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“I really love you,” he said. “I’ve always loved you.”
“And I’ve always loved you,” she echoed. “We belong together. And now that I know your love isn’t just from an emotional barrage of baby and the aftermath, I want to get married.”
She moved away from him, thoughtful. “I know I won’t need to say this again, but just to solidify it one more time. When Mike was alive, I loved you as a dear friend. But now that he’s gone, I know he’d want us together. All the feelings I had for you are still valid, but with Mike out of the picture, the chemistry is doing its work, and boy, is there a lot of chemistry.”
“Thank God,” he said, grinning. “And it was the same for me. I loved you because Mike did.”
“Mike always said he wished you would find someone to love. ‘Don’t you have a single nurse friend you can fix our buddy up with?’ But truthfully, I didn’t want to do that. I would have been jealous. It was like I had the attention of two great men, and I didn’t want to share it.”
“Did he know?”
“I think he did. He was never jealous of our friendship, either.”
“Sometimes it was difficult for me to be around you two,” Devon admitted. “Seeing how much you loved each other made the void in my life all the more apparent. When I dated anyone, it was only to negate the emptiness I felt when I saw that love you two had, and I thought,What’s the point of this?I had just told Lila the Friday before Mika was born that I had decided I was a confirmed bachelor.”
“Boy, nothing like watching someone giving birth in your bathtub to change a lifetime commitment.”
“Ha! Yes. After that, I wanted you two to be mine. I staked my claim right then.”
“Do you want to talk about adopting her yet?”
“Yes, absolutely. I want to adopt her,” Devon answered. “I want to keep Mike on her birth certificate though. By the way, Roberta and Big Mike are asking about baptism.”
“Okay, but let’s get married first. What’s your schedule look like this summer?”
“I’m off the next three weekends. Name a date.”
“We don’t need a weekend. I just want it for us, no friends and family. Just the three of us. We can tell them later, and if anyone wants to have a party for us, they can. Truthfully, I’d be happy if you could start closing the gate at the lion statues so no one can get up that driveway.”
“I can do that, too. I’ll tell you what. I’ll put a keypad on it, and you can give the number to your family.”
The day of the birth, Big Mike and Roberta doted over baby Mika. They were sad that it would be Devon raising her, but happy that he at least had loved and respected their son. At the hospital, once Aisling was situated in her room and she and baby Mika had been examined and declared healthy, Devon called the Saints.
“Maybe you should put me on speakerphone,” she said. And when he did, she cried out, “Congratulations, Grandpa and Grandma. Baby Mika Marie has arrived!”
Shouts of joy echoed through the room. “Oh my God, my son’s baby! I can’t believe you had a girl! Can we come?”
So for the next hour until it was time for lights out, a stream of happy family members, including Aisling’s da and mam, filed through her room, oohing and ahing over baby Mika. At eight, the nurse came in and reminded them visiting hours were over for all but dad. Big Mike and Roberta patted Devon, hugging him, and left the room. He got into the lounge chair by the side of her bed, exhausted.
“You looked tired,” Aisling said.
“Birthin’ babies is hard work. I can’t believe it just happened a few hours ago. It feels like days. You must be beat.”
“Can you stick her in her little bed? I’m sure she’ll be up soon for more food before long. My nipples feel like they’ve been chewed on by a rat.”
Devon laughed as he took Mika from her. “Having a baby sure changes a relationship.”
“We went from nothing to vaginal birth in sixty seconds,” Aisling said, shaking her head. “There goes the mystique.”
“Not at all,” he replied, placing the little bundle in the bassinet. “Think about it.” He got up in her face, looking into her eyes. “I gave you a shower less than three hours ago. I know you inside out, literally.”
“Shut up. You’re getting me hot and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Yeah, well, watch out, because as soon as we get the go-ahead from your doctor, I’ll take care of you.”
“I have a lot of catching up to do,” she whispered. “When we get home in the morning, I want you to bare it all for me. I can get a hint of what’s going on down there.” She reached over and caressed the growing bulge in his jeans, making him yelp. “But I want to see it for real.”
“I’ll do whatever you want. I can’t believe how easy this is. I thought we’d be all awkward and uncomfortable with each other, and you just grabbed my crotch.”
