Rosie turned to him, the phone momentarily forgotten. “I always knew that. You never had to convince me.” Himself, maybe. But never her.
The bedroom door burst open, and the boys came bounding in. And did they freak out that she and Gideon were in bed together? On the contrary, they seemed to think it was the natural order of things.
“Is that Mommy and Daddy on the phone?” Noah squeezed in to get his face into the picture, with Jorge nudging close too.
“Hey, sweetie,” Ari said. “Hi, Jorge. Blow me a kiss.”
As the boys puckered up and blew kisses over and over again, Ari and Matt caught the kisses and blew their own right back.
“Your daddy and I miss you so much,” Ari said. “We’ve got so many pictures to show you.”
“And presents too,” Matt added with a smile.
“Yay!” the kids cried. Then Jorge said, “We’ve got bunches of stuff to show you too, like how Mom and Gid are totally in love now.” Jorge hooked a thumb over his shoulder at them.
A week ago, Gideon would have tensed up if Jorge had said something along those lines. Especially since they hadn’t actually said the four-letter word to each other. But not only was he undaunted, he actually chuckled while keeping his arm clamped firmly around her waist and the covers battened down against the two squirming boys on the bed.
“It didn’t take as long to make them fall in love as I thought it would,” Noah said to his parents.
“Yeah,” Jorge agreed. “Noah was pretty sure they’d take the whole two weeks. But it was way faster.”
Noah turned to Jorge. “Now you’re going to be my brother.”
Jorge nodded with total reverence and solemnity. “Best friend brothers.”
It obviously didn’t matter that Gideon was Noah’s uncle—the boys had decided on the relationship they wanted and that was that.
On the phone, Matt’s eyes were sparkling. “Sounds like Noah and Jorge had it all mapped out for you two.”
Noah started chanting an old rhyme. “Rosie and Gideon sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.”
“First comes love,” Jorge joined in, “then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage.”
Rosie groaned. “All right, you two little matchmakers, out you go. It’s time for me and Gideon to get up.”
They raced out of the room, Noah calling, “Bye, Mommy! Bye, Daddy! Love you!”
“I can’t believe they’ve been planning this all along,” Gideon said. “With all their sleepovers and playdates every day.”
“Little sneaks,” Rosie groused good-naturedly. Inside, she was glowing. On the outside too, actually. “We totally fell for it.”
“Any updates on the ex situation?” Matt wanted to know.
“Nothing yet, but don’t worry,” Gideon reassured them again, “we won’t let anything happen to Noah.”
“We know you won’t,” Ari said. “You don’t have to keep saying it.”
He nodded, then said with a smile, “Looks like the honeymoon is treating you well.”
“It really is.” Ari was glowing. “But we miss all of you.”
“We miss you too.” Just like the kids, Rosie blew Ari and Matt a kiss.
When they hung up, the silence in the room was broken only by the hollering from the boys in the kitchen.
“I’m glad they called,” Gideon said. “I want them to know about us. I want everyone to know.” Then he dropped his voice and sang softly, “Rosie and Gideon lying in a bed, k-i-s-s-i-n-g,” before kissing her breathless.
Chapter Twenty-Two