I thought he probably meant that, but I also thought he really was a little nervous. He’d just upended his whole life, and it was still shifting under his feet.
“You suddenly care about getting busted?” I raised an eyebrow.
“You know, I did until you came along.”
The way he was smiling right now was chipping away at the amountIcared about getting busted, that was for sure.
I reached out to take his hand, and as soon as our fingers brushed together he grabbed me like a lifeline.
“Maybe a little nervous,” Milo admitted with one of those shy smiles I still loved.
“I’m here,” I said. “No promises nothing’s gonna go wrong ever again, but… if it does, I’ll be there to… well, no promises I’ll be anyhelp, but I’ll still, y’know. Be there. Always.”
“That’s enough help for me,” Milo said, squeezing my hand.
The elevator pinged as we reached the floor, and I squeezed his hand back, but he didn’t let go as we stepped out into the ward.
That was good, because I needed someone to hold my hand while I did what I was going to do next.
“So, uh… you’re really staying in town, huh?” I asked, fighting the urge to scratch the back of my neck nervously.
“Really,” Milo said, squeezing my hand again, pausing outside Dawn’s room so he could turn and face me. “I mean it. I’m not backing out now.”
“No, right, I believe you,” I said, holding his hand even tighter. “It’s just, y’know, it’s not as though you can sleep in the nursery, and uh. You, umm… you’re moving in, right? With me? Permanently?”
Milo’s eyes widened, but he still didn’t let go of my hand.
“Are you… asking me to move in?”
My teeth dug into my lip as I nodded. Yes. A hundred times yes. I’dbeghim to move in if I had to.
Milo broke into one of those smiles that, so far, were just for me.
“Then I’m moving in,” he said. Then he paused, glanced up and down the hall, and swooped in to peck me on the lips.
Right as the door to Dawn’s room opened, their mom coming out through it.
“There you two are,” she said. It was in her Mom Voice, but she couldn’t quite hide the smile on her face as she looked at the two of us.
I was glad I had a head start on making a good impression on her.
“Here we are,” Milo agreed, dragging me into the room with him.
I didn’t take in much of the discharge process, falling into the role of holding things—including a baby carrier, which was a huge responsibility—when I was handed them.
Mostly, I split the time between cooing over the babies and trying not to actually burst with happiness. Milo was moving in with me.
I got to keep him.
Dante was going to say he told me so, and I didn’t even care.
Once we had everyone packed into Milo’s car, he pinned me against the trunk, tilted my chin up with his knuckle, and kissed me in the middle of the hospital parking lot.
“You mean it?” he asked. “About moving in with you?”
“I mean it,” I said, grinning up at him.
He stole one last kiss before letting me go, waving me around to the passenger side of the car. I was still grinning so hard my face hurt.
