. As though it were meant for him. “He’s Owen. Look at him. He’s strong and a fighter. He fought through five years of birth control just to be here. If I remember, it means desire, and he clearly desired to be here . . .”
“It’s perfect,” Jacob agrees.
“Owen Arrowood.”
Jacob gives me a sweet kiss and then kisses Owen’s head. “What’s one truth about an arrow?” he asks. I fight back the buildup of tears. “No matter how many times you pull that bow back, if you keep focus and keep aiming, your arrow will go exactly where it should.” He looks up at me, a smile on his beautiful lips. “I know mine did.”
Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me. The Arrowood Brothers have owned my entire heart and soul. I can’t begin to tell you how bittersweet this ending is for me.
As I was writing Jacob’s plane crash, Jessica spoke to me. Very, very loudly. Here was this girl, struggling to be so strong because it was her job, and worrying she would die. I’m beyond excited to announce the next series will start with Jessica Walker and Grayson Parkerson (you MIGHT know that last name from Sean’s book)! I hope you’re ready to head to our next small town because Return to Us is coming and it’s going to be SO good!
Preorder Return to Us!
But, I have something really really special if you flip the next page you can sign up to get access to an exclusive bonus scene where you will get just a smidge more time with the Arrowood Brothers!
Bonus Scene
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed Stay for Me and the entire Arrowood Brothers Series! This series will forever hold a very special place in my heart and I wasn’t ready to let this family go without checking in and getting a little bit more time with them. I have an EXCLUSIVE bonus scene as a thank you! All you have to do is click the link below, sign up for my newsletter, and you’ll get and email giving you access!
SIGN UP HERE
Books by Corinne Michaels
The Salvation Series
Beloved
Beholden
Consolation
Conviction
Defenseless
Evermore: A 1001 Dark Night Novella
Indefinite
Infinite
Return to Me Series
Say You’ll Stay
Say You Want Me
Say I’m Yours
Say You Won’t Let Go: A Return to Me/Masters and Mercenaries Novella
Second Time Around Series
We Own Tonight
One Last Time
Not Until You
If I Only Knew
The Arrowood Brothers
Come Back for Me
Fight for Me
The One for Me
Stay for Me
Willow Creek Valley Series
Return to Us (Coming 2/23/21)
One Chance for Us
A Moment for Us
Could Have Been Us
Co-Write with Melanie Harlow
Hold You Close
Imperfect Match
Standalone Novels
All I Ask
Acknowledgments
To my husband and children. You sacrifice so much for me to continue to live out my dream. Days and nights of me being absent even when I’m here. I’m working on it. I promise. I love you more than my own life.
My readers. There’s no way I can thank you enough. It still blows me away that you read my words. You guys have become a part of my heart and soul.
Bloggers: I don’t think you guys understand what you do for the book world. It’s not a job you get paid for. It’s something you love and you do because of that. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
My beta reader Melissa Saneholtz: Dear God, I don’t know how you still talk to me after all the hell I put you through. Your input and ability to understand my mind when even I don’t blows me away. If it weren’t for our phone calls, I can’t imagine where this book would’ve been. Thank you for helping me untangle the web of my brain.