Hildy begins with the title, “Guess How Much I Love You.”
“Do you love me, Faulker?” Lucy asks.
I don’t have to ponder this question; I already know the answer doesn’t require it. “Yes, very much.”
“I love you too.” She yawns and looks at Hildy.
She quickly schools her shocked expression and begins, “Once there were two Nutbrown Hares…”
When Hildy closes the book, Lucy is fast asleep.
I tuck her in, and we both quietlysneak out of her room like teenagers, door clicking shut as softly as possible. The hallway light is dim, and the house is quiet.
I take Hildy’s hand and head down the hallway toward the calendar and turn toward her.
Hildy turns to me, “You took me a bit off guard with the kiss, well, both,” she says as she grips my shirt. “I should have reciprocated.” She pulls me down and does just that.
It’s hot, real hot, and so is the moan that escapes her, that my groan tries to swallow up. This woman…
I pull away and exhale a deep growl that even surprises me. “I like where this is heading.”
“But it’s not, you have a schedule we need to be mindful of while we’re here and —”
“While you’re here?” I shake my head and step into her space, pinning her against the wall very gently as I place my hand on her little bump. “No one is leaving here. The house is your home, Lucy’s home, our child’s home, and God willing mine too.”
“You don’t have to do?—”
“Hildy,” I shake my head. “I was hugely turned on by not just your looks, but your mind. So much so, I almost contactedMatthias Eberhardt to find out who the professor was who arranged the lecture, just so I could track you down. Then I remembered I was a man who doesn’t play with things that can’t be his,” I chuckle, “Well, not more than once.” She sags against the wall. “I take family obligations seriously,” I rub my thumb across her belly. “You and Lucy are part of that. No, not just part, you matter more.” She blinks a few times. “If you decide one day that you don’t like my boots in your entry, or my cleats hanging by the door, all you have to do is tell me, and I will leave. This is your home as much as it is mine. No, I take that back, it is more yours, as before you and before Lucy, and before fate brought you both here, it was just a place.”
She swallows hard, “I?—”
“Logic and reason do not fuck with fate, Hildy.” I wink, and she smiles that gorgeous, wide smile. “Now,” I step back and take her hand, pulling her behind me. “I saw the doctor’s appointment on the calendar, and I wanted to know,” I continue, honest now, “if that was an invitation. Because if it were, I would very much like to go with you.”
I don’t say anything else. I don’t push. I just look at her.
Inside, everything feels full. Heavy in the best way. My girls. This life. The quiet certainty that I adore them more than I have words for.
I wait for her answer.
She hesitates, then exhales again, softer this time, like she is choosing honesty instead of deflection.
“It’s not just me,” she says. “Lucy has an appointment at the same time. Kind of a fake one. Same family practice. Her doctor offered to keep an eye on her while I go upstairs to OB.”
I nod slowly, needing her to give in; hell, I’m praying for it.
“It might feel strange to her,” Hildy adds. “Even though she likes the doctor.”
“I can make it work.” I lean in, “I’ll leave practice early, drive to the appointment alone. I’ll send a car for you and?—”
She laughs, sharp and disbelieving. “Lenzin, no. The subway is fine.”
I move closer, close enough that the space between us disappears. “You’re not taking the subway.”
Her chin tips up, lips ghosting mine. “I’ve been doing it just fine on my own for years.”
I tilt my head, my mouth brushing her ear, my hands settling at her hips. “Same boat, different ocean. Let’s sail together.”
She scoffs, but her body betrays her immediately, “You’re demanding too much too soon.”
