“Yeah.”
They got dressed quickly, both fumbling with clothes and buttons in their haste. Solo kept stealing glances at Janie, at the way her dress hung slightly askew, at the marks on her neck and collarbone Solo had made in the throes of passion, at the way her hair was gloriously messed up from their night together.
“What?” Janie asked, catching Solo staring.
“You look thoroughly…loved,” she said and grinned. “It’s a good look on you.”
Janie flushed pink. “You’re ridiculous.”
“You love it.”
“I really do.”
They checked out of the hotel, receiving only a slightly raised eyebrow from the young person behind the desk, and Janie drove them home through the somewhat quiet streets of early morning Chicago. In between watching Janie’s profile and the concentration in her expression, Solo looked out over the lake and toward the horizon that was so distant, it made the water seem like an ocean. The beautiful sight got her thinking how much she loved that they were raising their kids in a place where they got all the benefits of a city as well as this.
When they pulled up to the house, Janie grasped Solo’s thigh and squeezed a little too hard.
She placed her hand over Janie’s and eased it up slightly. “Are you okay?”
“I’m nervous. I don’t know why. This is my house. And yet…”
“But this is different.” Solo lifted Janie’s hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles. “You’re coming home for real.”
Janie didn’t respond. She just nodded repeatedly, as if she couldn’t stop.
Solo stroked Janie’s hand. “We don’t have to make a big deal about it. We can just...let it be.”
Janie let out a long breath. “Okay,” she said and got out of the car.
Solo took her hand, and they crept up the path and into the house as quietly as possible, mindful of the rest of the sleeping household. The door of her dad’s bedroom was closed, and the triplets’ room was silent. They’d timed it perfectly, arriving about an hour before the girls would start waking up. Solo held onto Janie’s hand, a little scared that if she let go, Janie might run down the stairs and out of the house again. She gestured to their bedroom. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
In their bedroom, they stripped off their clothes, changed into PJs and climbed into bed. When Solo pulled Janie close, she tucked herself against Solo’s side with a sigh that seemed to come from a deep, hidden place.
“I missed this bed,” Janie whispered.
“I missed youinthis bed.”
They lay there in the quiet dimness, and that unsteady, off-beat rhythm of her heart, the one she’d become aware of since Janie had first moved out of their marital bed, settled. This was how it was supposed to be: Janie in her arms, in their bed, their home. Together.
“Thank you,” Janie said softly.
“For what?”
“For not pressuring me.” Janie moved her hand from Solo’s stomach to her chest.
Solo kissed the top of Janie’s head. “From now on, I’m always going to do whatever you need.”
They dozed lightly until the bedroom door was pushed open, and right on schedule, Tia stood in the opening, silhouetted and small in the half light of the hallway. Janie stiffened slightly in her arms, and Solo touched her back gently. “It’s okay,” she said and prayed it really would be. “Look who’s here!” She uncoupled herself from Janie and switched on the bedside lamp.
“Mommy! Mommy!” Tia tumbled along the carpet in toddler-turbo running style and began to clamber onto Janie’s side of the bed. “Mommy help!”
The oxygen came back into the room with a whoosh when Janie reached out from under the comforter without further hesitation and hoisted Tia onto the bed and between the two of them.
“Good morning, baby girl.” Solo kissed the top of Tia’s head, breathing in her unique toddler scent.
“Mommy home,” Tia said, clumsily sticking her hand in Janie’s face.
