We all lay about in food comas. Ali set up a movie for Jack and Ria’s girls to watch in the den, and my baby girl sleeps soundly in the bassinette beside me.
My parents called to say they landed safely and they would be over as soon as they got their luggage and a cab. I can’t wait to see them. No matter how old I get, I’ll always need my parents.
“I don’t think I could fit another thing in my mouth,” Gabby says innocently, and I can already hear Harry’s mind working.
“I’m sure Brad’s got something he could fit in your mouth,” he says, chuckling like an adolescent boy.
Gabby tosses a couch cushion at him as Ali playfully taps his chest.
“Thank God for stretchy pants,” I announce. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever wear anything that doesn’t have an elasticated waist ever again.”
“Give it time,” Ria says, winking from across the couch where she lies on Jack’s chest.
Watching them all with the other halves makes me pine for Noah. Feeling the emotion about to take over, I get up and announce I am using the bathroom. When I reach the bathroom, I close the door and slide to the floor, covering my mouth to smother my cries.
Everyone keeps saying how well I’m copying, but the truth is, I am silently drowning. A piece of me, a piece of us, is missing, and as the days drag on, the not knowing is the worst part. The wordswhat iflinger in my mouth like a sour taste. I feel like I am stuck in time with no way towards the future.
I allow myself a few minutes to cry in the silence of the dark bathroom and then rise to my feet, splashing cold water on my face and taking a centering breath before heading back to the others.
There is a light tap at the front door.
“I’ll get it,” Harry yawns, stretching his arms above his head before he slides out from a sleepy Ali. “It’ll be mom and dad.”
I flick on the kettle and lift open the cabinet in search of the herbal teas.
“Tori,” Harry calls.
“Just a sec.”
“Tori,” Harry says a little firmer this time, but there’s an air of something in his voice that has me closing the cabinet and turning to face him. The box of tea bags slips between my fingers as I focus on the person beside him.
My head swims, the floor beneath suddenly feeling unsteady as my mind, my body, and my eyes play catch up. Looking utterly beautiful and broken, like he’s crossed oceans to be here, dressed in military boots and black clothing and staring back at me, is Noah. My Noah.
“Hey, darlin’.”
I stand, frozen, not sure if this is a dream that I’ll wake from if I move, but when the sultry sound of his voice echoes in my ears, my feet move toward him like a powerful magnet. I couldn’t stop the pull that my body has to him if I tried. I throw my arms around him, and he squeezes me so tightly as if he were checking it was really me. His touch instantly takes away all the pain of the last five months, and when his lips crash down on mine, I whimper, allowing myself to get lost in his kiss. My fingers weave into his dark hair as he fists mine, deepening our kiss, sending sparks of life through my body.
With every caress, he pulls together the scattered pieces of my heart, fusing them back together in a way that only he could.
He’s here.
He found a way back to us.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Noah
The events of the past ten days feel like a distant memory, now she’s in my arms. The team and I moved mountains to get out of the country we were in.
When our helicopter was taken out, and we crash landed, we knew we only had a limited amount of time, and few resources to get to safety. Our time was spent moving under the blanket of night, bribing locals for lifts, weapons, anything we might need to get to a safety checkpoint, and then get out of the country.
I wanted to call Tori, get a message to her that I was okay and safe. I can’t imagine the stress and worry she has had placed upon her, but now I have the rest of my life to make it up to her and our daughter.
At the thought of our daughter, I become aware of just how close Tori’s body is pressed to mine and the lack of baby bump separating us, and my heart sinks.
I missed it.
I missed my daughter being born, a moment I’ll never get back.
