“It’s okay,” she says as she entwines our hands together. “I won’t kick you off if you try to hug me.”
My heart stammers at her words. I’m a very touchy-feely person when it comes to Maya, I always have been. We can be at opposite ends of the bed, and in the morning, I’ll be curled around her with her head tucked into my chest.
Maya takes a quick glance at Skye in her cot before pulling back her bedsheets. I stand there staring like an idiot until she pats the mattress.
“Come on,” she whispers. “Skye’s fast asleep and probably won’t be for long, so I’d hurry up if I were you.”
I strip myself of my T-shirt and remove my trousers until I’m in nothing but a pair of blue boxers. Maya rests her head against the pillow as she watches me climb into bed beside her.
Once I touch the soft sheets and pull them up and over my shoulder, I release a breath of satisfaction. We both watch each other for a while, and I’m not entirely sure why. Probably because it’s the first time in months we’ve shared the same bed.
“Goodnight, sunshine,” I whisper.
Maya’s eyes flutter shut as a ghost of a smile lingers on her lips. “Goodnight, Finn.”
I reach behind me to find the switch for the lamp until the room is cloaked in darkness. My head settles back into thepillow as I listen to Maya’s very quiet breathing. She’s probably exhausted from her social battery running low after the party.
That’s one thing I remember vividly, one moment she’d be the life and soul of the party, the next she’d be begging to go get food and head home. Those were the early stages of our relationship, when I wasn’t getting as blackout drunk.
My heart aches when I think how many days with Maya I ruined because I wanted to get fucked up rather than spending quality time with the woman I loved. I missed so much. Days I’ll never be able to get back. And she still stuck beside me.
I inhale sharply as my hand moves forward. I freeze when it touches her fingers, and the desperation inside me to hold them is nearly agonising. Without a second thought, I entwine our hands together and raise them to my lips to kiss her knuckles tenderly.
“What was that for?” Maya grumbles through her sleepy voice.
My mouth twitches as I was expecting her to be fast asleep. “For being you.”
She snorts. “What does that even mean?”
“You’ve saved me in ways you don’t even understand.”
Maya says nothing in response.
I sigh when her breathing pattern changes—now she’s asleep.
“And I’ll never find anyone like you,” I murmur against her knuckles.
The room falls back to silence, and I attempt to close my eyes and join her in sleep, but instead I savour the moment, lying beside the woman of my dreams, our hands clasped and our baby a few feet from us.
It might be unconventional, but it feels right. As if my heart is finally starting to heal the gaping hole that tore through the middle. It might be stupid of me to pray for an ending where we’re all together, but I won’t give up on her.
Especially when she never gave up on me.
I close my eyes and hold Maya’s hand until I drift off to sleep.
At some pointin the night, Skye starts to cry.
Maya immediately groans and rolls around in the sheets. Before she has the chance to swing her legs over the bed, I stop her, and she glances back at me through the darkness.
“I’ll do it,” I whisper.
She blinks at me through crusty eyes. “No, it’s okay. I’ve got it.”
“Sunshine,” I murmur. “I’ve got it. Go back to sleep.”
Her brows pinch. “You sure?”
“Positive.”
