AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She stops in front of me, and when I don’t say anything, she says, “Open your mouth.” I give her a big close-mouthed smile, but she smacks me and says, “I will call your mother. Open your mouth.”
My eyes flare. She’s not messing around. I swallow as much as I can, then open my mouth, revealing what I’m sure is a gross mess of chocolate.
She slowly shakes her head. “You’re ridiculous.”
“It’s not my fault you make such good brownies,” I protest, once I’ve swallowed.
She leans against the railing of the deck next to me. “What are you doing out here anyway?”
“I was going to help Aaron set up the fire, but then he and Trevor started arguing about the best way to do it”—I gesture over my shoulder—“and I didn’t have the energy for that.”
She looks over at the firepit, where Aaron and Trevor are overengineering the fire, and laughs. “They’re also ridiculous. For the record, if you want brownies, just text me. I’ll make them. I don’t have anything else to do most afternoons these days. I take all the morning outreach stuff, and Chelsea does the afternoons, so for now I’m free to make you endless brownies. Which really would be endless with you.”
“Hey,” I say seriously, “I’m proud of you.”
“And my brownie-making skills?” she asks with a laugh.
“No. Of what you and Chelsea are doing. Your passion and the big dreams you have—it’s beautiful to watch. You took something horrible and you let it fuel your passion and drive you to help others. What you’re doing is amazing, Rae.”
She looks down at her toes for a moment. “Thank you. That means a lot. For the record, I’m proud of you too. What you’re doing with Amelia, the way you’ve opened your heart to her, that’s something special.”
“It is. She is.”
“How are you doing with the pregnancy?”
“Pretty good. I mean, I’m still me. Anxious as fuck about what I can’t control—which is pretty much everything. But at the same time, I’m learning what I can control and help with, and those things make me more excited. Finding the right apartment for us, and now the little things to get ready for the baby, are exciting.” I shrug, shoving my hands in my pockets.
She tilts her head. “You’re really happy about this, aren’t you?”
I can’t hide my smile. “Yeah, I am. I wouldn’t have chosen for it to go in this order because it’s made building a relationship more complicated, but I’ve always wanted to be a dad. Falling for Amelia and getting to do this with her is even better.”
“I’m happy for you. After all the shit about how you were afraid to risk your heart for love, now here you are.”
“I didn’t say I was in love with her.” My words come out flat and unbelievable because they are. I’m stupidly in love with her.Fucking gonefor her.
“And I wasn’t in love with Aaron. Sarah wasn’t in love with Joel. Whatever you need to believe.”
I roll my eyes. “Really? You’re just going to lump me in with you idiots? Yes, I know I was afraid to risk my heart, but I’m learning with the right person, it’s worth it. Love is fucking scary, but it’s worth it.”
She almost squeals at that, clapping her hands happily. Then she throws her arms around me. “You deserve this. You’ve been our protector and caretaker for so many years, you deserve to have the right person to do that for—and to have someone else do it for you. I hope she does.”
I smile as Rae lets me go, thinking of all the tiny ways I’ve felt completely understood and cared for by Amelia. Whether it’s her calming reaction to my anxiety or the way she plays with my hair when we lie in bed together, I feel an ease with her unlike anything I’ve felt before—and that’s saying something given this friend group.
“She does. But we’re also still learning. It’s crazy how backward this has all been, but I’m finally doing what I should’ve done months ago and dating her.”
Rae’s face lights up with a huge smile. “That’s adorable.”
“You’re still the same romantic you’ve always been.”
“I love love, and I always will. There’s nothing better than seeing the people you love find their person and live out their love story.”
“Speaking of love stories, you still happy with yours?” It’s a silly question in some respects, but I’m genuinely curious to know if she and Aaron are still as happy as they seem.
“Unbelievably so. There are hard moments and rough days, but at the end of them, I crawl into bed with Aaron and we deal with it. We talk it through, then we fall asleep in each other’s arms. We went through hell, but we learned so much. Sometimes I wish I could take things back—like the stuff with Jesse—but at the same time, it helped us learn. I love the relationship we’ve built and even when things aren’t perfect—which is a lot—our relationship is our safe place, the shelter from life’s storms, and I’m incredibly grateful for that. Humbled. Not everyone gets this or learns how to work with the person they love to create a healthy relationship. I’m proud of that.”
“As you should be. I might not want to take lessons from your early days, but I think everyone could learn something from where you two are now.”
“Thanks, Miles. Maybe you’ll get to set that example for all of us with parenting.”
