Beautiful

Chapter 22 (final)

Phil's POV

1 year later

"You ready?"

"Yeah...I am."

"You sure?" Dan questions.

"Definitely," I say.

"Then let's go find our little girl."

We hugged and I took a deep breath as we entered the adoption center. We looked around at all the beautiful little babies, each with their own special charm. I didn't see one in particular that stuck out to me until...bam. I stopped a moment to gaze into the eyes of a tiny little girl. What I saw when I looked at her surprised me. Her eyes were different colors. One was brown and the other was blue. I'd never seen such a sight. They were so intriguing, and I couldn't remove my gaze. I eyed the name labeled on her crib. Luna. She was so cute! I called out for Dan.

"Dan, come here!"

"What is it?"

"I think she's the one."

As soon as he saw her, he was instantly drawn in like I was. "Luna..."

"She's...she's..."

"Beautiful," Dan said, finishing my sentence.

"Yeah." The more I gazed upon the infant, the more I fell in love. "What do you think?"

"I love her."

"Dan, look! She even has your dimples!"

He blushed in amazement as I said that. Suddenly, Luna smiled at us like we were the most special people on the planet.

"Phil, we have to have her."

"I agree entirely."

We filled out some papers, signed our names, and finally, Luna was ours'. I held her first as we rode in a taxi on the way to our apartment. The ride was pleasant since she slept the whole time, and she was still knocked out when we arrived home.

"Geez I can't, Phil!"

"What?" I said with a chuckle.

"We have a child! The way you look while holding her...it makes it so much more difficult to resist you."

"Maybe you should hold her then," I smirked.

"Uh..."

"What's wrong? Are you nervous?"

"What?" he scoffed. "Why would I be nervous about carrying our kid..."

"Dan, it's ok. Don't be afraid. I'll be here. You won't drop her."

I placed her in his arms. I watched as he mumbled to her. "Hey, baby. You're so small. Phil and I are gonna take good care of you, all right?" I realized right then what Dan meant about resisting me. He looked adorable holding Luna.

"Come on, little lion," I said, taking her away. "Let's go to your crib."

Dan and I were married now, so we'd modified his room for Luna and we'd been sleeping in my room together since our wedding. I shut her door, being sure not to make a peep.

"Wow. You're such a great father."

"We just adopted her."

"That's what I'm saying. How are you this good already?"

"You're a great father too. The way you talked to her, it was like you'd done it before."

"I just tried to be kind and gentle like you would be."

He leaned his head on my shoulder and hugged me. "I love you."

"Phil?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared. We're parents now. What if it tears us apart? What are we gonna do now?"

His tears as he said these words made me ache inside, but they didn't surprise me. I knew Dan was one to think of questions like these, but the thought of losing him made me terrified. My throat started to well up, but I repressed it so I could comfort him. "I'll never let anything tear us apart, Dan. It'll be hard, we may have different opinions at times, but as long as we work together, we'll be fine, just like we have been all these years, and we'll raise our baby girl to be successful, intelligent, and insightful, just like her father."

"Fathers," he corrected me. "Thank you, Phil. You always know what to say. In fact, we'll be the best parents that have ever existed. I love you so much."

I kissed Dan lovingly. "You're welcome. I believe in us. We can do this."

"I definitely know I can do it, as long as I have you by my side."

"I'll always love you, even when the world ends. To a good life, Philip Howell. Okay?"

He smiles, and I know what he's movie he's thinking about. The Fault in our Stars. He never ceases to make me feel loved. I gaze into his gorgeous brown irises and tell him...

"Okay."

The End