carolina
Things moved fast with Owen,faster than I could imagine, and by the following weekend, we were spending every day together after work. Either he would show up at my place, or he’d take me back to his straight from the office. We hadn’t talked yet about the politics of inter-office dating and what the crew might think of our tryst, but I imagined no one would be particularly put-out by us.
Sundays were the only day Owen took off during the week, so we were savoring it by cuddling in bed, a delivery order for breakfast from the local diner already sent in. His lips left tickling kisses along my neck as his hands smoothed my belly in comforting circles.
“Move in with me.”
“Sorry?” It was the only thing I managed to say even though I’d heard him clearly. I rolled over, turning to face him as that familiar sense of creeping panic began to crawl up my throat.
“Move in with me. Your apartment is way too small for you and two babies. This place is huge. There’s enough room for all of us and then some. That way, I can help you with the babies. Midnight feedings? Done. Mountains of laundry? Don’t worry about it.” He cupped my face, leaning in to kiss me softly as I continued to lay there like a statue, processing all this. He didn’t even know that the babies were technically his, and he was already offering to be their daddy without needing the biological part.
I needed to tell him. He deserved to know. Especially before I moved in with him, it had to be out on the table. But the moment I opened my mouth to try and say it, the panic arrived again, squeezing my voice box until only a squeak escaped.
“You can’t honestly say that you prefer your apartment to this place, can you?”
“Of course not,” I managed to croak, earning me one of those dazzling smiles that had the same effect as a mind-numbing agent.
“So, come live with me. If you want your own room, I’ve got the space. I built this place intending to have a big family one day, and I can see it with you. I can picture you standing in my kitchen, this belly even heavier with those perfect babies. I can picture them in a nursery you designed yourself, playing on the floor in a puddle of sunlight. I can hear them running through the halls when they’re toddlers, giggling and playing. I can picture all of that, and I want it, Carolina—with you.”
“W—why?” It wasn’t what I meant to say, but the word escaped.
Owen wasn’t deterred as he smiled. “Because I love you. I am so hopelessly in love with you. I can’t remember what my life looked like before you. It must’ve been dull and gray, though, because the second you walked up to me on the lot and said who you were, I was a goner.”
Even being with my ex as long as I was, I couldn’t remember him ever making such declarations to me. Our relationship might’ve started in love, but it had become one of convenience and never one of passion. Not like this with Owen.
And now that he’d told me of his vision, I could see it too. It filled my heart with such joy because that was all I had ever wanted. Looking back, I couldn’t see it with my ex. Not this clearly, not once.
“I love you too,” I whispered, leaning in to kiss him as he cupped the back of my head and deepened it. “This is the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. And I know this is thanks to you.” The voice in my head said I needed to tell him, but now it felt like the wrong moment. I didn’t want to spoil this by laying a truth on him when I wasn’t sure how he’d take it. It could wait, just a few more days. I wasn’t moving in with him today after all.
Downstairs, the deliverer knocked on the door, and reluctantly Owen and I disentangled. He was off the bed first, tugging on his boxers. I managed to roll myself to the side, carefully slinging one leg then the other off the bed.
“Hey, I’ll go grab it. You stay here.” He leaned in, kissing my forehead.
“Shouldn’t we eat at the table?”
“I’ll eat you at the table,” he said devilishly before stepping away and pointing at the bed. “Stay. I’ll be back in a moment.”
I smiled as he left, pushing myself back onto the pillows and grabbing my phone off the bedside table. I flicked it open to Arizona’s contact and texted her quickly. You were right, and I should’ve never doubted you.
Arizona: Obviously. But remind me what I was right about?
Me: Younger men. It’s … incredible.
Arizona: Ah, yes, their stamina is unmatched.
I laughed, looking up as Owen returned carrying a tray with a vase of red roses and our breakfast.
“M’Lady,” he said with a grin, bending one knee as he flicked out the legs of the tray with flourish and laid it over my lap. “Breakfast is served.”
“Thank you, kind lord,” I said, unable to hold back my laughter.
Owen climbed up beside me and grabbed the card from Butler’s Botanicals off the vase. “This would have been pretty awkward if you hadn’t said I love you back.” He grinned before holding it out to me.
I slid the small card out of the embossed satin envelope and flipped it over.
Thank you for everything. I want you to know you’re my world. XO O.
Warmth spread through me as I looked up at him. “How are you so certain?”
I didn’t want to doubt him, but that sureness felt daunting. I couldn’t recall ever being so certain about love in the way Owen seemed to be. Not with my ex, and even now, doubts of our age difference, the babies, and their parentage all filled me and left just a smidge of lingering fear.
“Like I said, Care, from the moment I saw you, the voice in my head said you were the one. And every day since then, you’ve further proven that voice to be true. I have no reason to doubt this feeling inside of me. All I know is I was made for you, and you were made for me.”