“I feel like I’m missing context,” Hudson says, brows pinched and eyes taking in the spectacle before him.
“Nisha has a thing about balloons,” Sarina explains, doing a shitty job of keeping the laugh out of her voice.
I peer around Emanuel’s massive frame, watching my boyfriend move to retrieve the balloon from a very confused Joe.
“They’reunpredictable!” I insist. “Float around all willy-nilly and hang out in dark hallways to catch you off guard in the middle of the night. They’re freaking demons!”
By now my friends are openly laughing, Piper nearly snorting her mocktail.
Patton, my hero and savior, retrieves the string of Lucifer’s floating plushy from Joe’s hand with so much gusto, you’d think he was filming a stunt for an action movie. He starts to run it toward the side gate when the string slips from his fingers at the last second.
The balloon floats toward me in slow motion, menacing and mocking. Its eyes are locked on me, its frightening smile curving up to reveal blood-coated fangs.
Yes. I know this is all in my head!
And yet, I still scream.
My shriek rips from my lungs before I can stop it, startling Gia awake. She peers up at Dean holding her, and then lets out a wail that could shatter glass.
Dean’s eyes widen. “Yeah, the banshee lungs are definitely from her mom’s side.”
epilogue
Nisha - Three Months Later
“Wait a sec,” I say, glancing at our surroundings from inside Patton’s car. “This is the same place you had me meet you a couple of years ago after the taekwondo tournament.”
He smirks. “Stay put for a second. Let me come around and open the door for you.”
I roll my eyes, knowing there’s no point in arguing with him that I am, in fact, capable of opening the car door and getting out myself. His non-negotiable rule is, if we’re in the same car together, he will always open my door to help me out and he will always carry the baby carrier.
Coming around the front of his 1956 Chevy Corvette, he pulls my door open, letting the warm August breeze travel over my skin. Yes, the man has other cars besides his truck—though that is still his favorite. And then there’s the Land Rover he bought me as a “push gift”. I told him all I wanted was sushi and a nap, but instead, I came home to a new car waiting in my driveway.
This Corvette, however, is only available to him when he visits L.A., which is what we’re doing this weekend.
Patton had two talk shows to attend, both to talk aboutThe Winning Pitchand raise awareness for the foster programs here in L.A., so I decided to come along with him.
It’s our first weekend away from Gia, and I won’t lie, we’ve spent most of it missing her, FaceTiming my dad and Emanuel every chance we get in order to see her little face, hear her little coos, and watch her hands curl and uncurl. Every time she smiled at the camera, my heart skipped a beat and I wished I could snuggle her.
This afternoon, Abby and Hector were at Dad’s house, too.
Since meeting them both at the hospital after Gia’s birth, Dad and Emanuel have made it a point to befriend Abby and Hector, even going on hikes with them and inviting them over for lunch. The four of them have also kept in touch with Patton’s foster parents, often video chatting with them, especially when Gia is around.
It’s been incredible to see the six of them get closer, but honestly, it’s not surprising, either. Sure, having a grandbaby to unite and dote over was the catalyst for their friendship, but I give a lot of the credit to my amazing dad, too. His heart is as immense and boundless as his personality.
With the sun low on the horizon, I let Patton pull me up, my chest colliding softly with his. The second the door shuts, he pins me against it, though I’m not exactly protesting. His gaze drops to my mouth before his fingers trace up my spine, bare under my backless sundress, sending waves of goosebumps skittering over my skin.
Goosebumps and butterflies.
My body has no shortage of them when it comes to this man.
His forehead meets mine as his hand cradles my face. “I figured we’d finish the date we were supposed to have that night before you rushed off like a scared kitten.”
My head tilts up to meet his hungry eyes, reminiscent of smoldering wood after a fire, and I take a greedy inhale of his masculine scent, that heady combination of bergamot and mint I love so much.
“I remember thinking nothing had changed. That you still belonged to the world.”
“And now?”
