“Good.”
He holds Roman closer to his side and presses a kiss on his head. My heart explodes with love for him. I owe him so much. I can never repay him for what he’s done for us.
“I was so scared when the call came into the firehouse,” he says quietly. “When I heard you and Roman were trapped, I could barely breathe.” He shakes his head. “To find out you were trapped because of your bedroom door…” He trails off. “I should have taken a look at it when you first told me.”
“Lucas, this isnotyour fault.” I untangle my fingers from his and cup his face. He leans into my touch and presses a kiss on the palm of my hand. “When will we know what caused the fire?”
“A few days. There’ll be an investigation. If it turns out to be the old fuse box that started the fire, then your landlord could face charges. There are laws you have to adhere to when you rent out a property. He must have broken a ton of them. He deserves to face charges.”
“Everything’s going to be gone, isn’t it?” I whisper, the enormity of what’s happened hitting me like a slap in the face. I’d been so worried about Roman I hadn’t taken a minute to think about what the fire meant for us.EverythingI owned was in that house. Things of Roman’s from when he was a baby that I can’t replace.
“I think a lot of things will be, but there might be some things we can salvage.”
“What am I going to do? Where are we going to live? All our clothes and Roman’s toys. Gone.” My words tumble out in a rush, and a wave of panic washes over me. I suddenly can’t breathe. My palms begin to sweat and there’s a loud ringing in my ears. I can vaguely feel Lucas squeezing my hands, and he’s talking to me, but I have no idea what he’s saying. His thumbs stroke the back of my hand, and after a few minutes, his touch seems to pull me from the edge. When the ringing in my ears lessens, my eyes meet his worried ones.
“Breathe, baby. Everything’s going to be okay.”
I shake my head. “How?”
“You and Roman are going to move in with me.”
My eyebrows rise in surprise. “What?” He can’t mean that. He has to be saying that because he knows we have nowhere else to go.
He releases my hands and slides off the bed, laying Roman down and covering him with a blanket. Walking toward me, he pulls me up to stand and wraps me in his arms.
“I love you, Melody. We might not have been together long, but I know how I feel. I’ve wanted to say the words to you for a while now. I wish I’d said them sooner.” He drops his forehead on mine. “You and Roman mean everything to me.”
I should be surprised by his words, especially as we’ve only been together for a few weeks, but I’m not. I can feel his love every time we’re together.
“I love you too, Lucas.”
He lifts his head. “You do?” I smile and nod. “I never thought I could be happy again after my ex, but you changed that. You made me believe in love again.”
He smiles widely before lowering his head, his lips brushing mine. “Does that mean you’ll move in with me?”
I stare at him, my eyes searching his for any clue that he doesn’t really want this. I don’t see any. All I see is love. My insecurities mean I can’t fully push down my doubts, though, despite him telling me how he feels about me. “Okay,” I whisper. “If you’re sure.”
“I’m more than sure. I wish I’d asked you before the fire so you’d know I’m not asking because you have nowhere else to go.”
“I swear you can read my mind,” I tell him with a chuckle.
“I know you better than you think, baby. I want you and Roman with me all the time. Never doubt that. I can’t wait for us to be a family.”
I shake my head, overwhelmed by his words. I never thought I could be as happy as I am with Lucas. He just makes everything better.
“I want that too, Lucas. More than anything.”
“Good. I was all set to convince you if you’d said no.”
I smile. “Really? And what did you have in mind?”
“Oh, trust me. I can beverypersuasive.”
He kisses me again. It’s a kiss full of love and tells me he means everything he says. I hope my kiss tells him the same.
“Mommy?” Roman rasps from behind Lucas.
Stepping out of Lucas’s embrace, I go to Roman.