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He let his gaze roam over her face, tenderness flooding in. Neither of them was perfect—but they were perfect together. He just had to make her see it.
His phone vibrated to alert him that their food delivery was here. Tossing one more glance at Lena, he hurried out of the room and downstairs to meet the driver. When he returned, he held his breath again, hoping she hadn’t woken up and managed to slip out while he was in another elevator.
Thankfully, when he opened the door and saw her still lying there with the movie rolling, some of the tension in his shoulders relaxed.
He placed the food on the table and eyed her. Waking a sleeping pregnant woman might be equal to waking a dragon.
Feeding her a cold dinner was just as bad.
Standing next to the sofa, he weighed his options, but she took the decision out of his hands by stirring awake. She clutched the blanket he’d covered her with and then her eyes popped open. They fixed on the TV screen before shifting to him.
“I fell asleep,” she stated in a flat tone that he knew was her annoyed voice. He wanted to laugh that she was annoyed with herself.
He offered a smile. “You did. But it’s okay. You’ve seen the movie a hundred times, and the food just arrived.”
She sat up and scrubbed a hand over her face.
“Don’t get up. We’ll eat on the couch.”
When he passed her a takeout container, she eyed it skeptically.
“Trust me.” He sat beside her and cracked his open. The food wasn’t his first choice of cuisine, but he hadn’t wanted to risk ordering something that would turn her stomach.
“Oh. That looks good.” She popped open her own lid and he swore he saw a smile hike up the corner of her lips.
He peeled the plastic off his utensils. “Is that approval I see on your beautiful face?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know how I feel about your flattery.”
He forked up a bite of rice and vegetables. “I don’t see why it bugs you to hear the truth about yourself.”
“Maybe because I’m not a pretty trinket here for a man’s entertainment.”
“I never said that about you.”
She took a bite and chewed slowly as if testing how her body would react to the food. After she swallowed with seemingly no trouble, she said, “I want to be seen for my strengths.”
He stared at her. “You actually think I don’t appreciate those too?
When she didn’t reply, he grunted. “You know better, Mary Jane.”
She let out a sigh at his nickname for her but was too busy stuffing her face to give him a tongue-lashing. He shouldn’t gain so much satisfaction in seeing her eat—seeing her feed her body to help grow their child.
His chest felt hot and tight at the very thought. A deep ache filled him that felt like yearning and the world’s worst homesickness at the same time. He couldn’t explain where the feeling was stemming from, only that it fucking hurt and the only way to stop it was to make Lena his again.
She cut a sidelong glance at him. “I don’t remember you trying this hard before, Slade.”
“I was young and dumb.”
“Admitting it is the first step.”
They shared a smile that felt like a ray of sun in the dark chasm of what his soul had been for the past few years since their separation.
After they finished, and both containers were almost empty, Slade took away the boxes and returned to his seat on the couch with her. She’d turned her attention back to the movie, which was half finished, and if she noticed that he sat a little too close, she didn’t call him on it.
A few minutes later, she wiggled restlessly.
Instantly, he noticed she wasn’t comfortable. He knew just how to make her comfortable, though. He pivoted and opened his arms to her.
