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I nod. “I bought some a couple of weeks ago when I was at the store. I meant to tell you but I guess it slipped my mind. But yeah, they’re in the medicine cabinet. We can check right now.”
Her eyes glitter with the onset of tears, even as her smile spreads joyously across her face. “We can’t get our hopes up, Bennet. I know you want this more than anything, the same way I do. Oh my God… can you imagine, a little baby already? This time next year we could be feeding him or her, playing with them, waking up to the sound of their crying and… and a life, Bennet, that’s part of us, both of us…”
She can hardly speak through the emotion.
I know I should remind her she doesn’t want to get her hopes up, but her enthusiasm is infectious. “Just think. We find out you’re pregnant the same day your writing journey truly begins…”
She sobs and falls against me, hot tears soaking the thin material of my T-shirt.
“We have to know for sure,” I tell her.
After softly kissing the top of her head, I stride through the house and get the pregnancy test. I return to find Rory standing with her hands in front of her, twisting them together as though needing a distraction.
Handing her the test, our fingers touch, our smiles mirroring each other.
“I won’t be long.”
She walks into the bathroom and I pace up and down the hallway, warning myself not to hope too deeply, cautioning myself we’ve already been given so much, and not to get greedy.
But it doesn’t matter what I try to tell myself. The words ring hollow, meaningless.
Finally, she throws the door open, taking a few shaky steps into the corridor.
My stomach sinks when she bursts into tears, rushing over and throwing herself against me. She hits me with full force, crashing into me as her arms wrap around my body.
I hold her tight, running my hand over her hair, softly whispering. “It’s okay. We’ve got so much time, Rory. All the time in the—”
“It was positive,” she gushes, looking up at me, and suddenly I realize those are happy tears. “We’re going to have a baby, Bennet.”
“Are you serious?” My voice shakes as I try to contain the emotion overwhelming me. “Really?”
She grins and her whole face lights up. “I’m serious.”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
I cheer and pick her up, spinning her around and around as she giggles. Putting her down, I hug her tightly, knowing I’ll always protect her, always protect our family, for the rest of our lives.
Extended Epilogue
One Year Later
Rory
“Peekaboo.”
Colleen looks up at me as I remove my hands, her lips twitching into a smile. I laugh and reach down, softly running my fingers over her cheek, savoring the feeling of her warm skin.
It still amazes me that she came from me, this perfect little bundle, named after one of my favorite authors of all time. When we found out she was going to be a girl, the name just came to me, rising in my mind until I knew it belonged to our daughter.
Outside, the sun has set and a warm glow infuses the house. Mom and dad are coming to sit for Colleen soon, the first time I will have been apart from her since she was born.
My husband and I are going on a date, and my belly is bubbling with so much excitement I can hardly take it.
“Be good for grandma and grandpa, okay?” I whisper, leaning down and tenderly kissing her forehead.
I feel tears trying to rise to my eyes, but they always come from joy and hope, never tinged with the fear I felt when my husband and I first got together… fear that we might never work out, that he might not want me, or dad wouldn’t approve.
Well, it has worked out.
He does want me.
And even if it took some time, dad definitely approves. He was there when I gave birth to Colleen, tears in his eyes as he walked slowly into the room and stared down at her in awe.
“You’re a grandad,” I told him, he cleared his throat, pawing at his cheeks, getting the closest to crying I’ve ever seen him.
I turn at the sound of Bennet, my heart fluttering as I greedily take in the sight of him in his dark blue suit. He’s shaved for the occasion, and his eyes flood with heat as he stares at me.
“How do I look?” I ask.
“Amazing,” he growls. “Like always. But especially so tonight.”
I’m wearing a black dress, similar to the one I wore for my eighteenth birthday and for our first date. Okay, this one is a tad bigger, because babies will do that to a girl…
But if anything, it seems like Bennet wants me more since having the baby. His eyes never leave mine, his lips twisting in a feral possession grin.
