Tangled Hearts.

~Chapter 51~

~Raelyn~

~June 13th~

About a month after the gender reveal party—the one that still made me cringe in both joy and sheer terror—Colby and I found ourselves once again on a plane bound for Kansas. His family was waiting for us, all arms and smiles and that unmistakable feeling of home that had slowly wrapped itself around me like a warm, stubborn fog.

This wasn't our first visit. We'd been there before—when the dust was still settling, when my body was patchy from healing, and my mind was tangled in nightmares. His mother and sisters (*and Zane*) had been pillars during that dark time, a fortress of normalcy when everything else felt like it was splintering. Now, nearly recovered and with the baby growing quietly inside me, going back felt like closing a circle—or maybe just tightening the knot.

Colby had been pulling away more often than usual—work, pack stuff, responsibilities that didn't leave him breathing room. But with graduation creeping up and the storm of finals and projects dying down, he had more time. More time for us. More time to reclaim what the war tried to steal. And that meant going back.

Packing felt like an intimate ritual. Each shirt folded with care, each pair of jeans smoothed flat, as if I could fold my excitement and wrap it in tissue paper. Clothes always carried stories, little messages sewn into the seams. This time, I wanted my packing to say: I'm ready. Ready to laugh. Ready to be vulnerable. Ready to be part of something bigger than the shadow I carried.

Colby and his family—they were a paradox. Grounded, warm, but always just on the edge of something wild. His mom with her quiet strength and knowing eyes, like she could see every secret I kept locked inside. His sister, full of fire and sass, the kind of person who made you forget the heaviness in the world for a moment. And then there was Colby himself—steady, stubborn, a dark flame I couldn't ever quite put out.

I adored them. More than I thought I could adore anyone outside my own blood. They'd become my refuge. The moments I spent with them were the only times I could lower my guard without feeling like I was falling apart.

But with that love came fear. Because the world outside was still unforgiving. The war hadn't ended. The shadow of Layne and all the threats that came with our bloodlines still loomed, even in the quiet laughter and shared meals. I was always watching, always waiting for the moment that normal would shatter again.

Still, as the plane hummed beneath us and Kansas drew closer, I let myself hope. Hope for peace, for moments of light. For a family that had welcomed me when I was broken and still believed I was whole.

Colby caught my hand, his fingers warm and sure. No words were needed. We were going home.

~

The rental car crunched over gravel as we pulled into the long driveway, the kind that stretched like a welcome mat across the edge of Colby's childhood. Everything looked the same—the pale shutters, the porch swing gently creaking in the breeze, and the smell of wild Kansas air that somehow always carried a little hint of something green and nostalgic.

I barely had time to unbuckle my seatbelt before the front door slammed open and chaos came sprinting straight toward us.

"There they are!" Kalani shrieked, already halfway down the steps with Zane right behind her, hoisting a squirming, giggling Daisy in his arms like a football.

"Oh my *God,* it's about time!" she added as she launched herself at me with zero regard for the baby bump.

I stumbled back with a laugh as her arms wrapped tight around me. "Hey, Kalani, try not to crush your niece, yeah?"