Nora laughed. “I doubt that, but I will always love your sunny optimism.”
Standing here with my friends, I couldn’t help but smile. They were my family, and I loved them so much.
I held up my drink. “I’d like to propose a toast.”
My friends all raised their glasses.
“To love. Whether between friends, or lovers, or both, may we all experience it in abundance.”
We clinked glasses with a chorus of cheers, and drank.
Corban squeezed me against him and kissed my head. “I’ll be right back.”
I chatted with my friends for a little while, finishing my drink and enjoying their company. I’d already made the rounds, talking with Elliott and his wife, as well as our other colleagues. And I’d had a very pleasant chat with Molly and Martin when they’d first arrived. In the months since Corban and I had officially started dating, I’d spent a lot of time with his sister and her family. Molly was excellent company, and I held a great deal of affection for her daughter.
But as much as I’d enjoyed our celebration tonight, it was getting late, and I could feel my social battery running low. I glanced around, wondering where Corban had gone.
Besides, Erwin would be hungry soon. And we had a busy weekend of unpacking ahead of us. Corban and I had just moved into a house together—a charming three-bedroom in a quiet neighborhood near Woodward College.
As if in answer to my silent question, Corban appeared at the bar. He raised his hands and spoke over the din of the small crowd. “Excuse me, everyone. Can I have your attention?”
Our little group quieted, everyone turning to face Corban.
“Thanks. I just want to thank you all for being here tonight. As you know, Hazel and I got some good news at work recently. It’s really exciting, and I have to say, I couldn’t have done it without her.”
He held out his hand, beckoning for me to join him. Our friends and family clapped as I walked to the bar and clasped his hand.
“I also have a confession,” he continued. “Tonight isn’t really about the grant. It was just a good excuse to invite you all here.”
A hush settled over the room, as if everyone, even the bar’s other patrons, listened intently. My heart felt like it skipped a beat and my breath caught.
Corban pushed his glasses up his nose, then reached into his suit jacket. Someone gasped. Maybe it was me. He drew a small box out of his inside pocket.
Oh my god. This was happening.
“Hazel, I spent my whole life walking around with a hole in here.” He tapped his chest. “Until I met you, I didn’t think there was anything that would fill it. I know we had a bit of a rocky start, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I love you. I love your curiosity about the world and your brilliant mind. I love your big heart and your loyalty to everyone you care about. I also love your cookies and your cinnamon rolls. And of course your brownies.”
Everyone laughed and he grinned at me. Tears began to fill my eyes.
“I already talked to Erwin and he gave us his blessing.” He lowered down onto one knee and opened the box, revealing an engagement ring. “Hazel Kiegen, I want to love you forever. Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” I nodded enthusiastically, not sure if I was laughing or crying. Perhaps both. I kept saying it, too overcome with emotion to stop. “Yes, yes, yes.”
Cheering and applause erupted around us as he stood. I threw myself into his arms and melted into his strong embrace.
“I love you,” he whispered into my ear.
My voice was shaky with happiness and excitement. “I love you, too.”
He let go and I held up my hand so he could place the ring on my finger. Through tears of joy, surrounded by the cheers and applause of our family and friends, I smiled at him.
I’d dedicated my career to studying human relationships. But not even science could have prepared me for the magnitude of this moment. For the depth and power of experiencing true love.
Corban cupped my face and kissed me. Then there were toasts, and hugs and congratulations from our family and friends. Elliott gave me a fatherly embrace and shook Corban’s hand. Molly exclaimed that she couldn’t wait to have me as a sister and made me cry all over again. My girlfriends hugged me tight and admired my ring. Everly couldn’t seem to stop crying until Shepherd gently ushered her away.
When the excitement died down, Corban brushed a strand of hair over my shoulder. “Ready to call it a night?”
“Yes.”
“Me too. Plus we need to feed Erwin.”
“I wouldn’t worry about him,” Nora said. “He can afford to miss a meal.”
Corban raised an eyebrow. “Erwin isn’t fat, Nora. He’s just very fluffy.”
She laughed. “Whatever you say.”
I slipped my hand in his and gazed up at him. I couldn’t imagine loving him any more.
We said our goodbyes and headed home. I held out my hand, admiring my ring, unable to stop staring. Wearing his ring wasn’t just the logical next step in our relationship. It was, of course. But it was much more than that.
It was trust and commitment. A sign of loyalty and love.
It was perfect.
There were three things I knew with absolute certainty. The scientific method was still humanity’s greatest invention, vodka martinis were best served dirty, and Corban Nash was a remarkable scientist, the most amazing man I’d ever known, and the one true love of my life.
Epilogue
Corban
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ~ Lao Tzu
Three years later.
“Uncle Co-ban, Auntie Hazel, can we go now?” Kate jumped up and down in the entryway as soon as we walked in the door.
“Hey, squirt.” I ruffled her hair. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
She stopped jumping and looked up at me. “What?”
“Your costume.”
Putting her hands on her stomach, she looked down at herself. Her stick-straight hair was black like her dad’s, and she wore it in two pigtails. She was dressed in nothing but a white tank top and bright pink underwear.
She giggled and smiled at me. Her hair and dark eyes looked like Martin, but that smile was all Molly. “I fo-got to get dressed.”
Hazel laughed, and I put an arm around her. “Yeah, I do that too sometimes.”
“You also forgot to eat your dinner, little miss.” Molly waddled out from the kitchen, hugely pregnant with their second baby. “No trick-or-treating until you get some food in your belly.”
“Okay, Mommy.” She ran for the kitchen, her bare feet padding against the floor.
“I swear, she’s your kid, not mine,” Molly said. “Three and a half years old, and she already gets so absorbed in what she’s doing, she forgets everything else.”
“Is she forgetting to eat in favor of doing math problems?” Hazel asked.
“You know what’s weird?” Molly asked. “Kind of. Remember that toy abacus you bought her? Lately she spends hours playing store with her stuffed animals, and I think her favorite part is figuring out how much their pretend purchases cost. She moves the little beads across the line, and I swear to god, she already understands addition and subtraction. She’s three.”
I grinned. I loved that little peanut. “It’s because she’s awesome.”
Molly smiled. “Yeah, she is. Come on in, she obviously needs to eat. Then we’ll get her dressed and you can take her around the neighborhood.”
With Molly so close to her due date, Hazel and I had offered to take Kate trick-or-treating for Halloween this year. We followed Molly inside, past little shoes and rainboots, drawings in crayon pinned to a bulletin board, and toys scattered around the floor.
“Sorry about the mess,” she said. “Martin’s been working late so he can take leave when this baby finally decides to grace us with his presence. I’m not even trying to keep up anymore.”
“You know we�
��re not judgmental about the state of your house,” Hazel said.
“Thank goodness for that.”
Molly led us to the dining table, and we all took a seat. Kate spooned a bite of macaroni and cheese into her mouth.
“How are you feeling?” Hazel asked, pushing her glasses up her nose. “Any signs of impending labor?”
“Not yet.” She rubbed the swell of her belly. “I saw my midwife this morning and apparently he’s very comfortable in here.”
“I’m sure it will be soon. And you have the added advantage of having experienced childbirth once before. Your body knows what to do.”
Molly smiled. “Yeah, I hope so. Thanks.”
“Uncle Co-ban, are you hungry?” Kate asked.
I eyed her macaroni and cheese. “Yeah, but you eat that. Auntie Hazel and I will have dinner later.”
She grinned and shoved another spoonful in her mouth, leaving a smear of cheese on her chin.
“Hey, Kate,” I said. “If your teddy bear buys two candy bars and they each cost a dollar, how much money does he need?”
She held up two fingers, her mouth too full of macaroni to answer.
“Yep, two dollars. Nice.”
“Kate, if your teddy bear goes to the store with eleven dollars, and purchases items costing one dollar, three dollars, and two dollars respectively, how much money will he have left?” Hazel asked.
I glanced at her and lowered my voice. “Geez, Hazel, she’s three.”
“Five,” Kate answered through a mouthful of food.
Raising my eyebrows, I looked at Kate, then Molly.
My sister shrugged her shoulders. “See?”
Hazel smiled knowingly at me.
My niece the math genius. Coolest thing ever.
“Okay, Katie-bear, finish up, then go put on your costume,” Molly said.
Kate shoveled one last heaping spoon of dinner into her mouth, then jumped down from the table and ran to her room.
A few minutes later, she came out wearing a bright yellow jumpsuit with a black stripe down each side. She struck a karate pose. “Hi-yah!”
“Is she Bruce Lee?” I asked. “Molly, you’re dressing your half-Asian kid as Bruce Lee for Halloween?”
Molly laughed. “Oh my god, I know. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? In my defense, it was Martin’s idea. They love watching those old Bruce Lee movies together.”
Kate squinted, still looking like she was ready to karate-chop someone.
“She’s the cutest Bruce Lee I’ve ever seen,” Hazel said.
“Okay, squirt.” I stood and Hazel followed. “Let’s go get some candy. But no karate-chopping anyone.”
“It’s kung-fu, Uncle Co-ban.”
I put my hands up. “My bad. You ready? Go get your bucket.”
She ran back to her room.
“Thanks again, you guys,” Molly said. “You don’t have to keep her out long. She doesn’t need a lot of candy anyway.”
“No problem. It’ll be fun.”
“We’ve been looking forward to it,” Hazel said.
Molly grinned. “And who knows, maybe someday you’ll be taking your own tiny person out to knock on strangers’ doors for candy.”
I adjusted my glasses, then stuffed my hands in my pockets. “Yeah. Maybe.”
Hazel and I had been trying to have a baby for over a year, but so far, we hadn’t had any luck. She’d been feeling discouraged, especially since Molly was pregnant again and we couldn’t seem to make it happen. It wasn’t for lack of trying, that was for sure.
We’d been to a specialist for tests, but they hadn’t found anything wrong with either of us. No solid explanation for our trouble conceiving. I wasn’t sure what bothered Hazel more—the waiting, or the lack of answers.
We took a very excited Kate, armed with an orange pumpkin bucket, up and down their street, knocking on neighbor’s doors. Everyone loved her costume and she happily struck her best Bruce Lee pose every time. She also remembered to say thank you when the neighbors dropped candy into her bucket.
Molly and Martin were awesome parents.
We probably went to more houses than Molly would have liked. But Hazel and I were having as much fun as she was. Watching her dash up to each door, her pigtails bouncing, and say trick or treat in her cute little voice was adorable, every single time.
Finally, we brought her home. Martin was back from work, so he took over kid duty, tossing her over his shoulder and carrying her upstairs for a bath. We said goodnight to Molly and went home.
“That was one of the most enjoyable Halloweens I’ve ever had,” Hazel said as we walked up to our front door. It was decorated with pumpkins, but we’d left the lights off since we wouldn’t be home.
“Better than when Nora dressed you up as zombie prom queens?”
“Zombie prom queens was a close second, but yes.”
We went inside and turned the porch light on in case there were any kids still out trick-or-treating. A bowl of candy sat ready on a table near the door. Erwin looked up at us from his cat bed next to the couch, then went back to his nap.
“Are you sure you don’t mind that we didn’t dress up and go out this year?” I hung up my coat and put hers away for her. “I know Halloween is your favorite.”
She backed up a few steps into the living room. She adjusted her glasses and there was something in her smile. It made me suddenly nervous, but I had no idea why.
“I don’t mind at all. Things change.”
“Yeah.”
She held my gaze with that mysterious smile on her lips. But she didn’t say anything.
“What?”
Her eyes flicked to the side.
I looked. She’d decorated for Halloween a few weeks ago. A string of orange and purple lights draped across the fireplace and she’d put pumpkin shaped candles and a little black cat on the mantle.
But below that, on the hearth, was something covered by a black cloth. Had that been there before? How had I not noticed it?
“What’s that?”
“Go look.”
Erwin opened one eye when I walked by. I crouched down and lifted the cloth.
It was a pile of smooth rocks, arranged in a tidy circle. Most were no bigger than the palm of my hand, and she’d placed them so the largest were on the bottom, leading to the smallest on top.
“What’s this?”
“Those are the rocks you gave me.”
“Really? You kept them?”
Ever since the day of the Soggy Seattle Half-Marathon, when I’d handed her a rock to tell her I loved her, I’d made a habit of giving her rocks. Sometimes they were random. I’d see a rock on campus or in our yard and present it to her to make her smile. Other times they were from special places we’d been, like the rock I’d found on our honeymoon, or the one from when we’d presented our research together at the last Personality and Social Psychology Conference.
“Of course I kept them. Every single one. Even after mate selection, male penguins present their mates with rocks.”
My eyes widened and I slowly stood. “The female uses them to build a nest.”
Her bottom lip caught between her teeth and she smiled, nodding.
“Oh my god, Hazel, are you saying—?”
She nodded again, more vigorously this time.
“Are we going to have a baby?”
“Yes.”
I ran the few steps to her and scooped her into my arms. We didn’t say anything for a long moment. Just held each other.
“You’re pregnant?”
She nodded. “I confirmed it with the doctor this morning. I’m definitely pregnant.”
My throat felt a little thick and emotion swelled in my chest. “Holy shit, Hazel. This is amazing. But when did you make the rock nest?”
“Earlier today. I wondered if you’d notice it before we left.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t.”
She smiled. “I can.”
I grabbed her again, picking her up
off her feet. She wound her arms around my neck. I was overwhelmed, so happy I hardly knew what to do with myself.
Realizing what I’d just done, I put her down.
“Sorry, I should be more careful with you.”
She rested a hand on her stomach. “That’s okay. The baby is well protected by my uterus.”
I placed my hand on top of hers, my heart so full I wondered if it would burst. Leaning down, I touched my forehead to hers. “I love you so much. I’m so happy we’re having a baby.”
“Me too. I think our combined genetics is going to produce a remarkable child.”
Wrapping my arms around her again, I held her tight. She rested her head against my chest, and I took a deep breath, inhaling a lungful of her.
It was hard to believe there had ever been a time when I hadn’t had Hazel in my life. Those memories seemed like a bad dream. She was my world. She had my respect, my love, my heart… everything. And now a baby?
I didn’t know what I’d done to get so lucky.
We were perfect together. Perfect in our quirks and our weirdness. In our ability to challenge each other, and to understand each other the way no one else did. And now we were giving each other something we both desperately wanted. We were building a family.
Love really was awesome, and I didn’t even need science to tell me that.
* * *
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Book Boyfriend: Chapter 1
Alex
Sometimes in life we all have moments when we realize we screwed up so badly, there’s no way out.
I’m having one of those moments.
Mia is staring at me, wide-eyed, like I just told her I murdered her mother. I didn’t, for the record. But the book she’s holding falls from her limp hand, and her mouth moves like she’s trying to find something to say. The depth of the trouble I’m in is starting to hit me.
Love According to Science Page 31