The past would always be mine, but it was much easier to deal with now that it was out in the open.
With the happy news shared and too many tears shed to count, we finally managed to get Ivy to go home to her husband and baby.
Afterward, August took me into the shower and we washed away the hospital funk, the last of the pain stagnating between us, and all the bad memories.
Then we tumbled into bed together. There was no need to hide anymore.
I couldn’t have been more grateful.
He curled in behind me, sliding a heavy arm over my middle. He slipped his palm over my still mostly flat belly. “You need a bigger bed.”
I laughed into the dark. “I think I know a guy.”
“Yeah, you do.”
“Kin?”
“Hmm?”
“I think we should tell our parents about this little ladybug tomorrow.”
My eyes stung again. Ladybug. Goddess, I didn’t deserve this man. Then the rest of what he’d said sunk in. “Our parents?”
He pressed a kiss to my neck. “Now more than ever.”
“Do you think they’ll be happy?” I whispered.
“I think we’re going to make their year.”
“Are you happy?”
He pulled me in tighter. “You and this ladybug are everything I ever wanted.”
The silence stretched and his breathing evened out behind me.
“I love you, August.”
There, that wasn’t so hard. Maybe next time I’d even be able to say it when he was conscious.
Twenty-Four
It took a little longer to get my mother on board with a family dinner. I could have blurted out our surprise—and almost had about four times, but I wanted to actually make things special.
And if the scent of brownies down the hall was any indication, so did Kinleigh. I was pretty sure that was one of the few things she knew how to cook.
“Becks!”
I smiled as I pulled the small bookcase out of my closet where I’d tucked it away a few days ago. It was nice to hear that name again. The easy Kinleigh used to call me that all the time. The one who didn’t get all squirrelly and weird about secrets and feelings.
Emotions between us were still a little hit or miss. A lifetime of holding herself back wouldn’t be cured just because I’d said, “I love you”. Especially since we were still so new.
But I was a patient man. I could spend three days sanding a bookcase.
I smoothed my hand down the case in point.
Not to mention the carving. I tucked my thumb into the new bit I’d just done. A lot of people used 3D printers to make logos these days, but there was nothing quite as satisfying as carving into wood.
Well, maybe Kinleigh riding me with all that fiery hair bouncing around her shoulders. That was a damn fine way to start my day.