Always (Spiral of Bliss #5) by Nina Lane

battles that gave her a core of steel beneath her warm gentleness.
    But
this?
Why the fuck would the universe put this on her? She doesn’t need another battle. She needs the life she’s created.
    “I think it’s time for me to throw down the gauntlet,” my brother continues. “The
Archey
gauntlet.”
    “Uncle Archer!” Nicholas hurries toward us, carefully balancing his cream-topped cup with one hand and waving at Archer with the other.
    “Hey, slugger.” Archer and Nicholas exchange an elaborate series of fist-bumps before Archer picks up Bella for a hug. “Where’s my hot chocolate?”
    With a generous sweep of her hand, Bella holds out her paper cup.
    Archer obligingly takes a sip and gives Liv a grin. “Hey, you still need me to come check out that water pipe at the café?”
    “Yes.” Liv groans dramatically and hands me a cup of hot chocolate. “It’s still leaking.”
    “I can swing by around four tomorrow afternoon,” Archer offers.
    “Great, I’ll be there. Just text me when you’re on the way.”
    Archer spends a few minutes wrestling Nicholas and tickling Bella before he heads off to meet Kelsey.
    Kelsey. We’ll have to tell her too. But I don’t want to tell anyone. I can’t even tell myself.
    The sun sinks slowly, and when cold begins to snake through the air, we pack up and head home. Our bedtime routine is reassuringly normal—Nicholas and Bella run around in their pajamas, leaping off the bed and pretending they’re superheroes, while Liv and I cajole, order firmly, and finally threaten them with no TV tomorrow unless they get into bed.
    I read to Nicholas while Liv reads to Bella, then we change places for a while before the kids finally drift off to sleep.
    After their lights are out, I find Liv in the bedroom, pulling off her pants and T-shirt to change into her nightgown. Any other time, I’d stop to admire the sight of my wife standing there in her bra and panties, all soft and sexy.
    But now I suddenly don’t know if it’s okay to watch her undress, to look at her body, to approach her for a kiss and fondle her breasts like I always have before.
    I don’t know if it’ll ever be okay again.
    Liv glances at me. A faint, unpleasant awkwardness crackles in the air. She picks up her nightgown and goes into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
    No. No fucking way will she shut me out. I won’t let her. I won’t let
it
put a wall between us.
    I change into a pair of pajama bottoms and a T-shirt, then sit on the bed and wait. The water runs in the bathroom. There’s a long stretch of silence before the door finally opens again.
    Liv stops and looks at me without surprise, as if she knew I’d be waiting for her. She wraps her arms around her midriff, hugging herself.
    “I can’t believe it,” she finally says.
    My throat tightens. “Neither can I.”
    “What am I going to do?”
    I stand and cross the room to her. I take hold of her shoulders and pull her toward me. She stiffens for an instant before relaxing into me, pressing her face against my chest. I fold my arms around her. Hard.
    “
We
are going to fight this together.” I lower my head close to her ear, breathing in her peaches-and-cream scent. “
We
are going to get you the best doctors, the best treatment, in the whole damned country.
We
are going to battle, and
we
are going to win.”
    I pull back to gaze at her, taking hold of the sides of her head. I lift her face so she has to look at me. And though the fear and disbelief burning in her brown eyes cuts me in half, I manage to keep my voice even.
    “We’re also going to bed together, just like we always do,” I tell her. “We’re going to wake up tomorrow morning, have breakfast with our children, get them off to school, and go to work. We’re going to kiss each other, laugh, complain, get stuff done, talk about our days, figure out what to do for dinner, watch TV, and read books.
    “I’m going to squeeze your ass when the kids aren’t