AllFreeNovel
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The last one is a big stretch, but I nod. “The doctors will call us with any updates. But if you’d like, we can visit the hospital to check on her ourselves.”
She shakes her head. “No. We’ll wait for the call, and in the meantime, we can spend the day with the kids. You mentioned to Caleb that we would be going to the park.”
“What if we buy a bicycle for Cora?” I suggest.
“Am I an awful person for wanting to keep them with me? Look at Cora, she’s been neglected for years. I can’t stomach thinking Izzy will keep doing the same to them,” she admits and can’t hide the guilt in her face.
“Even if they leave eventually, we’ll still play a role in their lives. We’ll make sure she’s a good mother to them,” I reassure her, my hand finding hers. I lift our hands and brush a kiss over her knuckles. “However, this goes, we’ll protect them and won’t lose them.”
“We’ll be okay,” she states. “All of us.”
I don’t understand if she’s talking about the four of us or her and the children. But I choose not to push her to decide my fate. Not today.
Her phone rings and she says, “I need to dress.” I walk toward the nightstand and read the name Gideon.
“Who the fuck is Gideon?” I ask out loud.
She rolls her eyes as if I’m being ridiculous.
“You can tell me to fuck off, Ame. However, I think it’s fair that you tell me the truth,” I state, clearing my throat. “Is this why . . .” I don’t know how to finish the question. “Are you two together?”
Ameline shakes her head. “No. He’s my best friend and roommate.”
“Friends with benefits?” I push a little further.
“Kind of. We have a symbiotic relationship, but the benefits aren’t sexual,” she emphasizes the last word. “He can’t live alone, but refuses to hire a nurse or go back to his family. And I need someone to pay for utilities and a few expenses.”
“And you couldn’t tell me that before because . . .?” I trail off hoping she’ll complete the sentence.
“I didn’t see the point then, Gabe,” she answers. “I was leaving and the less we shared the better. But now . . . A lot has changed in the past week. You finally opened up, and we know why things imploded between us. I’m an open book now. Are you?”
“Of course I am,” I reassure her. “So you and he weren’t together at all or anyone?”
She shakes her head. “Were you with anyone while we were broken up?”
I show her the ring as if telling her, ‘I’m taken, baby.’ And also grin because she’s saying that in the past tense. “Does this mean we’re back together?”
“It’s a work in progress,” she admits. “I think we should be doing a little more groveling, don’t you think?”
“You’ll be groveling too.”
She laughs, shaking her head and before she can answer, Cora calls us, “Bweafast is wedy.”
“I need to dress, but we can talk about this later,” she says, passing me and heading outside the room.
“Umm, you don’t have clothes on.”
“My clothes are in the guest room, where I’m heading to.”
“We should move them here,” I propose, but then say, “Actually, we should buy a new place. Move there with the kids and maybe have a couple more.”
Her eyes open wide. “You’re moving too fast, Decker.”
“Fine, we’ll find a pace that’s comfortable for us. In the meantime get dressed. Cora and I made muffins for breakfast—yours has chocolate chips.”
She gives me a quick peck on the lips and disappears, leaving me hopeful. Maybe last night wasn’t just about grief and it was the beginning of finding our way back to us.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
