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We sat side by side at the counter eating our breakfast. This was our first time doing that, and it drove a small stake through my chest thinking it might be a long while before we could again. That just wasn’t fucking acceptable to me.
I tossed my toast down and wiped my mouth with my napkin. Probably sensing the sudden change in me, Wren stopped eating and swiveled in her chair to look at me.
“I need to wake up with you. This has to happen more often.” My brow pinched. “I won’t ask for every night yet, even though that’s what I want, but I need you in my bed or me in your bed at least every weekend.”
“Um…” Her eyes darted around. Her fingers twisted in her sweater. “I really can’t ask Jenny to watch Ezra overnight every weekend. It wouldn’t be fair to her, but I also don’t want to leave him so often. That’s not to say I don’t want to sleep with you. I have loved everything about last night and this morning. It’s just more complicated than that.”
“So don’t ask Jenny. Bring Ezra with you.”
She flinched, like the idea was so surprising, it had hit her like a physical slap. “Really? You’d want him here?”
“Of course. If it means havin’ you here, hell yes.”
“I’ll have to think about it. I mean, where would he even sleep? He’s particular and—”
I took her hand and pulled her off the stool, tugging her through the living room, down the hall, to the first bedroom, two away from mine. I pushed the door open, then I pushed Wren inside. I followed, wrapping my arms around her shoulders from behind and resting my chin on her head.
“He’ll sleep in here.”
The room was sparsely decorated, but it was painted pale blue, with a full-size bed in the center. A matching nightstand held a lamp that looked like a globe. A framed picture of the last TSC album was hung above the bed. Striped blackout curtains draped from rods over the window.
“Wow, okay. This is a really nice room. I’m not sure how he’d feel, but—”
I covered her mouth. “Don’t say no. Not yet. Our morning is goin’ too well for me to hear you say no. If he needs to get comfortable here, bring him over to hang out. I’ll pick up some toys, fuckin’ PAW Patrol and the like, make it a cool place to hang, and see what he thinks. I know you two come as a package, and I’m gonna do everything in my power to earn that package. Hopefully with a sexy little bow on your half.”
She laughed behind my hand, then twisted in my arms to face me. “I’m going to cry, baby.” Her eyes were shining like that was true. “That is incredibly thoughtful and sweet. Ezra would completely dig hanging out here,especiallyif there are PAW Patrol toys. And this room is sweet too. I think he’ll like it, once he gets a feel for the place.”
I didn’t mention I already had rails for the sides of the bed tucked in the closet. Wren knew I was slightly off-center, she just didn’t know how far off, and it’d stay like that if I could help it.
“I hope like hell he does. I need you to know, I’m so far in with you, I’m not gonna find my way out.” I held her face in my hands, stroking a cheek slowly with my thumb. “I also need you to know in a couple months, I’m gonna be on the road touring, so this time we have is really fuckin’ precious.”
She swallowed. “I forgot about touring.”
“Yeah. It’s nothin’ like when we were writing to each other, but I will be gone for a couple weeks at a time, at minimum.”
Another thing I wouldn’t bring up was I intended for Wren and Ezra to join me on the road eventually. I knew myself well enough to realize I wasn’t gonna be sane if I had to be away from her that long. That topic would come up soon, but not today.
“I don’t even want to think about it.” Her fingers wrapped around my wrists. “We’ll have to start writing notes to each other again.”
I sucked in a breath through my nose. “You know, I never stopped. Each year on our anniversary, I wrote you an email. One on your birthday too. I didn’t send them, but I couldn’t let the date go by without marking it in a way.”
Her forehead hit my chest, her mouth following. “Callum,” she murmured. “Baby.”
Her arms were wrapped so tight around my middle, we were close to merging as one. I felt her tears on my skin and the tremble traveling through her body.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry, Little Bird.”
“I know.” Her fingertips dug into my back. “I’m sorry I’m being such a weirdo and crying all over you. It’s just...it kills me to know you were thinking about me, about us, and left wondering. I still hate myself for doing that to you.”
I dipped down to put my mouth beside her ear. “I can’t say I didn’t hate you for a while for doin’ it too. But now, we’re buildin’ what we’re buildin’, and I don’t feel bad about any of it anymore. I’ve let it go. In the back of my mind, I might wish I’d had you the last three years, but I’m sure as hell not pining over that lost time when I have you standin’ right in front of me now.”
“Okay,” she rasped. “You’re right.”
Her head tipped back, and a smile curved her lips, even as tears sparkled in her big, owlish eyes.
“Damn right I am.” I swiped a tear away. “If you ever want to read the emails I never sent, they’re on my laptop. Just turn it on. You’ll find them in my Wren folder.”
“You have a Wren folder?” She was full-out beaming now.
