Page 120 of The Doctors Will See You Now

I smiled. “Of course. I love you too, Gigi. You and Julia and this little angel are my world.”

Her smile turned watery. “I know. And you’re a huge part of ours too. And that’s why I hope you’ll forgive me for doing this.”

“For doing what?” I asked, and Melody stood up straight like a rod. I could see her body out of the corner of my eye.

Georgia reached out and stilled my hands at her stomach, gentling her voice cautiously. “I’m not in labor.”

My eyebrows shot together. “What do you mean, you’re not in labor?”

“I mean…I faked it.”

“You what?” Melody said at a near shout.

Georgia’s face pinched, the absolute picture of anxious as she fast-talked to explain.

“I’m sorry. I know it was a really terrible thing to do to both of you, but I just want you together so bad, and you weren’t talking at all… and…and I’m about to have this baby, and I can’t deal with all of this discord…and now that Melody is my friend, I can’t be objective…and the two of you have been stupid, and you need to talk.” She gasped for air, and my eyes widened.

“Good God, that’s a lot of information,” I remarked as I got my bearings.

Melody stood beside her, breathing heavy and looking directly at me, and the pressure of it all came crushing down.

I turned my back to both of them, covering my eyes and trying not to lose my mind. My body didn’t know how to cope with the mix of emotions. Frantic that Georgia had faked labor, relieved like all hell that she and the baby were okay, and crazily enough, even hopeful that I might actually have a chance to sort things out with Melody. All of it banged and swirled as my adrenaline crashed, and the sudden change in my chemical makeup made me feel like I might pass out.

Understandably, with all of that going on inside me, I didn’t notice when Melody reached forward and pulled the tongue depressors out of my pocket. Only half of the stick fit inside, so the other half was sticking out, and my little mental breakdown had given her enough time to notice them.

“What are these?” she asked from behind me. The tremor in her voice made my heart jump as I turned around.

“Mel…”

“What are these?” she repeated, angry tears now moistening the whites of her eyes.

Now or never, Will.

Georgia, the little schemer, nodded encouragingly behind Mel’s back. I didn’t have to speak out loud for her to know what I was thinking.

“Will,” Melody called, demanding my attention by shaking the tongue depressors almost violently. “I asked…what are these?”

Finally, I sighed, shrugging out a hand at the stupid things. “What do they look like?”

Georgia pursed her lips and shook her head rapidly behind her.

Not a good start, you idiot.

“Sorry. I’ve just…been holding on to both of them for a while, I mean,” I corrected, softening my voice to something much more appealing.

“Why?” Melody questioned. “What were they for?”

“Well…” I paused. “That one” —I gestured to the one in her left hand that read Open wide! Everything you’re looking for is already inside of you— “is the first one I ever wrote for you. Before the bouquet, before the first date…right after you turned me down, actually. I found it in my desk the other day.” I laughed with a little self-deprecation. “I wrote it for you, but I never realized I might need it for me.”

“For you,” she stuttered. “Why’d you need it?”

“I thought it was obvious,” I muttered. She shook her head.

I stepped forward and grabbed her hands as I said my next words. “Mel, I love you. Don’t you know I’ve been lost without you?”

I’ve been lost without you.

God, I knew the feeling.