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He took my hand and led me around the car, then opened the passenger side door for me. I grinned as I sat inside, then watched him hurry around the front to get in on his side.
Everything with Joshua had been excellent the past several months. After I put my insecurities to bed, I had been so much happier than before. I was a step closer to my dream of being a lawyer, and the support from my friends, who I’d also reconnected with, my family, and Joshua, I wasn’t sure I would have passed so quickly after being away for nearly two years.
I considered it a miracle.
“Here we are,” Joshua said after not too long.
It was close to the school, though I’d never noticed before, probably because I hadn't looked much at the world around me back then. It was a beautiful, small place with large front glass windows, brown interior with small tables seated for two placed outside and inside. As Joshua had said, the area looked pretty popular, I was almost worried we wouldn’t get a table, but a waiter saw us standing in the doorway and led us to a free one.
On the table were the menus. We picked them up, and I decided to indulge myself just this once. I picked something a little heavy and added a sweet drink and dessert. Joshua went along with me and ordered to match.
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to finish it all?” he asked after we’d placed our orders.
I giggled. “Don’t underestimate a girl’s appetite, Joshua. I’ve been holding back on food because I was anxious, you know? Besides, I don’t let myself eat like this all the time.”
The food arrived surprisingly fast. We didn’t even have much time to chat before the waiter was back with our orders. He set the food and drinks down, then made a short bowing nod.
“I’ll be back with your dessert later, sir, ma’am,” he said, then left.
I looked at the plate in front of me. The food looked so good; I could feel my mouth water. Impatiently, I picked up my fork, stabbed at some of the food, and brought it to my mouth. I paused for a second to take in the different flavors before I chewed, and I moaned.
“This is amazing,” I muttered, forking some more. “No wonder this place is so crowded. This area isn’t exactly lacking in eateries.”
Joshua tried some of his own. “It does taste good,” he said in agreement. “But try not to eat too fast, or you’ll choke, all right? And don’t moan, it’s distracting.”
I felt my cheeks warm in a blush when he mentioned it. I hadn't meant to do it; it just slipped out. The food tasted amazing. Though, it could have only been that I was so hungry that I thought it was close to the best thing I ever felt.
There wasn’t a lot of talking during lunch, and when dessert was brought over, I was sorely tempted to take some home with me.
In the end, I ate it all; then we had to wait for our new order to be packaged because I decided to take something home after all.
It wasn’t long before we were back in the car.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked. “My parents are going to want to see the papers.”
He glanced at me. “Trent is with Mom, so we’ll pick him up. Wendy might insist on a little something, but since we already ate, she won't force anything. Then, I can take you home later, and you can tell your parents the good news.”
I hummed. “It sounds like a good plan.”
I was so excited to get back home so I could tell them. With all the support they had given me, I wanted to show them the results of years of hard work to see their reactions.
The stop at his house didn’t take very long. As expected, Wendy tried to hold us back, but he quickly shut her down. While I wouldn’t say I was close with his mom, we were at least more relaxed around each other. It took barely twenty minutes before we were back in the car, with Joshua strapping Trent into his baby seat.
Watching the two of them together always made me smile, especially since Joshua always looked so happy around his son. Not to mention how the two of them looked like so much.
With Danny adequately strapped in, we got inside and put on our seatbelts. Then, Joshua drove us out of his family’s compound.
“There was…one more thing I wanted to talk to you about,” I said as he drove.
He threw a glance my way. “What is it?”
I hesitated. The past several months had proven that Joshua and I were very much still in love with each other. It was no longer a question of whether or not we would stay together, but when we would take the next step to our future.
After lots of thinking, I felt like I was ready now.
“I wanted to move back in with you,” I admitted after a minute. “I’ve been ready for a long time, and I already spend a lot of time there anyway. That is…if you’ll have me?”
While we were in college, before he had to move back home, we’d had a small apartment that we shared. It was nothing like his penthouse, but I had gotten used to it along with everything else.
