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“Yeah!” I grinned. “But don’t be too surprised. Your writing is great. I read some of it while I was waiting on hold for one of my calls today. Honestly, I don’t think you really needed my help. Someone would’ve published it regardless.”
She smirked. “You clearly don’t know anything about publishing.”
“I’m sure I’ll learn soon enough,” I said. “That is, if you let me help you get this book off the ground.”
Now she really smiled. “Of course I’ll let you help me. This—this is so exciting. I can’t believe you would do that for me.”
“I would do anything for you, Stephanie,” I said. “I know it may not seem like it, because of how I’ve been acting, but I want to be there for you in any way that I can. I know that getting your book published isn’t going to solve everything, but I did it because I wanted to show you that I believe in you. And I believe in more than your writing ability. I believe that you’re going to make an amazing mother.”
Her cheeks grew red. “It means a lot to hear you say that.”
“I mean it. Completely. You’re going to be a fantastic mom, and I just consider myself so lucky to be able to raise this baby with you. I want to be involved, as much as you’ll let me.”
She nodded. “I want you involved too. As much as you want to be. I want you to be in the baby’s life.”
I took a beat. “Just the baby’s life?”
She raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
I pushed my shoulders back and prepared to say something I thought I would never say to a woman for the rest of my life. “Stephanie—I love you. I think I’ve been in love with you since the day I saw you in Hawaii, and I’ve definitely been in love with you ever since the day I first kissed you. I spend all day thinking about you, and when I’m not around you, all I can do is count the minutes until I’m going to see you again. I dream about you, and I worry about you.”
“You worry about me?” she laughed.
“I do! I really do! I worry that you’re having a bad day, or sometimes when you got home later than I expected, I would worry that something terrible happened. I would get this sickening feeling in my gut and think about how awful it would be if I were to lose you.”
“That sounds unbearable.”
I scoffed. “It is. It’s terrible. And it’s wonderful. It’s the worst feeling in the world, but then when I would see you walk through that door, I’d experience the best feeling in the world, so it all evened out.” I slumped my shoulders and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. “What I’m trying to say is that I know I messed up, and I know I hurt you, but I’m sorry. And I love you.”
She didn’t say anything for a second or two, and it was the most painful second or two of my entire life. Then she reached up and wiped a couple tears from her cheeks and before I knew what was happening, her arms were around my neck and her body was crashing into mine. “I love you too,” she said.
I picked her up off her feet and kissed her. “You do?”
“Of course I do, you dummy!” She kissed me again and then we both laughed. I held her tight but put her back on solid ground.
“Then should we go inside and tell your mom the good news?”
“About the book or about us?”
I shrugged. “Both.”
She nuzzled her nose into my chest. “In a minute. I want to enjoy this moment for a little while longer. Just stand here. Just the two of us.”
I nodded, but then reached down and put a hand lovingly to her stomach. “Well–just thethreeof us, really.”
She smiled up at me, kissed me lightly on the cheek, and then closed her eyes as we stood there for a long while, wrapped up in each other’s warm embrace.
EPILOGUE: STEPHANIE
Three and a half months later
After my six-month check-up with the doctor, Matt and I celebrated the news that everything was going well with my pregnancy by ordering a fancy pizza and eating it in bed.
We’d been living together ever since the day he came to the hotel and told me he loved me. My mom was in the process of moving to San Francisco, so that she could be closer to her grandchild whenever the baby came. Matt was renovating the garage so that there was a guest apartment over where the cars were parked, and that would be where she was going to stay for the foreseeable future.
Everything was working out perfectly, and the only problem was that Matt and I were finding it difficult to carve out any alone time together. His work schedule was keeping him very busy, and between getting ready for the baby, taking care of Will, and doing the final touches on my soon-to-be-published book, I was swamped. Not to mention, every time we did find a moment that we were both free, we usually weren’t alone, since the construction crew working on renovating the garage wasalwaysaround.
But not today.
