In this very moment, driving together works out in our favor.
His phone alerts him to an incoming email as we slip into my SUV. He opens the message after buckling his belt. All I can do is stare and wait while he reads the screen.
How can five seconds feel like five years? My heart beats out of my chest as I wait for some reaction from him. The downturn of his lips. A smile worthy of conquering the world. Anything.
Finally, he breaks the silence.
“Hell yeah!” he screams in the confines of the car. “Woo!” His whole body vibrates as the biggest smile I have ever seen brightens his face.
This has to be good news for him. Please let it be good news.
“Not a match?” I ask, just to be certain.
“There is zero probability that the donor tested has any familial relationship,” he reads from the email, then faces me. “Zero. Zilch. Nada. I knew it! I fucking knew it!”
Thank goodness I hadn’t backed us out of the driveway yet. Micah bounces around like a kid high on too much Halloween candy. No way in hell I would be able to focus on the road with his excitement. Not to mention my own.
Relief I never knew possible hits me like a summer downpour. Zero probability. No familial relationship. The sudden weightlessness exhilarates and consoles me. Jesus. I didn’t realize how badly I needed to hear those words.
Not that I wouldn’t have stood by Micah’s side if the opposite result was delivered. But this… happy and relaxed are a microscopic percentage of the elation I feel right now.
I unbuckle my belt, claw across the console for him, haul him to me and hug the hell out of him.
“Deep down, I knew it too. Glad the results finally came and were what we thought and hoped they would be.”
Strong arms hold me close. “Just glad this is over and we can put it behind us now.”
“Me too.”
Micah leans back enough to look me in the eye. “We should go, but…” He waggles his brows, his radiant smile still firmly in place. “We are definitely celebrating later.”
“Celebrating, huh? And what exactly did you have in mind?”
He shrugs. “Hadn’t gotten that far yet. Still have plenty of time to figure that part out.”
After I buckle my belt again, I back out of the driveway and head toward Tampa. Micah cranks up the music and sings obnoxiously with the songs on the radio. From the corner of my eye, I watch him every chance I get.
I love his new ease and cheery disposition. The endless smile highlighting his sharp jaw. The additional sparkle in his starry eyes. The happy-go-lucky attitude emanating from him.
I am beyond glad this whole fiasco with the red-dress woman will soon become a distant memory. One we will have no problem erasing.
Now… it is time to build new memories. Better ones to replace all the bad. And I am eager to get started.