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“I’m sorry.” His voice was much huskier now, thick with emotion. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping it to myself. But after I told my father, I should have just told you. At the time, my excuse was that I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want you to relive that painful night. I didn’t want to give you new painful memories to store away.”
“I know what happened that night.” That dream had been so vivid. “At first, I didn’t, but I guess I just…I saw it in my head when I passed out. I saw what you had to go through that night, and I know it couldn’t have been easy.”
He looked astonished. “What did you see?”
And so I told him. I told him about my dream from beginning to end. And the more I described, the more pain and sadness riddled his face.
“I never wanted you to know.” He looked down at my hands. “I didn’t want you to feel that pain of losing your mother. I didn’t want you seeing her that way.”
The lump came back again, lodging itself in my throat. “I know. But I needed to.”
He used his thumb to wipe away the tears that had escaped from my eyes.
“I just want to know one thing.”
“What?” He leaned forward, placing a kiss on my forehead.
“What did she tell you when she told you to pull me out? What did she whisper to you?”
The sides of his lips tilted upward slightly into a small smile. “She told me to take care of her special little girl and to keep her safe.”
My heart faltered in my chest.
Oh, Mom. He did more than just that. He set me alight in ways that I had never imagined. He taught me what love could be and what it truly felt like. The kind of emotion that filled your entire body and tethered itself to your soul. It was like electric.
Before I knew it, we both had tears free-falling from our eyes. It was a mixture of both joy and grief.
Nate sat beside me, his entire posture changing as he held both my hands, crying.
“I’m not perfect, not by a long shot, but I will do my best to be a man deserving of you. I will make sure that every morning you wake up, I remind you just how beautiful you are. I will spend the rest of my days putting you first and ensuring you feel seen and heard.”
“Nathaniel Cane, are you proposing to me right now?” My heart hammered in my chest. “Because if you are, I will have to stop you. I’m in a hospital gown and probably look like shit.”
He chuckled, “Don’t worry, I’m not proposing…yet. But what I am doing is trying to tell you that I love you.”
I couldn’t even contain the smile.
“I love you, Amelia. I think I loved you when I saw you walk out of our building looking sweaty and tired from moving all those boxes.”
I shoved him away from me playfully. “Shut up.”
“I want only you.” His hand then moved to come and rest on my stomach. “I want us. I want the family life—the white picket fence and the kids running around making a mess. I want to create memories and a home with you.”
“I want that with you too.”
He leaned his forehead against mine and stared at me. “You and me against it all?”
I nodded. “Us against it all.”
Our lips came together, almost like we were sealing the deal with a kiss.
I knew our journey was only beginning, and we had a mountain to climb when it came to what lay ahead, but I knew that if I had this man by my side, I could tackle it all.
He drew me into his chest and kissed my forehead when we pulled apart.
“By the way,” I said into the thick of the silence, “before you even think of proposing, you will have to get on Selena’s good side.”
He groaned. “I thought as much. But even if she disapproves, who stops me from kidnapping you and taking you to Vegas for a little shotgun wedding action? I already knocked you up.”
