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With Alex still sleeping in my arms, I closed my eyes and let the emotions evoked by his honest words flow through me.
When Sig finally returned, his voice broke me out of my meditative state. “I brought you some crackers from the vending machine, if you want them.”
“Thanks.”
He stood by my bed, coffee cup in hand, seemingly waiting for me to say something.
“I’m touched that you wrote to her about me,” I said, placing a waking Alex on my breast. “But you didn’t need to show me the emails to prove you love me.”
“Based on what you told me before I left, it seemed I did.”
“While it’s true that I was feeling insecure after I came back from the States, a lot has changed in these last few weeks—the way you’ve cared for me, the panic in your eyes when you thought you could lose me, the way you begged the doctors to do whatever it took to save me.” I smiled. “I heard what you told them before they put me under. I remember all of it now, Sig. And I remember thinking that if somethingdidhappen to me, I would leave this Earth knowing that not only had I made an impact, if they could just save Alex, but also knowing Iwasloved by you. True love for one person doesn’t need to be compared to love for another. Because there’s no finite amount that you can love someone. It’s infinite.”
“Oh, my sweet Abby.” He wrapped his arms around me. “I do love you infinitely.”
“Also…random…” I said after he let go. “I promised myself that if I did make it through, I would write a book about this. It’s interesting the things you think of when you could be dying.”
“It would makequitethe story.”
“It’s a love story in the end.”
“It is, isn’t it?” His eyes sparkled.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” he hollered.
In walked Phil, Kate—and Lavinia.
“Special delivery,” Phil said. “Look who we brought.”
Lavinia looked so cute in her black coat and pink hat.
“Thank you for driving her,” I said.
Lavinia clapped her hands. “You know I’ve been champing at the bit to meet little Alex.”
I handed the baby to Sig, who walked him over to Lavinia. “Here he is.” He placed Alex in her arms. “What do you think?”
“He’s even more handsome than his father.” Lavinia looked down at Alex lovingly. “Oh, how I’ve longed to meet you, little one.” A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Don’t cry, old woman. You need to save your energy to help me take care of him,” Sig cracked.
“Well, if I drop here in this hospital, at least I’m in the right place and can say I lived to see the day you had a son. It wasn’t looking good for a long while, Sigmund. But I am so very happy for you…” She looked around the room. “For all of you. I love you as if you were my son. And that makes him my honorary grandson.”
I glanced over at Sig. “Lavinia, actually, I was thinking…since my mom isn’t here anymore, Alex is going to need anactualgrandmother representing my side of the family. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind if he called you Nan.”
Lavinia’s eyes turned glassy as she fended off more tears. “I never thought I’d have a grandchild. That means so much to me.”
Sig rubbed her back. “We love you, crazy lady.”
Phil and Kate smiled from ear to ear, and a few seconds later, Leo and Felicity appeared at the door.
Felicity held a giant bouquet of flowers. “Hope now is a good time?”
“Hey!” I waved them over. “Come on in!”
They went right to Lavinia, who was still holding Alex.
