“You rented two suites?” I tried to sit up.
“Lisa, don’t worry about it, please.” He eased me back down onto the bed and into his arms.
“Fine,” I sighed.
“I have a present for you.” His voice was a low whisper. I picked my head up to look at him. He looked nervous.
"It better not be an expensive present." I narrowed my eyes at him, and his face broke into a wide grin.
“I didn’t pay for this one.”
I sat up so he could lean over the bed and pull a velvet box out of the pocket of his jeans, crumpled in a pile on the floor.
“That doesn’t look like a specimen cup.”
"You said you weren't ready for the specimen cup." He kissed my nose, and I smiled. Cole sat up and tucked me into his side. He was staring at the jewelry box.
“This was my mother’s.”
"Beverly?" I asked. As soon as the word left my lips, I knew I was wrong. Instead of correcting myself, I placed my hand on his heart. It was racing.
“I found it when I was going through her stuff from Missouri. I think she would’ve wanted you to have it. It feels crazy to say this, but I think my mother has been pushing us together somehow.”
He told me about his mother's accident happening the same night we met and reminded me about using her favorite song to sing CJ to sleep. Crystal's urn was sharing a shelf with my mother's books in Beverly's office and of course, all of the crazy mishaps that ended with me becoming CJ's nanny. I pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth and laid my head on his shoulder, gazing at the box. He sat quietly for a moment, turning it over in his hand.
"Thank you for not moving into the apartment when I asked. You knew I wasn't ready."
“Oh, Cole. I—” He interrupted me with a kiss and placed one of my hands on his cheek.
“You’ve given me so much. I don’t even know what I could give you as a gift that could compare.”
He opened the box. It was a delicate yellow gold chain with a small charm that looked like a scrolling filigree pattern.
“It’s two Ls.” He carefully lifted it out of the box and held it up for my inspection.
“For you and CJ?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you find out why…your mother named you both Lincoln?”
He nodded and smiled.
“Well, are you gonna tell me?”
"I'd rather show you when the time is right." He kissed me. "Do you like the necklace?"
"I love it." I gathered my hair on top of my head and turned my back to him so he could put it on. His soft lips pressed a kiss to my shoulder when he finished, and I leaned back and snuggled into his arms again.
“Are you spending the night?” I traced the pad of my middle finger over the scrolling design of my Christmas present.
“I can’t. I have a meeting with Susan first thing in the morning. She wants to go over every detail one last time before the hearing.”
“So when are you leaving?” I could already feel the tears coming.
“In an hour.” He rolled over and kissed my shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“Would I be an asshole if I asked you to stay with me?” I smiled at him.
