“I didn’t want to burden anyone, and I didn’t want to be away from the house if you came home.”
He steps in front of me, lifts my chin, and looks into my eyes, his green gaze piercing straight through me.
“You’re too selfless sometimes. But I’m really glad you were home when I got here.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” he says hoarsely. “And trust me, I’m never leaving again.”
Then he kisses me, slow and searing, like he’s trying to make up for every moment we lost.
THIRTY-TWO
MATEO
I have kids. Two of them. And they are the cutest things I’ve ever seen, aside from their mom, of course.
After their nap, Vanessa shows me the basics of taking care of them. I can see the stress written all over her face, and I know it’s because of me. Today has made it painfully clear how much I’ve missed. Julian won’t let me hold him without crying, and Vanessa keeps telling me he’ll warm up to me.
But what if I missed too much?
We have dinner, and after we put the twins down in their nursery, I decide I need a shower. Vanessa heads downstairs to clean up.
In our bedroom, I step into the bathroom and realize how little has changed. My cologne is still on the counter. My body wash is still in the same spot. She didn’t move a thing.
I shower quickly, rinsing off the sweat and grime of the day. When I step out, I pull on a pair of gray sweatpants from the same drawer I left them in, and for the first time in a year, it feels like I’m actually home.
I head downstairs and into the kitchen. Vanessa has already cleaned almost everything, and I wasn’t even gone ten minutes.
I come up behind her and rest my hands on her waist. She startles slightly, and before I can slide them over her stomach, she gently moves them back.
“Hey,” I murmur into her ear. “You cleaned up fast.”
“Yeah,” she says. “I’m on a timer.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before one of them wakes up.” She points toward the stairs.
“Oh.” I smile. “Anything I can help with?”
“I’m going to clean up the living room next, if you just want to sit on the couch.”
“I’m not sitting on the couch. I’m helping.”
“Okay.”
She heads into the living room, where we spent most of the day. She’s already filled me in on her pregnancy, how the twins were born early and spent time in the NICU, how they’re hitting all the milestones now.
I watch her for a moment before speaking. “I know you gave me the rundown on them, but what about you? What have you been doing?”
“I quit my job and stayed here most of the time. Anytime someone got hurt and didn’t need the hospital, I handled it at Gino’s house.”
I watch her closely, wanting her to keep going.
“After I worked at the hospital for two weeks after you were kidnapped, I got too scared. I kept thinking I’d get bad news while I was there and wouldn’t be close enough to do anything. I needed something that kept me busy but also kept me close.” She exhales. “Alonso talked me through everything he could at Gino’s?—”
“Gino didn’t tell you anything?” I mutter. The overprotective brother routine clearly didn’t help.
