Thankfully, Olivia lives five minutes away, so I don’t have to wait long. “Miss me?” Olivia asks as she steps inside.
“Terribly.”
She sets the car seats down and studies my face. “You didn’t sleep.”
“I did. Some.”
“Liar.”
I ignore that and scoop Walker up, inhaling the warm, powdery scent of him like it’s oxygen. Nicholas stirs in his seat, stretching tiny fingers in slow motion.
Olivia is persistent. “Well?”
“He left.”
“Emotionally or physically?”
“Physically.”
She gives me expectant eyes. “And?”
“I didn’t tell him.”
There’s a beat of silence.
“I was going to,” I rush. “I swear I was going to. He was right there. He was holding my waist. And I almost did it.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Because it would have shattered the moment, and I wanted one morning that didn’t involve consequences.
“Because he had to go to work,” I say instead. “This isn’t a drop-it-on-the-way-out-the-door kind of revelation.”
She sighs softly. “Perry…you had all of last night and this morning to tell him.”
“I know. I know. I’m going to tell him. I just—I need the right moment.”
“The right moment for something like this doesn’t exist.”
I look toward the bassinets again. My boys fuss and drool and make tiny fists, and all I can see is Damian when I watch them. How much he’d love them. How much they look like him.
“I’ll make the right moment.” There’s conviction in my voice now. It surprises even me. I have no idea how to do that. But it sounded good in my head.
Olivia studies me while I settle Walker against my shoulder and prepare his bottle. “Have you considered,” she says slowly, “that this might be exactly what Damian wants?”
I frown. “Excuse me?”
“He’s middle-aged. His son turned out…complicated.”
“That’s polite.”
“Men like that sometimes want a second chance at family. Damian seems like a good guy from everything you’ve said. He might be the rare man who deserves a second chance.”
Second chance.
