by Alexa Woods
“Really?” Laney sat up now too.
“Really.” Morgun extended her hand like an olive branch and Laney took it. Her fingers tucked into Laney’s exactly the way she remembered. Like a perfect fit.
“Will you give me another chance? Will you let me learn and grow with you? That can be exclusive of this crazy idea I have about work.”
“I’d like to do it all. I think we’d be good together. And I already know that we’d work well, even though I haven’t seen the photos yet. Just remind me to stop you from chasing after black and white cats.”
Laney realized she was grinning, but she only clued into that because her face suddenly hurt. “You are too nice. Really. You’re the best person I’ve ever met. I’m sorry that I wasn’t even a quarter of your equal. I promise I will never abuse your kindness or your trust. And thank you. For being so patient. And so understanding. And for just…all of it.”
“Thank you for asking me. I wouldn’t have texted you or called you, you know. I was hoping you’d change your mind, but I knew that only you could do that. I couldn’t make it happen, as much as I wanted to try. And I did want to try. I thought about it endlessly. So, thank you for ending that. It was brutal.”
“I’m sorry I started it.”
Morgun’s fingers twisted in hers and grasped tight. “It’s okay.” She glanced towards the counter where James was hovering, clearly listening to everything they were saying. “Should we get an overly sweet latte, who our wonderful barista dude is going to make not so sweet this time, because everyone has room for improvement and learning, and should we take a walk and talk about what an amazing new photography business is going to look like?”
“I’d like that. Even the latte. And I hate the lattes here.”
They stood up at the same time and Laney pulled Morgun into her arms. Right in front of James, she planted a sensual kiss on Morgun’s lips. She kissed her with enthusiasm, but tenderly too. She wasn’t ever going to hide her affection for Morgun again. Not from herself. Not from anyone else.
When they broke away, they found James blushing.
“That was nice,” he said. “I’m glad it worked out for you guys. I mean girls. Congrats.”
“Thanks, James,” Laney laughed. “Now, can we please have two lattes?”
“Half sweet, and by half sweet, can we get them like a quarter as sweet as the last ones?” Morgun asked, all sweetness herself.
James grinned. “Two not so sweet lattes, which I’ll probably manage to still screw up because I’m shit at this job even though I do enjoy it, coming right up.”
Laney and Morgun turned to each other while James was making their drinks. Laney hadn’t dropped her arm away from Morgun’s waist and she kept her tucked at her side. “I don’t like this place that much,” Laney admitted. “But I’ll always keep coming here, because now it’s special.”
“I don’t like it either, but that sounds perfect to me. The best.”
Epilogue
Morgun
Morgun couldn’t wait for Laney’s mom to open her gift. They’d told Morgun’s family their news the week before, but they thought it would be most fitting to save telling Laney’s for Helena’s birthday dinner.
Jason and Natasha were there with their two-year-old little girl, Anna. She was totally adorable and Morgun suspected that any day Natasha and Jason would announce they’d be adding another addition to their family. It wasn’t a secret that they were trying for another baby.
“What’s this? You don’t have to get your mother presents at this age,” Helena protested as Laney handed over the gift bag.
“Just open it,” Laney insisted. “You’ll like it.”
Natasha and Jason crowded around. Tom scooped up Anna and held her in his arms. She clung to the beard that he’d grown out. It was her favorite, burying her face in Pappy’s bushy, soft, salt and pepper facial hair.
“Okay, then.” Helena capitulated with a laugh. “But you really shouldn’t have.”
Morgun waited. She could hardly contain herself and it was hard not to smile and give it all away. Luckily, Laney’s mom wasn’t looking at either of them. She was focused on the bag. She pulled out first a lotion and lip balm set, then a bag with loose leaf tea. Laney loved the lotion. She used it all the time, and the tea was Morgun’s favorite. She kept going, producing a blouse that Laney picked out and a pair of slippers Morgun thought she would like. She thought she’d reached the end of the bag, but Laney encouraged her.
“Keep going. There’s a card at the bottom.”
“Oh! I should have read that first.”
“We didn’t want it to get lost, so we put it in the very bottom,” Laney said, grinning so widely it was amazing that Helena didn’t catch on.
She reached into the gift bag and pulled out the card. It was a birthday card, with a picture of a goofy, grinning dog with big eyes on the front. When Helena opened the card, she gasped as a series of black and white pictures fell out.
Her hands flew to her mouth and she turned to them in amazement. “Really? Are you really?”
Laney kept her composure and nodded emphatically. She had tears in her eyes, even though her smile was still huge. “Yes. We’re having a baby.”
“A baby!” Helena said it with wonder. It was clear she had never thought it would become a reality.
“You’re going to be a grandma again,” Laney said.
“Oh my God!” Helena let out a happy scream and burst out of her seat at the table. She’d opened her gifts right after they were done eating. She threw her arms around Laney, who hugged her mom back just as hard. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” Helena shouted. “When?”
Laney laughed and pulled back. “Five months. That’s all you’ll have to wait.”
Helena came for Morgun next and engulfed her in a massive hug as well. Morgun laughed and shed a few happy tears along with Laney’s mom.
“If you look at the photos, you’ll find out if it’s a boy or girl,” Laney prompted.
Natasha and Jason and Tom all stood back with big smiles on their faces, waiting for their turns to offer congratulations. Helena grabbed her card with the photos and studied them for a minute. She blinked. Raised her head. Looked back down. She was clearly puzzled, but then it finally registered.
“Twins?” she gasped. “Oh my God, twins?”
Laney nodded and Morgun set a hand on her belly. There was just the slightest bump starting there. Before the fourth month, she couldn’t even tell she was pregnant, but now, because she knew, she could see it.
Helena let out another happy squeal and hugged Laney again. Morgun knew that it was all worth it. They’d done in vitro before they’d been married the year before. Laney and Morgun would never tell anyone that the first round hadn’t worked and that, sadly, Morgun had miscarried just a month into her pregnancy the second time. It was heartbreaking and discouraging, but the doctors had assured them there was no reason they couldn’t have a healthy pregnancy. The third time, finding out they were pregnant with twins was a happy shock. They were worried something would happen and were afraid to hope, but every doctor’s visit and ultrasound proved to them that everything was fine, and their babies were healthy and growing as they should be.
“Twins,” Tom let out a loud bellow of surprised laughter. “Wow! That’s a heck of a surprise.”
“We were surprised too,” Morgun said. “And happy.”
“Congratulations,” Natasha said warmly, and she and Jason joined in on the round of hugs.
“Anna, you’re going to have two new cousins,” Jason told his daughter. Anna probably didn’t understand fully what that meant, but she laughed and smiled along with the rest of them.
“Twins,” Helena breathed. “I can hardly believe it! Here I thought you’d never give me grandchildren and then…twins!”
“I’m sure you held out hope. You bothered me enough about it,” Laney said.
They all shared a laugh about that, because everyone knew it wa
s what brought Laney and Morgun together.
“We’ll help you out,” Helena promised. “As much help as you need! Twins are a lot of work!”
“It will be, but since we own our own company, we can adjust our appointments and take the time we need. Morgun will take the year off. She’ll do whatever editing she can, but we’ve already started scaling back, and then we’ll see.”
“I’m going to miss it. A year is probably all I can handle without doing any photos. Although, I’ll sneak in a few sessions when I can,” Morgun said. They still had to work out the details, but Morgun was definitely taking the full year off. She didn’t want to have to feel pressured about work or worry about it when she had two brand new babies. Her life would be full enough with twins, but it was still hard to think about stopping photography altogether, even just for a brief time.
“I’ll babysit for you anytime!” Helena confirmed, and they all laughed. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that she would indeed come running whenever they called.
“And of course, you’ll have a thousand opportunities to pick up the camera. Those babies will be the most photographed children ever,” Tom joked.
“That’s true,” Morgun agreed. “They’ll probably get photos done every single day. That would actually be kind of neat, to put a video together with a photo of every day of the first year of their lives to watch how they’ve changed.”
“We’ll do that!” Laney grasped onto the idea and immediately got excited about it.
“Twins,” Helena exclaimed again. “Well! This is quite a birthday!”
Morgun submitted to another huge hug and watched Laney do the same. She thought about how much their lives had changed over the past years and it made her flush with pleasure.
She loved being a part of Laney’s family. She loved that since that day in the coffee shop, Laney had indeed been one hundred percent committed to their relationship. They’d stared their business together. They were one of those unique couples who could both work together and date each other and never get sick of each other’s company. Within the first year, Morgun had moved into Laney’s condo, so they lived and worked together. They still never got sick of each other. Ever.
Right after moving in together, they had adopted two senior cats. A bonded pair from a local rescue. Bella and Billy were the most adorable old tabbies around. Probably the most spoiled cats too. Laney and Morgun still went once a week to visit Mrs. Johnson. Sadly, Chester had passed on, but Mrs. Johnson now also had a pair of bonded senior cats. They were seventeen and sixteen years old and still going strong. The cookies and tea still had hair in it, but Morgun and Laney never even thought about complaining.
Chelsea was the first person Morgun told about the pregnancy. Her best friend knew about her other struggles in getting pregnant and about the miscarriage, and she’d been there for both her and Laney all along that hard road, and now through the wonders of this one. Chelsea was the reason that Morgun and Laney were even together. They’d had a very small wedding with no wedding party, but Laney had invited James along to witness for her, and Morgun’s witness had been Chelsea. Now, Chelsea couldn’t wait to be an auntie.
Morgun knew she was beyond blessed and this was just the start of all the good things to come. She and Laney had their business. They had their friends and family behind them. Now they were going to have their own family. Not one, but two little babies to love and dote on and chase around. It was going to be crazy and busy and they were probably going to be very sleep deprived, but life couldn’t be better. It really, really couldn’t.
All the hugs, the tears, the laughter, the smiles, all the love in that room just proved it.
THE END
Thank you for reading!
Also by Alexa Woods
Finding Her Treasure
The Matchmaker’s Choice
About Alexa Woods
Alexa Woods is a romance author living a quaint life in Massachusetts. After a lifetime of creating stories in her head, Alexa decided to write them down and share them with her readers. Her novels are about strong and fascinating women finding their happily ever afters.
When she's not writing, she is an avid reader of lesbian books or spending time with her family, her troublemaking dog, and her sphinx cat that surely thinks he's a dog, too
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