“Okay. You’re singing my praises, so you may continue.”
“How generous.”
“I know.”
Luke pulled a face at Bella, grinned, and continued, “More important than any of that, you gave me our son. I can never imagine, I neverwantto imagine, how life would be without James. He’s the sweetest little boy. The smartest, too.”
“This I can get on board with,” Bella joked. “I like talking about how wonderful James is. Did you know he loves avocados now?”
Luke laughed. “I was there when he tried them, so yes, I know. Did you know he said?—”
“He didn’t say coagulate,” Bella cut in. Luke shook his head, his eyes dancing.
“You’d believe me if you’d heard it. I was surprised too, but some babies are just that smart.”
“Sure, sure.” Bella grinned. “I believe you.”
“Good.” Luke gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
“What was that for?”
“Believing me. Now, back to singing your praises.”
“Please, continue.”
“The most important thing of all,” Luke said, “isn’t what you’ve given me — my family back, friends, or our son. The most important part is you. You’ve brought so much light and so much happiness into my life. I still remember the moment I saw you at that bar, wearing jeans and a shirt with your hair down around your shoulders, and thinking how beautiful you were. I remember dipping our feet in the pool and going up to my room.”
“And making James.”
Luke smiled. “And making James. I remember how much I missed you when we didn’t see each other for months and I couldn’t track you down — even though I felt like a lovestruck idiot since we’d only met each other once. I think part of me knew that we were meant to be together and to have a future, and I couldn’t wait for that future to start.”
“I understand that,” Bella said quietly. “From the moment I met you, you changed how I looked at things.”
“Exactly,” Luke said. “And then you came into my ER in a flour-dusted apron, and I was shocked.”
“You weren’ttooshocked, because you asked me to move in with you right away,” Bella said.
Luke chuckled. “True. And then there was that first month, when we just played board games, and I ate your food, and we tried to keep our distance.”
“And then we got to know each other.”
“And I fell for you, more and more every day,” Luke said. “I remember feeling James’s kicks for the first time, painting his nursery?—”
“Well,Ipainted his nursery.”
“Hey, it isn’tmyfault I got an emergency page whenever we tried to start.”
“I mean, it is a little bit your fault.”
“Maybe a little. And then coming home to find you about to give birth, and delivering James. I’ll never forget that.”
“Me neither. When you came, I was so relieved. I knew everything was going to be okay.”
“And it has been. Even when things were at their darkest. Remember that diaper blow-out at three a.m. when James was two weeks old?”
Bella threw her head back and laughed. “Vividly. It haunts my nightmares.”
“Mine, too,” Luke chuckled. “And then, when he said his first word?—”
