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“You’re so welcome, honey. I’m here for you, whatever you need.” Then she whispers the three words I don’t know how to return yet. “I love you.”
Before I can stop myself, I mutter them back to her. “I love you too.” When I say them, some of the weight on my heart lifts away.
It turns out I wanted a family more than I ever could have admitted.
When Miles gets home, I’m curled up in the corner of the couch watchingSweet Magnolias.Though no one would probably guess, I’m a closet romantic. Plus it’s one of those shows that embodies what I don’t have—or haven’t had until recently. Friendship and family. People who would do anything for you. Even the sense of community here in Ida is strong. Much stronger than the small town I grew up in.
He smiles when he sees me, and after taking off his shoes, he walks over and sits down on the coffee table, setting a bag next to him.
“Hey, baby. I brought some food from McDonald’s. Plenty of cheeseburgers for you.”
“Thank you.” Emotion creeps into my voice.
He strokes some hair away from my face, palming my cheek and looking into my eyes. “How was the visit?”
“It was okay. Glad your mom was with me.”
“And how was your mom?”
“She thought I was her mother for part of it.”
He winces. He got a firsthand experience with that a couple of weeks ago. It was much worse during that visit and she was so combative we ended up needing to leave.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
“It’s okay. I gave her the blanket, and she came back around to recognizing it was me, even though she was still all over the place. She liked your mom and had fun talking with her.”
He rubs his thumb over my cheek, wiping a tear away. “Why are you crying?”
I sniff, wishing I weren’t crying, but that’s not my life anymore. I’m an emotional, hormonal mess now. “Your mom was—she was so sweet. And she wants to keep visiting my mom without me. It just—it means so much.”
He leans over and softly kisses me. “I told you, you have a family now. You couldn’t shake us if you tried.”
I chuckle at that. “Speaking of your family slash friends, how did decorating go?”
He smiles big. “It was great.” He shifts so he’s sitting on the floor next to the couch, then holds up his phone and shows me pictures of all the photos and homey decorations they hung on the walls of Sarah and Joel’s gorgeous log cabin home. I got to see it a couple of weeks ago when they moved the new furniture in. The whole property is beautiful, as is the farmhouse Rae and Aaron live in on the same property. It’s cool to see how close Rae and Sarah and their entire family are. It’s obvious that extends to the friend group. After getting a taste of it, I almost feel bad for calling it a cult.Almost.Because they’re still a little crazy.
Miles also shows me pictures of the new bedroom set that Joel is surprising Sarah with.
“They’re going to be so happy when they walk in and see all that.” I look around. “We need more pictures on the walls.”
“Well, my mother has a thousand from growing up. Rae has tons, too. We can take some from the photo albums you have.”
“We need some of us,” I whisper. Other than a couple from his graduation, we don’t have many together that aren’t selfies.
He sits up on his knees, resting his hand on my stomach. “Well, we’ll have maternity photos soon. God, I can’t wait to see you with a big belly.”
He lifts my T-shirt and kisses the bump he swears I have.
I run my fingers through his silky hair as he does, fire running through my veins from these small but emotional touches.
“Tell me the truth. Did you always want this?”
He lifts his lips from my stomach and looks at me, one eyebrow cocked. “Did I always want to knock you up? Maybe a lot further down the line.”
I laugh at the mischievous look on his face.“That’swhat I mean. You told me the night we met that you only did one night, too. Did you lie to me? Because you seem pretty happy with the overall turn of events.”
He stares at me for a moment. “We’ve never done this.”
