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“You are,” I assured him.“But the baby,” I took his hand and put it on my stomach, “also has a twin sister.You’re going to be a big brother to twins.”
I could see the wheels turning in Ben’s head as he looked between us.Finally he spoke.“Twins?Like, two of them?”
“Yes,” Leo answered.“Two.”
“Two girls?”
Leo nodded, still serious.“Identical girls.”
“Like,twosisters?”He looked to me for clarification.I raised my eyebrows and nodded in agreement.“Whoa.”Ben shook his head and looked back to his dad.“We’re going to be totally outnumbered.”
For the next few minutes, we chatted and I caught Ben up with what the doctor had said, reassuring him that the babies were indeed fine.As we talked, he snuggled next to me on the small bed and pretty soon his eyes drifted shut.I looked to the clock over the door.It was after midnight.Ben’s birthday.
“It’s been a crazy day, hasn’t it?”I extended my arm to Leo.He wrapped his fingers through mine.
“You could say that,Mrs.Mendez.”
I lifted my left hand so I could see the ring he’d slid on my finger a few hours earlier.I hadn’t taken time to look at it closely.It was a simple silver band that looked vaguely familiar.He saw me looking and traced the ring with his hand.“I know it isn’t much,” he said.“It’s from the chapel.”
I swallowed a laugh.“Part of the Cherish the Moment package?”
“Exactly.I knew it would come in handy.But it’s only temporary.I’ll get you a new one.A better one.”
“No.”I shook my head.“It’s perfect.”
“It’ll turn your finger green.”
“I love it and everything it represents.It’s so Vegas.It’s so...us.”I looked into his eyes, suddenly overcome by how far we’d come from that first night all those years ago when we’d danced until our feet hurt and ate greasy burgers in a diner.The night Ben was conceived.And of course, all the years in between that led me back to Vegas and to Leo.Fate, or was it the city that had brought us back together again?Some people thought of Las Vegas as Sin City.Something to be feared, shunned, or at the very least, held to some type of sordid standard.Heck, for years I’d avoided it myself.Convinced it was a terrible place where only bad things happened despite all the good there’d been.But it wasn’t bad.How could it be?
I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath.In that moment with my husband and son, our unborn twins, healthy and tucked safely in my belly, I’d never felt more at peace and I knew what I needed to do.
“Leo?What you said earlier...about going back to Canada.”He nodded, but I shook my head.“No,” I said simply.He opened his mouth, but I wouldn’t give him a chance to say anything.“We’re staying here.Oasis is here and it’s such a good opportunity.”
“Lexi, I—”
“But it’s not just that.”The thoughts had been forming in my head almost from the moment we’d landed in Vegas, but it was only now that everything had become clear and I’d never felt more certain of anything in my life.“It’s everything,” I continued.“Look at our history.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” Leo said.“And that’s why I’m going to take you home.”
“But don’t you see.”I shook my head slightly.“We alreadyarehome.”
His mouth opened but nothing came out and he closed it again.His head tipped down so I couldn’t see his eyes.I waited him out and when he finally looked up, I could see his decision had been made, too.He placed a kiss on the back of my hand before he rose from his chair.He moved first to Ben, kissing him softly on his forehead, and then to my sheeted belly, which he kissed twice before his lips met mine in a slow, gentle kiss.When he pulled away, our eyes connected.“You’re right,” he said quietly, his voice choking on emotion.“Wearehome.”
