“Oh, that was...I forgot how...” Tessa starts, but her voice trails off.
“Better than Krispy Kreme donuts?”
“Somuch better,” she says, turning to me with a satisfied smile. Her face grows serious, and she stares at me for a second. “I don’t know why you don’t want to do that more often.”
“What?Me?” I ask, shocked that she could ever think that. A tiny smile crosses her lips, then she bursts into fits of giggles.
“Oh, I get it. Very funny, Mrs. Langdon.”
“It was! You should have seen the look on your face.”
A grin works its way out of me, then I chuckle a little, relieved to have my Tessa back. “There you are. Christ, I’ve missed you,” I say, leaning over and giving her a lingering kiss.
“I’ve missed me, too, but I’m back.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” she says, reaching up and running her hand over my cheek and down to my jaw.
“Now that you’re back, there’s something I’ve been dying to ask you for months.”
“Oh God, have I beenthatawful?”
I look up at the ceiling for a second, trying to choose my words carefully.
Tessa speaks up before I can answer. “If you have to think about it, the answer is obviously yes.”
“Let’s just say there was no room in there for your wonderful sense of humour, and the fact that it’s back is maybe the best gift you could give me. Other than the babies, obviously.”
“Obviously, but what have you been waiting to talk to me about?”
I smile down at her, trying not to laugh. “Do you remember when you said that thing about the baby coming out of a Sharpe vagina?”
She narrows her eyes, and for a brief second, I think I’ve misread her mood and I’m about to ruin everything.
Shaking her head, she says, “I never said that.”
“Sure you did. Remember? When we were arguing about which obstetrician to go with? And you said that it may be a Langdon baby, but it was coming out of a Sharpe vagina?” I ask. “I can’t believe you don’t remember that. It was maybe the funniest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Tessa shrugs and shakes her head a little. “I think you imagined that. I’d never say something so preposterous.”
“Oh, you most certainly did. I couldn’t laugh at the time because, well, because...but I’ve been chuckling to myself about your sharp vagina almost daily since.”
Folding her arms, she says, “So, you’ve been laughing at my vagina?”
Damn. “No, definitely not. Your vagina is...perfectly perfect, just like the rest of you. But come on, you don’t find it funny? Sharpe?” I pause for a second, then quietly say, “Vagina?”
Just when I’m feeling rather sheepish, Tessa’s shoulders start shaking and she’s laughing again.
“Oh, come on. So, you were just fucking with me again?”
Laughing, she nods her head. “It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. You’re so easy to trick now.”
“You do remember, then?”
Tessa nods, tears pouring down her cheeks. “I’ve been laughing at it myself.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
