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His last words should’ve frightened me, but they didn’t. Andthatscared me even more.
“Imagine what it would be like for this baby,” Elliot smiled. “Surrounded on all sides with so much love.”
Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes. I tried rubbing them away, but they only seemed to multiply.
“You loved your mother?” he asked abruptly.
I nodded slowly. “Yes. With all my heart.”
“Be amotherto this baby then,” he whispered. “Not just a surrogate.”
His arms slid around me and I melted into him. Long seconds went by, and the seconds turned into minutes. I was crying now, and the tears wouldn’t stop. For the first time I welcomed them, letting them flow. Soaking his shirt until I was cheek to flesh with his hard, warm chest, as he held me tightly in the morning silence.
“By now I know you better than you know yourself,” Elliot said, rocking me.
A tiny smile cracked through my tears. “You do, huh?”
“Just as I know your keys are probably in your jacket pocket.”
Reaching in, my hand fumbled around for a moment. But I knew, even before my palm closed over them, that they were there.
“You’re an asshole,” I laughed and cried at the same time, into his chest. “Anyone ever tell you that?”
Elliot patted my back, gently.
“Lots of times.”
Fifty-Four
JORDYN
“But shouldn’t we wait for him?” I asked. “I mean, it’s only a couple more days.”
Aiden and Connor pulled me along silently, guiding me through the bedroom wing of the mansion. Up until yesterday the area beyond their doors had a cacophony of noise and construction activity, sealed with a zip-wall plastic barrier. Today was the first day it was finally gone.
“It doesn’t feel right, seeing the nursery without him,” I said. “I can totally wait.”
“But he wants you to see it now, love,” said Connor. “He told us himself.”
“That’s true,” said Aiden. “Besides, the way things are going he might not be back for another several days.” Apparently noticing my mouth open in concern, he added: “Don’t worry. That’s a good sign.”
Down the hall we went, and through a door. Or at least, it felt like a door. Being blindfolded at the beginning of this trek, I’d started to lose track.
“Aren’t we a little far from the bedrooms?” I asked, concerned.
“Nah.”
“I mean, you need to hear the baby, right? It seems like we’ve been walking way too long.”
“It just feels that way because you can’t see,” said Connor.
A dozen steps later, we made a turn. Then another. Now I was thoroughly confused.
“A little more,” said Aiden. “Almost there.”
His last words echoed, as if we’d entered a much larger area. A smell reached my nostrils. One so familiar, so easily identifiable, I felt almost ridiculous that I couldn’t put my finger on it right away.
“Ready?”
