6 years later...

"You check it, I can't look." I demand covering my eyes nervously as I push Tayen toward the counter.

My lungs seize as silence fills the room and I bite my lip to focus on something other than the churning in my stomach.

"Aunt Tayen, Adriel pinched me!" A voice calls from the other side of the bathroom door, piercing the silence and easing some of the weight from my shoulders as a smile tilts my lips at the sound of the little girls voice.

"Did not!" Adriel shouts.

My eyes open as Tayen cracks the door and Hazels wide green fill the space. "May I come in?" She whispers.

I smile and give her a nod. "Of course."

Hazel slips inside the bathroom and Tayen locks the door behind her before Adriel can sneak in. Hazel quirks a brow, her green eyes flicking back and forth between Tayen and I before they land on the counter.

"What's going on?" She asks and snatches the pregnancy test up before we can react. "Oh, is this why you cried when I told you I ate the last of the granola yesterday? My bio mom was pregnant the last time I was with her and she cried over everything."

She hands me the test and I blink down at the two lines there and then back at Hazel. We adopted her ten months ago when she came into the pediatrician office where Xan is doing his residency. He had only been there for two weeks when he came home telling me about this funny little girl that reminded him of me.

He couldn't tell me anything that was going on with her medically but that he couldn't stop thinking about her and her situation. Over dinner one night he brought up the idea of adoption. I can still remember the exact look on his face, the sadness in his eyes over the little girls situation and the way he expressed his need for helping her. The answer was yes before he'd even asked.

We got in contact with her case manager and went through various evaluations. When we learned about Hazels past I couldn't believe anyone could allow a child to live like she had. She was severely neglected as a baby and toddler and had been in and out of the system since she was two. After the last time a neighbor found Hazel wandering around the street in dirty clothes, no shoes, and matted hair her moms rights had finally been terminated and she ended up in jail for drug charges.

The first time I got to meet Hazel and she looked up at me with her big green eyes I felt the same need as Xan had to give her everything she deserved. She hid her pain behind jokes and smiles, anything that could mask her real feelings but you could still see it there in her emerald eyes. It took her months before she was comfortable showing her emotions in front of us. The first time she cried, I cried with her. She goes to therapy twice a week and now that she's been with us for almost a year she seems genuinely happy.

"Are you okay with this?" I ask Hazel nervously.

I hadn't been trying to get pregnant, Xan is only in his first year of residency and we had actually agreed we would probably stick to adoption when we were ready for another child after adopting Hazel, it just seemed to fit us and there were so many kids that needed homes.

I missed my period and I've been pretty moody but even then I was in disbelief. I'd convinced myself I couldn't be pregnant because my birth control pill was the only thing in my life I'd ever kept up with. Tayen talked me into taking a test. She had been in denial with her pregnancy with Adriel too. We were seniors in college when she stared in disbelief at the positive pregnancy test on our shared bathroom counter one evening after class. I thought she was going to pass out.

Hazel gives a nonchalant shrug in reply. "I'm pretty good with babies." I give her a tight hug and she laughs as I pull back with tears in my eyes. "I will not be changing diapers though." Her nose wrinkles in disgust at even the thought that I'd suggest she do such a thing.

"That's what Adriel's for!" I joke loudly knowing he's probably got his ear pressed against the door.

"Ewww, no!" He screams and I hear his feet against the wood floor as he runs away and the three of us laugh.

My eyes go back to the test in my hand and I sigh, chewing on my lower lip as I wonder how Xan will react.

"How should we tell Xan?" I ask Hazel as we exit the bathroom.

She quirks her lips to the side and taps her chin in thought. "Hmmm... we could get me a big sister shirt." She suggests, her eyes round and glimmering with excitement.

I give her a smile. "That sounds perfect."

Adriel's sitting upside down on the couch when we enter the living room and he giggles as Tayen tickles his exposed stomach. He looks like a mixture of her and Ace with his golden brown skin, dark curly hair and deep brown eyes. When he smiles I see Ace but when he scowls he's Tayens twin. At only five he's got an attitude that could rival Tayens, she tells me all the time that he's gonna stay an only child.

"Divya said she would be in town next week, we should all meet up and hang out." I tell Tayen.

We don't see her much since we no longer live in the same state but any time her or Pria are in town we try to hang out. Sometimes it's still crazy to think that we're all married with children, using our degrees we busted our asses to get. Hazel calls me a mad scientist when I accidentally wear my lab coat home but I enjoy doing biomedical research and I couldn't picture myself doing anything else.

A wet nose nudges the back of my hand and I run my fingers across Bruno's head. Brutus passed away before we could find a place that accepted pets so when Xan and I got our first place together after we graduated college I searched for a senior Great Dane for over two years before finding Bruno and adopting him. He's ten now and I know he probably won't live much longer so I spend as much time with him as I can.

We hang out with with Tayen and Adriel until they have to go meet Ace for lunch and then Hazel and I make a trip to Target in search of a big sister shirt. There's no way I'll be able to keep this to myself so I'd like to find her shirt today so we can go ahead and tell Xan. Because today is Saturday Xan only has a half day which means he'll be home by the time we get back so we quickly pay for the shirt and Hazel changes in the restroom.

Hazel can barely contain her excitement as I park in the driveway and my stomach churns with nerves at the sight of Xan's car. The smell of ramen hits my nose as we enter the house and I groan. The man has only gotten better at cooking, I don't think there's ever been anything he's made that I haven't liked. Most days he gets home before me and dinners waiting when I walk through the door, it's the best arrangement.

Xan's standing at the stove freshly showered in a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt when we enter the kitchen. The tattoos on his neck and arms stand out against the stark white of his shirt. He's only gotten hotter with age. His shoulders are broader, his jaw sharper, he's a work of art.

He glances over his shoulder at us, his damp, dark hair hanging in his eyes and his lips curl up into that damn crooked grin that still makes my stomach flip. The love I feel for him is beyond anything I had ever imagined. I cried like a baby the day he asked me to marry him and couldn't remove the smile from my face after we got married. Like a true southern woman I got everything I could monogrammed with my new last name so every time I turned I'd seen Lennon Ko. I can't believe we're going to be a family of four.

Xan's eyes flick down to Hazel and she puts her hand on her hip and strikes a dramatic pose. "Do you like my new shirt, Xan?" She picked a blue shirt that says big sis in bold black letters so it's very easy to read.

My heart races in my chest as his dark gray eyes scan the shirt quickly. "I love it—" his brow furrows and his eyes quickly re-scan the words and then they widen. "Haze..."

"Well do you like it or not?" She asks, exasperated.

Xan's eyes meet mine and I give him a nod, biting my lip nervously.

He looks back at Hazel and clears his throat. "I love it, Haze."

Hazel gives a satisfied smile in return and skips from the kitchen, heading down the hall toward her bedroom. Xan pulls me into his arms and I breath him in.

His hand trails across my stomach. "You're pregnant?"

"Yes." I mutter quietly.

His eyes flick toward the hallway. "Hazel seems okay with it."

I nod. "She is."

"Fuck, it feels like adopting Hazel all over again." His body sags in relief as a smile tugs at his lips. "I'm so excited." He whispers, his eyes shinning.

I laugh, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling his lips to mine. I melt into him, praying that things between us always stay this amazing. I pull back, gazing up into his dark eyes and for the millionth time I thank my lucky stars that out of all the people that could see me slip in a puddle it happened to be Xander Ko.

Connection at first sight... sometimes it's not as obvious as you might think.

The End

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