Only With Me (With Me 2)

His eyes intensified. “All right. Let’s go up on the roof.”

Taking in a deep breath, I gradually made my way up. When I got up on the roof, I quickly walked to the middle of the roof. Looking up, I gasped as the endless stars in the sky.

Nic walked up to me and wrapped his arms around me. “Why is there a blanket up here, Gabi?”

Glancing down, I grinned when I saw the blanket and small basket sitting to the side of it. There were only two people who knew I was pregnant. Charity and my brother. It was her idea to try the roof thing again and my brother thought it would be a pretty cool way to tell Nic, so I decided to give it another try.

I looked up at the stars again. “Antonio put it there.”

Cupping my face in his hands, he asked, “Why?”

The hope in his eyes had my heart beating so loud I was sure he could hear it.

Slowly starting to sit, Nic followed me. We sat on the blanket and I tried like hell to steady my shaking hands.

“I wanted to give my gift to you up here. Under the stars.”

He smiled that brilliant smile that made my body ache for his.

“Lay back,” I said with authority.

“Yes ma’am. I like it when you’re bossy.”

I opened up the basket and saw the two bottles of grape juice and the small box.

Charity. She thinks of everything.

“What do you see?” I asked as I reached in for the box.

“Stars. Endless stars.”

“They go on for eternity.”

“They’re beautiful,” he said so softly I barely heard him.

“When I was little, I used to lay out in our backyard and look up at the stars,” I said as I laid back and looked up with him. “I would pretend they were wishes.”

He chuckled. “Oh yeah? How did that work out for you?”

Taking his hand in mine, our fingers curled together. “I’d say it worked out pretty damn nicely. I wished for my own bakery.”

“You got that wish,” Nic softly said.

“Yes, I did.”

“What else did you wish for?”

“A man to love me like my daddy loved my mommy.”

Nic’s head turned to face me. I could feel the heat from his stare. “I hope that wish has come true.”

Meeting his stare, I nodded. “It has.”

He smiled and my heart melted.

“Any other wishes?”

Tears formed in my eyes as I looked away and back up at the stars. “I wished I would be a mom someday.”

Nic was still staring at me.

“Look up at the stars, Nic. Do you see it?”

He did as I asked. “Do I see what?”

With my free hand, I reached around and held the pregnancy stick out in front of us. “My wish coming true.”

Nic stared at the test for the longest time before he sat up. My heart started to race. Maybe he wasn’t really wanting a baby as much as he thought.

When I sat up, I was about to ask him when he looked up at the sky and said, “Thank you.”

His head dropped back down and he wiped his tears away. Turning to face me, I could see the starlight reflecting in his hazel eyes. Cupping my face within his hands, he shook his head then pressed his lips to mine. Our kiss was filled with so much love it left me feeling breathless.

“Gabi, I’ve been wishing since that night before our wedding for this.”

Warmth radiated through my body.

“You’re happy?”

He kissed me again. This time he filled it with his answer.

“Don’t you get it, Gabi Drivas? My love for you flows from the bluest of blue sky’s to the deepest of deep oceans. I can’t breathe without you and what you have given me has made me the happiest man in the world.”

A sob slipped from my lips. “It’s always been you, Nic. The moment I met you I knew I could only live this life with you in it.”

He smiled. “Only with me, huh?”

Nodding, I clutched his shirt in my hands and pulled him closer to me as I whispered, “Only with you. My love for you will never stop, no matter what.”

Nic’s eyes searched my face. “The day you married me, I thought it was the most amazing moment of my life.” He chuckled. “Now I see that was just a stepping stone to so many more amazing moments.”

Dropping my head to his chest, Nic wrapped me in his arms.

“We’re having a baby,” he softly spoke.

I looked back up at him and our gaze locked. “Yes we are.”

He furrowed his brows. “I wonder how long we can keep it from my mother?”

With a smile so big and bright, I brushed my lips against his as I replied, “She already knows.”

Nic closed his eyes and said, “God help us.”

ONE YEAR LATER

KATERINA AND MY mother stood in the kitchen, both of them with their hands on their hips facing each other off.