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“That’s life, though. There are always going to be moments where we’re both exhausted. One of us may need more than the other, or we’ll be scraping each other off the floor. No one I’d rather have scraping me up than you.”
He laughs. I love that sound. It’s deep and warm and wraps around me like a hug. “Ma always told me that a relationship isn’t fifty-fifty. It’s one hundred percent. And sometimes one person needs more or can’t give as much, so the other person picks up the slack. That’s the real balance of a relationship.”
Warmth fills my chest as my eyes lock on his. “God knows you’ve picked up the slack for me a lot in the last year.” Vulnerability crackles through me as I look at him. I wouldn’t be where I am now without him. I’d still be that hollow shell, afraid to open up or admit my pain.
He rests his hands on my arms, slowly dragging them down until they reach my hands. Pushing them up, he presses his palms against mine and twines our fingers. “We’re better together.”
I nod slowly, taking a breath. These emotional moments hit me hard with whirls of pain and peace, reminding me I’m alive.
“She’s doing better.” His eyes are on Emmie now, his muscles relaxing more.
“They said the steroid takes about six hours to kick in. It’s been a little more than that now. Hopefully she keeps getting better from here.”
He sighs roughly. “I hope so.” Resting his head against the mattress, he takes a few deep breaths. “I’m starving now. I feel like I ran a marathon.”
“Adrenaline will do that. I’m hungry too. You want to take her or warm up food?”
He stares at her for a moment, then to my surprise, he says, “I’ll take her. You warm up the food.” Usually he insists I sit with Emmie and he does whatever needs to be done. Maybe it’s a fluke, but I hope this is teaching him balance is important.
“Sounds good.”
I stand and pull him up. Before I can move, he wraps me in his strong embrace. “Love you.”
“I love you too,” I breathe.
One last squeeze and he steps back, scooping Emmie into his arms, then we make our way out to the kitchen to continue our all-nighter.
A few hours and another feeding later and Emmie is breathing even better. She’s still restless and in and out of sleep, but I’ll take the win.
As the movie we were watching comes to an end, Miles yawns, but Emmie doesn’t. She wiggles in his arms and he repositions her yet again.
“Want to watch something else?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No more TV or else I’m going to conk out, and she might want to eat again soon.”
“Talk to me.”
I smile at that. “About what?”
“Anything. Something you’re excited about.”
“How about our wedding?”
He arches a brow. “Good topic. Can’t sleep? Might as well do some wedding planning. So, tell me about the dress.”
I roll my eyes. He has been on a mission to find out any scrap of information he can about the dress since I picked it out a few weeks ago. But it is perfect, and I refuse to ruin the surprise of him seeing it on me.
“Not a chance in hell. You don’t get to see it until I’m walking down the aisle.”
“Ah, so there will be an aisle.”
I press my toes into his leg, flaring my eyes. “Stop acting like you’re in the dark on all of this. The only thing I haven’t told you about is my dress. We decided on the flowers together.” Which wasn’t much of a decision. I told the florist I wanted whatever was in season that fit with the deep earthy and fall tones we were going for—dark oranges, pinks, and reds. I specified no red roses. We had a neighbor in town who would send my family red roses every week when my father was sick. We had no idea who or why, but I grew to hate them. Dark pink roses are all I will accept.
As for my bouquet, I’m having a wooden one made, and I’ll have a small real one for the toss, even though I might as well hand the thing to Amanda since she’ll more than likely be the next to get married. Everyone’s been putting a ring on it lately.
“Fair. What about bridesmaids and groomsmen?”
My lips pull flat. “I know what color the dresses and suits will be.” Miles and whoever stands up with him will be wearing brownish-gray suits. Whoever I have stand up with me will wear burgundy. The only problem is I can’t decide how I want to do it. I want a beautiful wedding full of all our family friends, but I also want simple, and being that there are a huge group of girls I love, I don’t know who to pick. I don’t want a huge bridal party, so I’ve been avoiding making this decision. Even though we’re down to three months, so I have to decide, I’m just being a big baby about it. I love all our friends and don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings—especially given how they’ve all shown up for me.
