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“Yeah?” I ask for confirmation. His words ring of truth. And a common sense that’s sometimes easier to accept with your brain than your heart.
“Hey, look at me.” He nudges my chin up. “Yeah.”
His lips softly brush over mine. A warmth emanates from deep within, and I hold him close. Our chests press against each other, and my head rests on his shoulder. We’re so close, his heartbeat reverberates through my ribcage, and a healing sensation curls through my core. This is what my fractured soul needed.
I sniff and rub my dripping nose against his shirt, and he chuckles. With the pads of his thumbs, he gently dries my tears.
“God, I love you, Sunny.”
I look at him, really look at him. This man I do love, have loved, but I put on blinders and tried to set us into a temporary box. And why? Because of fear. Senseless, useless fear.
His lips brush over mine, and my soul shudders with relief. This is where I belong. Right here, with this man. I press my lips to his neck, to the spot where I can feel his pulse, along his jaw, to his lips. When we kiss, it’s like a homecoming.
When he breaks the kiss, he holds my head in his hands and stares down at me as if I’m the most precious thing in the world to him. And I wonder, has it always been like this, and I just didn’t see it? Maybe. Maybe I’ve been a fool.
“God, I’ve missed you.” His forehead presses to mine. “I’ve been in hell.”
“I thought you might want to take the baby away.” My voice cracks.
“Never.” His gaze pours over me. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother. I just want to be a part of our child’s life, too.”
Realization dawns. He’s not being realistic. “Baby, I’m still high risk. We don’t—”
“You. What I want most is you.”
Tears well up and my nose gets stuffy and my throat tightens. All I can do is nod. I want him, too. Whatever that looks like. And I have some ideas about where we can start. “Want to go inside?”
“I do.” He kisses the tip of my nose and tightens his hold around me. “But why don’t we start this by telling my family? As I understand it, you put a lot of work into my brother’s engagement proposal that’s going on right now… so why don’t we go join them? You’re nervous about how my family is going to react. Let me prove to you that’s not something you need to worry about.”
I search for the fear I’d expect those words to bring. But there’s none there. If this is what he wants to do, I can do it. Even if his parents get upset, or think horrible things of me, we’ll work through it. If Ian wants to be together, really be together, we can do this.
Ian and I re-enter his parents’ home with our hands linked. Mr. Duke rounds the kitchen and does a double take at our hands, but just gestures out back and says, “I’ll be at the grill. Sunny, you want cheese on your hamburger, or no?”
Given I can keep so little down, I tell him no cheese. The way I’m feeling, I might need to just nibble on the bun.
“Dad, can you come into the back yard with us for just a minute?” Ian’s question delivers the first twinge of fear. But his squeeze of my hand eradicates it.
We step outside onto the grass, and everyone looks at us. Ian’s still holding my hand. Kate’s on the ground with the puppy and a sparkling ring on her finger.
“Congratulations,” I say.
“Thank you,” she beams.
Oliver has the widest grin I’ve ever seen. He fell slowly for Kate, but he fell hard. Seeing the two of them so happy makes it feel completely normal when Ian steps behind me and pulls me against him, one hand on a hip and one arm wrapped possessively around my middle.
“Guys, I don’t want to take away from your day. But we have an admission. Sunny and I are together. We have been for most of this past year.”
I don’t miss the knowing smile Kate tosses in Oliver’s direction.How would Kate know? Who told her?
Mrs. Duke beams and clasps her hands together. “That is wonderful news.”
Kate slaps her palm against Oliver’s thigh and says, “I told you.”
Mr. Duke chuckles. “Son, you better get used to hearing that.”
And that’s it. We go about preparing for an early al fresco dinner. It’s like a normal day in the Duke house, except I admire Kate’s ring and she gives me a hug. Mrs. Duke hugs me multiple times, just quick ones where she pulls me to her side. And Oliver mentions casually during dinner while glancing at his vibrating phone that Sam and Olivia send their congratulations. “To all of us,” Oliver adds, with a wink to me.
Apparently, Kate shared online that she’s engaged, and Mrs. Duke did, too, and both Oliver’s and Kate’s phones have been blowing up. Oliver’s been texting, and I guess he texted Sam.
