“True.” Grace considered. “’Please welcome Leo Boden-Medson, our valedictorian, to the stage!’”
“‘Ella Boden-Medson,’” Alex continued in a deep, commanding voice, “‘do you accept the office of president of the United States?’”
“It works,” Grace said happily. “It really does. And I’m looking forward to raising our future president.”
“Me too,” Alex agreed. “Or will we have the first twin presidents? EllaandLeo?”
“The dream team,” Grace said. “Or they’ll serve consecutive terms for a total of sixteen wonderful years in office.”
“Perfect.”
They met each other’s gazes and laughed.
“Maybe we’re dreaming too big,” Grace said.
“No matter what our kids do, we’ll be proud of them,” Alex said. “Whether they’re CEOs or presidents or surgeons…”
Grace whacked his arm again. “Or anything else. We’ll be proud of them no matter what.”
“We will,” Alex agreed. “I just hope we can do right by them.”
“We will,” Grace echoed. “We can do this.”
“We can do this,” Alex repeated. They met each other’s eyes and smiled again. Grace found that it was hard to look away from Alex’s bright blue eyes. And she didn’t want to.
“Should we have a snack?” Alex suggested suddenly. “Brainstorming names is hard work.”
“You know it,” Grace agreed. “What would you like?”
“No, no. I’ll get it. You rest up. Keep growing Ella and Leo.”
“Sounds good.”
Grace sat back as Alex went into the kitchen. She heard him rustling around and smiled as she imagined what he was finding for them. Then she took a deep breath.
Just because they were planning a future together was no excuse for the feelings growing in her heart. The more time she spent with Alex, the more time shewantedto spend with him. And the less she wanted him to leave. It was getting harder and harder to say goodbye.
And it was getting easier and easier to imagine that they could have some kind of future. Maybe as friends and coparents. Maybe as something more. She could almost imagine Alex holding her hand or pushing her hair behind her ear, the small gestures of affection he’d made during their one evening together. Or perhaps even sliding his hands into her hair and kissing her, gently and deeply, as though she were precious. As though?—
“Carrot sticks and M&Ms,” Alex announced as he returned from the kitchen, breaking Grace’s train of thought. It was a good interruption, because her thoughts had been going someplace they shouldn’t.
“Why that combination?” Grace asked as she made room. Hopefully, Alex didn’t notice her slightly flushed cheeks.
“I thought you might want something healthy. And I thought you might want a treat.” Alex smiled as he popped a piece of candy into his mouth.
“Excellent guesses,” Grace said, taking a carrot stick in one hand and a handful of candy in the other.
“Please don’t eat those together,” Alex said, his expression apprehensive. Grace laughed.
“My pregnancy cravings are weird, but notthatweird.”
“More like peanut-butter-and-pickles weird?” Alex asked.
“No, more like a lot of mints still.” Alex had been bringing her a tin of mints at least once a week, and Grace was going through them as fast as he could bring them. “And the other night I was desperate for a mango. So desperate that I ended up driving all around town trying to find an open grocery store that sold themand wound up drinking a mango juice from a gas station. It was not the same.”
“You should have called me,” Alex said. “I would have gotten you a fresh mango.”
“Sure, because I’m sure you’d have liked to be summoned to my apartment at two a.m. to find fresh fruit for me.”
