The late afternoon sun poured through the tall windows of the mansion living room, turning the leather couch warm beneath you as you sat with little Max curled against your side. The massive house was quiet—just the soft sound of pages flipping as you held the old family album open on your lap.

You tapped a picture with a fond smile.

“This was your dad when he was a baby,” you told Max, brushing your finger over the chubby, tear-streaked face in the photo.

“He’s a crybaby that time.” A small laugh escaped you at the memory Thane had shared years ago.

Max leaned in closer, eyes huge with curiosity. The next picture showed little Thane standing between his parents—tiny suit, messy hair, tears streaming down his cheeks like the world was ending.

Max gasped dramatically. “Wait, Mom… that’s him when he was a teenager?”

You nodded, amused. “Yes, before I met him. He was a quiet guy. A nerd in fact!”

You snickered softly. “He was an ugly kid but now sexy man.”

Your gaze lifted and froze.

Thane was standing in the doorway, casually leaning against the door frame as if he’d been listening the whole time. He wore his glasses today, the ones that somehow made him look both intellectual and sinfully handsome at the same time. Hard-working, steady, a man who’d taken over his father’s business with a quiet strength—but right now he looked like a dangerously dashing husband catching his wife teasing him.

You caught his eye, and his eyebrow lifted in amused disbelief. Max didn’t notice, he was still flipping pages with fascinated energy but you felt the warmth bloom in your own cheeks.

You looked at him again—your sexy, loving husband—and tried not to smile too obviously, knowing he’d heard every word.

Thane pushed off the door frame slowly, that deep, low chuckle rumbling from him as he walked toward you. Max finally glanced up and beamed.

“Dad! Mom showed me your crying pictures!”

Thane narrowed his eyes playfully at you over the rim of his glasses.

“Oh did she now?”

You tried to bite back a grin, failing miserably.

Max giggled and pointed at the album. “Dad, you were so tiny!”

Thane sat beside you, his arm brushing yours, warm and familiar. He leaned closer, voice soft but teasing.

“Keep laughing, sweetheart… see what happens later.”

You shot him a quick look, half warning, half flustered and he smirked, clearly enjoying every second.