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Andre looked at me.

“Nothing?” he asked with wide eyes.

I shot him a look. I knew he was about to make this moment way bigger than it was. Just when I was about to tell him to keep his mouth shut, he grinned.

“Mrs. Browne, your husband has something to tell you.”

Eternity looked between us.

“Malik?”

I leaned back in my wheelchair.

“What?” I asked nonchalantly.

“What happened?”

Andre folded his arms.

“Go ahead. Tell her.”

I looked at my wife.

“Took a couple steps today.”

She frowned.

“A couple steps?”

The act of taking the steps wasn’t anything new. I was doing that with the bars assisting me, but this milestone was something different.

“With a cane,” I confirmed.

Her mouth fell open.

“Malik! Are you serious?”

“Why would I lie?”

She hurried farther into the room while adjusting Malachi against her chest.

“Oh, my God! Baby!”

“Calm down, woman. It was only three steps.”

“Only?” She stared at me. “Malik, you walked with a cane!”

I smiled as I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. She walked over to me and then bent down to give me a kiss.

“I’m proud of you.”

I just smiled because, honestly, I was damn proud of myself too. Andre went over a few things with her about what we’d worked on and what he wanted me to continue practicing at home. He made sure we both understood that I wasn’t supposed to start trying to walk around the house with a cane just because I had managed a few steps during therapy.

After Andre gathered his equipment and left, there were just three of us in the room. I looked at Malachi. I was working so hard on getting back just for him. He slept most of the day, and now he was ready to shake the whole house up. He was wide awake now, staring at me with those big eyes like he was trying to figure out what all the excitement was about. I held my arms out.

“Come here, little man.”

Eternity carefully placed him in my lap, and I adjusted him against my chest. He looked up at me, and he was moving his little mouth like he had something to say.