I believe him completely.
I lean into him again and he holds me tighter, one hand cradling the back of my head.
We stay like that for a long moment, just breathing each other in, collecting the pieces of ourselves that were scattered all over the floor five minutes ago.
Then Jake pulls back enough to look down at me.
“Are you okay?” he asks softly, and there’s such genuine worry in his eyes that my chest aches all over again.
“I don’t know,” I admit, laughing weakly through tears. “I think so. I think I’m in shock.”
“Yeah,” he says. “Same.”
His hand drifts, tentative, to my stomach.
The gesture is so gentle it almost breaks me.
He rests his palm there for a second, like he’s trying to understand the enormity of it. I cover his hand with mine.
“We don’t even know for sure yet,” I whisper. “I mean, I know the test was positive, but we haven’t seen a doctor or—”
“We will,” he says immediately.
The certainty in his voice makes me smile. “Okay.”
We stand there a little longer, still touching, still stunned.
His forehead presses against mine. Quietly, he says, “Come home,” like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
My eyes sting again.
Home.
I nod. “Okay.”
He kisses me once more, slow and relieved, then reaches down and grabs my bag like this was always how tonight was supposed to end.
I almost laugh.
“You really expected to leave with me,” I say.
He looks over his shoulder. “Sunshine, I drove here already planning to fight for you.”
***
Back at Jake’s house later, everything feels changed and exactly the same at once.
Bear nearly launches himself into my arms the second I step through the door, wriggling with joy and zero understanding of emotional nuance.
“Oh, hi, baby,” I laugh, crouching to hold him while he licks my chin with the enthusiasm of a creature who has never once doubted love.
Jake drops my bag by the stairs and watches us with that soft expression again.
This whole night still feels like something I might wake up from.
I stand and walk to him.
He opens his arms without hesitation.
