At the office, Alex was immediately swamped with requests and questions from his staff. Autumn wanted to know why the loading times had fallen apart again. Dennis had questionsabout the code style. The marketing team was on his back about how to spin the delayed release in a positive way. The finance team wanted to report on the lost profits in the last few weeks. A few investors had called to ask how they were handling the situation.
Alex did everything that he needed to, and he did it well. He always did. Yet throughout the day, he couldn’t get the image of Grace on that exam table, holding his hand and looking up at him with big green eyes, out of his mind. That image was followed by others: Grace cradling a baby with his eyes and her smile. Grace comforting a toddler. Grace pushing their son and daughter on a swing set.
She was going to make a good mother. Whatever else she’d done, he knew that.
So, around five, he delegated his few remaining tasks to trusted employees and left to pick up takeout to drop off at her house.
CHAPTER 16
GRACE
Grace nervously paced the floor of her small apartment. In the center of the living room, several large boxes stared at her. She knew that they contained a double crib, a changing table, high chairs, and other items that Alex had ordered from the list they’d put together.
And now Alex himself was coming here. To her tiny apartment. To help her assemble baby furniture.
They’d met several times since the doctor’s appointment last week. He’d dropped off food that night, as he’d said he would, but Grace hadn’t invited him in. A few days later, they’d met at his apartment to discuss baby furniture and start a shopping list. Grace had struggled not to look at the bedroom where she’d spent the best night of her life with a man who’d turned out to be far more complicated than she’d thought. She’d left quickly, as soon as they were done with the logistics.
Now, Alex was going to be here. Here! In her small apartment with mismatched thrift-store furniture and the couch where she’d napped that afternoon when pregnancy exhaustion had overtaken her.
Just as Grace was about to force herself to take deep breaths, the doorbell rang. She hurried to open it and found Alex on her stoop with a friendly smile and a plastic bag in his hand.
“Hi, Grace,” he said.
“Hi.” Grace managed a smile. She had no idea how awkward this evening was going to be.
“How are you feeling?” Alex asked.
“I’m okay, thanks. The second trimester is treating me well. How are you?” She didn’t mention the tiredness or the nap.
“Fine.” Alex paused. “Even better if I could come in.”
“Right!” Grace stepped back to let him enter. As he did, she saw her apartment through his eyes: the little kitchen with no dishwasher and only two burners, the living room with just enough space for a small secondhand couch, the old posters Grace had bought from a thrift store and framed.
“Nice place,” he said. Grace squinted at him to see if he was joking, but he seemed serious. “I brought food.” He held up the bag. “Salad, in case you want something healthy. Chinese takeout, in case you don’t.”
“Maybe a little of both,” Grace suggested. She gestured at her small table, where they took seats across from each other as Alex handed out the food. For a few minutes, they ate in silence.
“How’s…” Grace trailed off. She didn’t know what to talk about with Alex anymore. They couldn’t chat about work. She already knew details of his childhood. There were only so many times they could say, “Wow, twins! Hard to believe it.” What else was there to discuss?
“How’s your mom?” Alex asked. Grace seized on the safe topic.
“She’s good. She’s taken up windowsill gardening. Last time I went over there, she had a bunch of herbs in old yogurt containers lined up by her kitchen window. She made me a very nice tabbouleh with some of the parsley.”
Alex smiled. “Good for her.”
“Well, for now. I’m worried it’s going to expand until she’s growing carrots and beets in the sink.” Grace made a face to show that she was joking.
“Let’s hope not!”
They both laughed, then silence descended again. Grace picked at her vegetable stir-fry and salad.
“How are your parents?” she managed. “And your sister?”
“Kathryn is great,” Alex said. “She has two young daughters already, so she’s been showering me with parenting tips. ‘If you don’t know why the baby is crying, look for a hair tourniquet!’ ‘Set a reasonable curfew in high school and stand by it.’ She makes it all sound so intimidating.”
“You told her about me?” Grace asked, surprised.
“Of course. Although I may have left out a few select details.”
