“I have to go,” she announced, and I presumed it was so she could go cry for her loss. Now that she’d accepted it, she would finally start to move on.
“Okay,” I said. “I love you.”
After a beat, she replied, “I love you too.”
I hung up the phone and pumped my fist in the air in triumph. Finally, finally, I was getting somewhere. The last few rough edges of my New York life would be smooth before I knew it.
Eleanor met us at the door and immediately pulled me into a huge hug. “Oh, thank you. Thank you!” she cooed. “I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandmother again.” She pulled back to look at me, brushing a stray piece of hair out of my face. “And you’re so beautiful! Your children are going to be…oh they’re going to be so cute!”
“Maybe they’ll be ginger,” said Keilan, showing up in the hallway behind her. He had a beer bottle in his hand and leaned casually against the wall.
“Don’t get her too excited,” Brendon replied.
I knitted my brows in confusion until I saw Eleanor’s hopeful expression.
“We’ve always wanted a little ginger in the family,” she whispered.
Brendon laughed and pushed us forward, urging us into the main part of the house. Patrick was by the stove, peering through the oven door at the roasted chicken inside. Avery and Morgana sat at the little kitchen table, and Morgana rose to embrace me in a hug when she saw me. I saw Avery struggling to rise as well and panicked, but Brendon moved to stop him.
“Don’t be stupid,” Brendon chided.
Morgana merely shot Avery a look, then turned back to me. “He’s a nightmare. I’ve never had a worse patient.”
“And I’ve never had a doctor with such poor bedside manner,” Avery shot back, but the comical grin on his face made it clear he adored being taken care of.
“Auntie Aurora!” The high-pitched squeal was my only warning before Julian collided with my backside. He wrapped his stubby arms around me, apparently not caring that he was up close and personal with my butt.
“Hey buddy,” Brendon said, tugging him away.
I turned and squatted down to Jude’s level, pulling him into a hug.
“How’s it going, little man?”
He ignored my question. “Want to come play trucks with me?”
“You and Aurora can play later,” Avery interjected before I had a chance to respond. “I’m sure she’s got lots of things she wants to talk about with the others. I’ll come play with you.”
He groaned as he pushed himself off from the chair and Morgana raced under his arm to steady him. Together, the trio staggered off toward the playroom.
Eleanor came to stand in front of me, and she hesitantly reached for my belly but stopped before she made contact.
“Do you mind…?” she asked with nervous eyes.
I smiled. “Go for it.”
I loved when people touched my bump. I loved having a belly, and every reminder of that fact was just another cherry on top.
“You look luminous,” Patrick commented, coming to stand beside my wife. “You remind me of Ellie when she was pregnant. Always so stunning, full of life. Not that she isn’t still an exceptionally vivacious beauty.” He leaned down to kiss the top of her head and I felt my heart stir with warmth. I could picture Brendon and I being their age, surrounded by their children and grandchildren. It was all I wanted.
“Dinner will be ready soon,” Eleanor said a second later. “I’ll go get Jude.”
“I’ll come,” Patrick replied.
I found it strange that both evacuated the kitchen together, and turned to ask Brendon what the sudden rush to get out of there was.
He was on one knee behind me.
My heart thumped out an erratic rhythm in my chest, growing pace as he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.
“Aurora Frayser,” he said. “You’re everything to me. I’ve known you were something special since the first moment I met you, and I know I would have spent the rest of my life looking for what I felt with you if we hadn’t crossed each other’s paths again.”
I sucked in a breath. Was this really happening? I had to be dreaming, right? There was no way that the perfect man was on his knee in front of me providing the perfect proposal. There was just no way.
“I know we started living together because I didn’t feel like you were safe, but to be honest with you…” He cocked a grin. “I’ve been too afraid to ask you to stay for real. I wanted to, but I guess sometimes I’m weak where you’re concerned. But life is too short, and I know that I want to live with you.” He flipped open the lid of the box. “I also know that I want to marry you, Aurora. If you’ll have me.”
I nearly went blind from the dazzle of the ring, and my mouth dropped open. It was a simple band, and a simple setting too. The only thing not simple about it was the size.
“I’m not going to be able to hold my hand up if you put that thing on it,” I joked. My eyes were misting with tears, but I didn’t miss the flash of concern that crossed his face.
“Isn’t a husband who loves you more than the earth itself worth a few bicep curls?” he asked.
I chuckled. “A few? I’m going to have to start taking human growth hormones.”
Brendon rolled his eyes and moved to shut the box. “Well, if you don’t want it…”
I snapped out a hand to stop him. “No! I do! I mean, yes! I say yes!”
He scooped me into his arms and spun me in a circle around the kitchen, laughing without inhibition. I held onto him as tight as possible, feet whizzing through the air behind me.
Brendon finally put me down and plucked the ring from the box before tossing it to the side, then he slipped the ring onto my finger. It was a perfect fit.
Chapter 33
Brendon
Aurora smiled back at me from the picture next to my laptop. It was a shot taken shortly after I asked her to marry me, when my mom insisted we document the moment. I wouldn’t have minded so much except she peeled Aurora off me so she could inspect the ring and gush about how happy she was to have her in the family. Well, that I didn’t mind too much either. Anyway, it was a gorgeous photo of a gorgeous woman and I would stare at it all day if I could.
The man on the other end of the line was still rattling off numbers when I came back to focus. I realized that I hadn’t heard a single thing he’d said for a couple minutes now.
“Uh, sorry Jorge, would you mind repeating those figures?” I asked. “I’m a bit distracted today.”
“No problem. I know you’ve got a lot on your mind.”
I snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
“How much longer until the little boy or girl arrives now? Not very long, right?”
A dreamy smile crossed my face. “Only another week at the most.”
“It doesn’t stop being exciting after the first,” he replied, “but enjoy this feeling while you can. You’ll need it to look back on when you’re up to your chin in dirty diapers, eh?”
I laughed. “Yeah, yeah.”
My cellphone vibrated on my desk with a text from Aurora, and I quickly swiped open the message. I wanted her to be able to access me every second of every day, just in case, and anybody who had a problem with that would just have to take it up with me.
My heart stalled, and when it started again it was beating in double time.
Water broke!!!
“I gotta go. Emergency. I’ll have someone from my office call you to finish this discussion. Please accept my apologies.”
I was off the phone and calling Aurora in two seconds flat.
“That was quick,” she answered.
“I told you, I’m not taking any chances.” I rose from my chair and grabbed my jacket from the coat rack. “How are you doing? I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, tops. You’re okay until then?”
“Oh yeah,” she replied smoothly. “Just about to push a fucking watermelon out of my vagina and it looks like I
peed all over the living room rug. Feelin’ pretty great.”
I chuckled and breezed out the door, heading for the elevator. I waved at my receptionist on the way past and she gave me an excited thumbs up, divining the nature of the phone call from the panicked expression on my face.
“Baby, just tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” she said with a sigh. “Jeez. Anybody ever tell you that you worry too much?”
I jammed my finger on the button for the parking garage. “You. All the time, actually.”
“It’s a shame it hasn’t stuck yet.”
“Maybe after another twenty years and six kids it will.”
“Six kids? You must be out of your fucking mind, Mr. Ralston.”
“Only with my love for you, Mrs. Ralston. Have you started having contractions yet?”
My phone connected to the Bluetooth once I was in my car, and I spent the whole drive home talking to Aurora and keeping her distracted. I could tell she was trying to be relaxed about everything, but the reality of the situation was catching up quick. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep her calm without being by her side. And hell, I didn’t know if I could keep her calm once I was at her side either. That woman had a mind of her own and wasn’t afraid to use it.
I told Aurora to wait in the apartment until I got there, but she insisted on waiting on the curb with her overnight bag, citing restlessness as her cause. I suspected she just wanted to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. She was nervous about what came next, and in truth I was too, but it was my job to make her less nervous.
She got into the car and I began to drive, letting her squeeze my hand until I was sure there would be a permanent mark.
“Hey,” I said softly, glancing over at her.
She was practicing deep breathing, but it didn’t look to be having any effect. Her forehead was beaded with sweat.
“Hey, Aurora look at me.”
She did, eyes wide.
I tried an easy smile and looked back to the road. “Do you remember our wedding day?”
“Of course I do,” she scoffed. “It was the best day of my life.”
I smiled at the memory. “Me too. Though I suspect it’s about to get blown out of the water by today.”
Her hand squeezed a little tighter and I chastised myself for the slip. She needed distracting, not reassuring.
“I remember how beautiful you looked walking down the aisle,” I told her. “Afterward, Calypso and Amy told me how frustrated you were when you looked in the mirror and saw your belly. How you wished you had a flat stomach for just this one day, but the second I saw you I knew that at that moment, there was no woman more beautiful in the world. There was no scene more perfect than you walking toward me in that snow white dress, your belly swollen with our child. You laughed as you walked toward me. What were you laughing at?”
Aurora buckled over and groaned and squeezed my hand even harder. She was starting to get contractions.
“Baby,” I pressed. “What were you laughing about?”
She took a breath and answered, “I don’t remember.”
“Think back.” I brought her hand to my mouth and kissed her knuckles. “Why were you laughing?”
She was silent for a moment, and I wondered if she was about to tell me to fuck off. Then she said, “Peter. I was laughing at Peter.”
Interesting. “Why?”
She chuckled. “He was trying to catch Amy’s attention, I think. He was the only person in the whole place who was looking somewhere other than me, and I just thought it was funny. It was perfect, really. It just reminded me—” She groaned, squeezed, but kept on talking. “It just reminded me how real everything was. Just when things started feeling too much like a fantasy, I looked down the end of the wedding aisle and saw your best friend trying to give the sexy eyes to my best friend, who also happens to be an escort.” She chuckled lightly, and released some of the pressure on my hand. “I had the same kind of thought when Calypso changed into her third outfit for the evening.”
“I remember that,” I mused. “Amy was annoyed that she’d only brought two outfits.”
She laughed, buckling over again. I couldn’t tell whether it was from pain or mirth. When she didn’t sit upright again right away, I squeezed her hand and kept talking.
“Remember the reception? How fun it was?” I reminded. “Everyone was dancing, even my ancient aunt and uncle, but they always left a ring of space around us so that we could feel like we were the only people in the room. I remember holding you in my arms and realizing that I’d waited my entire life for this moment without knowing that was what I’d been building up to. The best part was that I knew there would be plenty of other moments just like that because I would be spending the rest of my life with you.”
“Uh-huh,” she said in a strained voice.
I could tell she was trying to stay present, but the pain and anxiety was dragging her somewhere else. All I could do was keep talking, and I chatted up a storm the whole way to the hospital. When we got there, I got an orderly to bring us a wheelchair and made sure we were seen to immediately. Aurora barely had time for another contraction before she was in a hospital bed with a nurse taking her vitals.
“How are you feeling?” I asked the next time we had a second alone. “I know that’s a dumb question, but I mean mentally, not physically. Is there anything I can do to help?”
She threaded her fingers through mine, and I was relieved to see she looked a lot less stressed than she was in the car.
“I’m scared,” she said. “I know it’s going to hurt, and I’m worried about if something goes wrong. But more than that, I’m excited. Happy. I don’t think I could do this without you, though.”
I kissed her knuckles again. “That is the nature of procreation, I’m afraid.”
Aurora rolled her eyes. “It’s like you were born to be a dad. The closer you get to having a baby in your arms, the worse the dad jokes get.”
“By the time our kid’s in high school, I intend to have fully scarred them for life with my awkward humor.”
“You’re on the right path.” She smiled, and rays of sunbeams glowed right under her skin. “I’m happy, Brendon.”
I leaned in close, brushing my lips over hers. “Hi Happy, I’m Dad.”
Many hours later, I walked into the waiting room to find a small crowd waiting for me. There were enough flowers, balloons, and teddy bears to decorate a children’s birthday party.
“Hey, everyone,” I said, catching their attention.
Nobody looked at my face, though. They were all too distracted by the little bundle in my arms. I didn’t blame them.
“I have someone I want you to meet.”
Amy was the first to rush over to me, gazing thoughtfully into the face of the most beautiful little lady in the world.
“This is Fiona,” I said.
“Oh, Brendon…” Amy cooed, staring with wide eyes at the gurgling little girl. “She’s perfect.”
I looked down at my baby, smiling. “She is, isn’t she?” I chuckled. “She takes after her mother.”
Chapter 34
Aurora
It wasn’t a long drive, but it felt like the longest one of my life. Leaving New York and heading back to the town I grew up in felt like abandoning my safety blanket and stepping out into a lightning storm. I was more nervous than I likely should have been, but with good reason.
Though my mom had mercifully attended my wedding—I would have been crushed if she’d declined the invitation—I hadn’t seen her since. And hell, I didn’t see her much at the wedding, either. She’d accepted my new life, but that didn’t mean she respected it yet. I got the feeling that we still had a few repairs to make to our bridge and I hoped that this visit would help do that.
“Stop stressing,” Brendon chided.
I glanced over at him, arms crossed. “I’ll stress if I want.”
“It won’t help.”
&nbs
p; “You don’t know that.”
“I do know that,” he said, taking his eyes from the road just long enough to trap me in his judicious gaze. “I also know you, and I know that you’re prone to spiraling which I think we can all agree is not good for you.”
I sighed and turned in my seat, staring into the back of the car. Fiona was sleeping soundly in her car seat. Her tiny face was all squished up and wrinkled beneath her shock of red hair, and I indulged the urge to reach back and stroke my finger over her cheek. She was as soft as cashmere.
“How’s she doing back there?” Brendon asked.
“Sleeping like…well, like a baby.” I turned back to the front and watched as we passed by the sign welcoming us to Bridgefield. I turned to look back at Fiona again, staring for some time before Brendon finally questioned me.
“Whatcha doin’ there?”
I laughed. “I just can’t stop staring at her. She’s so beautiful.”
“I know how you feel.” The look he gave me was equal parts love and lust, and even after all this time I still blushed like a teenager.
I twisted back to front again. We were getting close to my mom’s place now. She was expecting us, so I knew that turning around and heading back into the city wasn’t an option. Not that Brendon would let me do that, anyway.
“What are you so worried about?” he asked. “I’m going to be there. Fiona’s going to be there. Your mom’s going to be way too distracted by the world’s cutest baby to harp on you about your life choices. We’re past all that.”
“I know, I know.” I sighed. “It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
I brushed my hands awkwardly over my jeans and looked down at them. “It’s just that… you’ve never been here before. I haven’t been back since I first left. I think I’m just worried that my perfect life is in a bubble, and something about this place is going to be the thing that pops it.”
“That’s ridiculous, baby.” Brendon snatched my hand out of his lap and squeezed it. His warm fingers easily eclipsed mine. I loved how big his hands were.
“Our life in New York does not exist in a bubble. It’s not something you can just pop like that. It’s real. It’s every bit as concrete as the sidewalks, and even if this place somehow managed to put a crack in it—which it won’t—cracks can be filled.”
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