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"10:30 am works for me too! I'll see you then. Thank you so much!"
She ended the call, shaking out the jitters from trying to act natural. Why is acting natural so exhausting?
Honestly, Melody thought she would be unemployed for the entire year after her spontaneous decision. That would have been tough, but they would have been okay. Everything always works out the way it is meant to.
She meets Graham's curious stare with a wide smile. "I have my interview today!" She couldn't hold in her excitement, so she squealed like a small child. But the weights just kept lifting off her shoulders, and her emotions were starting to overwhelm her.
"That's fantastic, gorgeous. I’m so happy for you." Graham comes around the island to embrace her, kissing her gently.
“I’m sure Mami can watch the little man while you go to your interview and apartment shopping. Let me call her."
He moves to pat Ollie's head, then grabs his phone from the charging dock. Heading back to his room. "Hey, Ma." She hears as he goes further into his room, rummaging through his things.
"I like it here, mom."
"I know, sweetheart, I do too. Let's get your things ready; maybe you can visit Grandma Rosa and Tia Marisol today while Mommy goes to her interview." She was confident in the role she plays in education, having finally figured out how to find the balance she needed, but the trepidation was still there. She had been with the same school in the same district for over six years, and starting over was still daunting.
"Alight, who's ready to go to Abuelitas?" Graham comes out of the room, the clinic polo stretched across his chest, tucked into his slacks. He is wearing an arm sleeve, hiding his beautiful ink from the world— what a shame. However, a few little musical notes still peek out of the top of his collar. Knowing that he found her worthy to have her permanently etched onto his skin was a heady feeling.
Graham saunters up to her with that arrogant smirk on his face that she absolutely loves. He captures her face with his hands.
"Having you here is like a dream. Please tell me you're real, that you're really here." His whisper is barely audible as he buries his face in her neck, breathing her in. “Tell me I can keep you this time.”
His stubble tickles her neck, and she gives herself wholly into the feeling. Gently laying her hands on his chest, she pushes him back, angling her face up to look into his eyes, shining bright with emotion.
"I'm here." She brings up his hands to touch her arms. "Can you feel me? I am not going anywhere." She smiles.
He takes control then, pulling her out of the chair and into his arms, squeezing her hips and bringing her flush to his body. "I feel you. Can you feel me?" He whispers into her ear, nipping it playfully. She can feel his growing erection right at her belly, and she melts right into him.
"Mommy, I can't find my shoes." They pull apart abruptly. How did she forget he was here? She could easily get lost in him, his voice and scent intoxicating, calling to her.
"I think they are in the truck, buddy; let me go check," Graham says, adjusting himself. "Why do they make these pants so tight? Gotta get a bigger size." He grumbles as he walks out.
She shakes her head in disbelief. If anyone had told her, six years ago, that she would be right here, in this house, with this man and a small child—one that they made together. She would have laughed right in their face.
Look at her now, fighting to stay, fighting to make a place for her and her son.
Fighting for her own happiness.
She gets her things together just as Graham comes back inside. The little crocs dwarfed in his giant hands as he eats the distance between them easily. His stride confident and sure.
"Found ‘em." He announces a smile of pure triumph on his face. It's perfect. The perfect moment. The perfect smile. The perfect time.
With all this perfection going on, Melody can't help but wonder when the other shoe will drop.
Graham
___________
He wasn’t ready to leave them yet, wasn’t ready to be apart after so many years.
Taking a peek at Melody, smiling happily and singing a morning song with Oliver, he impulsively makes the decision to be a little late; he is never late. Always the first one at the clinic, always at least 30 minutes before his first patient, but he couldn't tear himself away.
He wants to be in their presence just a little longer.
After having a third cup of coffee at his mom's, he is finally forced to leave. Pulling into the parking lot at the clinic, Graham startles. He was so lost in thought throughout his drive to work that he hadn’t realized that he made it to the parking lot, even parking in his spot automatically.
Graham had been admiring the ease at which Melody and Oliver interact, the casual touches, the little nuances between mother and child and how easily they integrated him and his family into their lives.
