I let her have the silence.
Then she wipes at her face with the heel of her hand and gives a weak, disbelieving laugh.
“You are absolutely insane.”
“Yes.”
“You are proposing after I told you I am pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You have terrible timing.”
“I have been told.”
Her eyes meet mine.
“But you do not disappear again,” she says.
“I will not.”
“You do not make choices for me because you think you know better.”
“I will not.”
“You do not turn this baby into something you own.”
The words strike hard.
I nod once. “Never.”
Maya studies me for one more breath.
Then she holds out her hand.
“Yes,” she whispers.
The word does not sound real. I slide the band onto her finger. Maya looks down at it, then at me.
“You had my ring size?”
“I pay attention.”
“That is creepy.”
“It is useful.”
She laughs through the tears again, and this time I smile.
Then I stand, pull her gently against me, and hold her until the trembling leaves her body.
For the first time in my life, I do not feel the need to own the future. I hold her a little closer and let the silence do what words cannot. It is enough to know she is here, and that she is still looking at me as if I might be worth choosing.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Maya
The house Victor and Alex chose for the twins has a green front door, a wide porch, and a maple tree in the yard that has already begun to lose its leaves.
