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The three of us arrived at my place with duffel bags full of our girl’s things. Shane had done his best to patch the hole in her wall, but until her landlord made a full repair, her apartment was open to pretty much whomever wanted in.
And while that was the case, Kealy certainly couldn’t stay there.
“Is the boy still up?” Shane asked when we arrived at my place.
I turned to his nanny, who put a finger to her lips to quiet us, and shook her head no.
“Sounds like he’s down for the count,” I said. “But we can always check in on him.” I gave the nanny cab fare and a hug goodnight. The woman was a godsend.
Kealy brightened up and said quietly, “Oh good, I want to see Joey. I want to see something innocent and beautiful.” She followed me to his bedroom.
My heart swelled as we looked down at my little man. He was sprawled on his back like little ones often did, with his head turned to the side. This showed off his profile of a tiny pug nose, double chin, and lips that fluttered with every exhale. Perfection.
When I watched him, I exploded with love. I mean, it broke my heart knowing he wouldn’t grow up experiencing his mother’s love. And even though he’d eventually ask questions about her dying, I was prepared to be the parent he needed and deserved. I pushed my sad feelings for him aside and thought how lucky we both were that Kealy had stumbled into our lives.
My only hope was that she stuck around, for not only me and Joey, but all the guys.
“Look at him!” Kealy exclaimed, gazing down at Joey. “Such a perfect thing to look at after today’s fiasco. Makes me remember there are good and beautiful things in the world.”
Yeah, I was also thinking of things good and beautiful. The Kealy kind of good and beautiful.
I turned to her. I’d been waiting all freaking evening. Shane stood just behind her in Joey’s dim bedroom.
“C’mon, baby. Let’s keep Joey asleep so we can have some adult fun.”
She gave me the sexiest freaking smile and took my hand.
Hell, yeah.
She turned to Shane and took his hand, too. We both followed her out of Joey’s room, back to my living room.
“Sit down,” she said, gesturing at the sofa.
We weren’t fools. We followed her instructions.
“I want to thank you two for all your help this evening. It’s been hard, and will continue to be for a while, but you’re making it more than bearable. In fact, I’ve nearly forgotten about my losses. Now that I’m out of that apartment with the hole in the wall, I’m not sure I really lost anything. Well, not anything of value, anyway.”
“I love it, baby. You are fucking tough,” Shane said, his Irish accent making him sound extra badass.
Personally, I couldn’t be with someone who wasn’t resilient, just like Shane couldn’t. Life threw shit your way no matter who you were, and there were two kinds of people. Those who got up again and those who didn’t.
And I knew which club we all belonged to.
