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“So, what do you think?” I ask her, trying to hide how much I’m anticipating her answer.
“I…I mean, the place is amazing,” Autumn says, looking around. “Big and bright and so much potential. Way bigger than my place, even yours.”
“Loads of space for all your things,” I agree. She stills, then turns to me as my words register, her eyes wide and round.
“What?”
“Good location too, central and close to work,” I continue with a smirk as realization dawns on her pretty face.
“But there’s…we…” Autumn stumbles over her words, and I can practically see her heart racing. Mine is, too. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack,” I joke, stepping forward to tug her closer to me. I cup the back of her head as she tips her neck back to meet my eyes. “I want a place that’sours, sweetheart. I want to live with you, to have a life with you, and a home with you. This place has everything we need, though I’d be happy living in a damn cupboard if I had you with me.”
She laughs, her eyes a little glassy with unshed tears. “Ours?” she echoes softly.
I nod. “If you want it.”
“Of course I do!” she cries, pushing up on her tiptoes to kiss me. Her tears taste salty between our lips, and when I pull back, she’s grinning and radiant with happiness. “I want this, you, our future. All of it. But…what are the two extra bedrooms for?”
I chuckle, leaning closer again so that my words skim her lips.
“For all the babies we’re going to have.”
12
AUTUMN
“Don’t you have those exact shoes at home?” I ask with a laugh as Janey drools over the pair of sparkly nude heels on the shelf. The bags clutched in my hands rustle as I walk towards my friend, shaking my head at her.
“No, they’re tan not ivory,” Janey corrects with an exaggerated frown. She drops her own collection of shopping on the shiny white tiles and reaches for the heels, the glittery fabric sparkling in the bright shop lights.
“They are really pretty,” I concede, plopping myself down on the comfy bench meant for people who are trying shoes on.
My feet hurt from walking around the mall all day, letting Janey take me on a birthday shopping spree. Aidan had shoved his card into my hand this morning and told me to buywhateverIwanted, adding that if I turned up back home without a suitable haul, he’d teachmealessonondisobeying.I blush even thinking about it now.
It’s been a few months since we moved into our new apartment, which is even more perfect than I’d thought when he first brought me to view it. I’ve decorated it in a wonderful mixture of our styles, gray undertones with pops of bright color and my ever-growing collection of things. I may not be used to being spoiled by him, and I doubt I ever really will be, but I can’t deny that I love it.
Aidan takes care of me in ways I never knew I craved, and instead of making me feel weak or silly for loving it, he makes me feel strong. I know I cando things on my own—I did for years after all—but I don’t have to anymore. Buying me pretty dresses or picking up a new flavor of ice cream every time we go grocery shopping makes him happy just as it does me. He’s a caretaker at heart, in his profession as well as in life.
Hopefully, soon, he’ll have someone else to take care of too. Butterflies tumble around my stomach when I think about it. My appointment to get my implant taken out is next week and…I don’t think I’m going to get a new one in.
After all, we have a home big enough for more love, and I’ve always wanted a family of my own. I’ve never really let myself linger on that want before, but Aidan has opened up a whole new world to me. Plus, he’ll be the best dad ever. The idea of him holding a mini version of us, a little boy who looks just like his daddy, is justtoofreaking cute.
I jump out of my thoughts as Janey calls over a sales assistant, asking her to find the heels in a size seven. I frown, furrowing my brows at her.
“You’re an eight,” I remind her, wondering if all this shopping has warped her brain. Janey’s smart as they come, but the girl loves retail therapy more than I do. She hasn’t stopped smiling all day, dragging me from shop to shop, insisting we can’t go home yet because we haven’t seen everything we need to see.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a great time with her, but I miss Aidan. It is my birthday after all, and I want to spend it with the person I love the most.
“But you’re not,” Janey says back, one brow raised at me like I’m the one who’s being stupid here.
Admittedly, it takes me a moment to catch on. “I don’t need them,” I insist.
“But you like them, right? You want them?” Janey confirms as the sales assistant returns with a shoe box.
I cave. “Yeah, they’re gorgeous.”
“Call it a birthday gift,” Janey says with a flourish, grabbing her bags and following the sales girl to the counter. My eyes bug out of my head when I see the price, but Janey just swipes her card and shoots me a look that I know meansno arguing.
