Michaela
Rosa dumped the contentsof my suitcase into a mesh laundry bag, muttering to herself in Spanish.
“I hear you, you know,” I said.
“Good.” She made a circle in the air above my luggage. “Then you know how dumb you are for thinking I would let you carry your laundry to the house on your own.”
I scrunched my nose at her. “That’s unkind.”
She wagged her finger back at me. “Hey, girl, I don’t coddle anyone but pregnant women. Accept it while you can.”
She’d caught me unpacking and had forced me to sit down on my little couch with my feet propped up while she took over.
I held my hands up. “I accept, I accept. I wasn’t going to lift anything anyway. The plan had involved a lot of dragging and roping Jason and Vanessa in as my servants.”
“Now, that, I admire. Half the reason I had children was to make them do my bidding.”
There was a light tap on my door, which was strange since my family had no trouble barging in. “Come in, you weirdos,” I called.
I flew to my feet—well…flewmight have been an exaggeration, given my newly rounded proportions—when Moses Aronson stepped inside. The sight of him filled me with both apprehension and nervous jitters. Over the last week, we’d spoken every day, sometimes for minutes, a couple times for an hour or more. He’d made me laugh, and I’d returned the favor, telling him about the men I’d had to yell at that day. He’d really gotten a kick out of that.
“Hey.” He tipped his head at my sister-in-law. “Nice to see you, Rosa.”
“Well, hello, Mo. So nice to see you. I was just about to leave.” She gathered up my laundry bag and turned away from Mo to waggle her eyebrows at me, then made her way to the door. “See you later.” She shut the door firmly behind her.
Through Rosa’s bustling exit, Mo’s eyes never left mine. My chest rose and fell in rapid bursts.
“Hi,” I said.
His lips tugged up. “Hey.”
His fingers twitched by his sides. My lungs inflated with a greedy inhale, hungry to breathe in his scent.
Mo took a step, and so did I. His fingers twitched. My lungs inflated. His smile grew.
I launched myself at him, and he caught me easily. My belly knocked the wind out of him, but he didn’t complain. He let me bury my face in his neck, soaking up his distinct ginger smell. Warm, solid arms closed around me, holding me close. A kiss was pressed to my temple.
“What are you doing here?” I mumbled against his skin.
“Seeing you.”
With reluctance, I pulled my face away from the crook of his neck. “Hi.”
Eyes swept over my face, pausing at my lips before meeting my gaze. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Michaela.”
“You too, Moses. I’m glad you’re here, but whyareyou here?”
It was late, and I had big plans of eating a few cookies and falling asleep covered in crumbs while watching Netflix in my cushy bed. As happy as I was to see him, his appearance confused me.
“I thought you might be worried whether I’d show up for the appointment tomorrow.”
I bit my bottom lip. The thought had crossed my mind one or two or a hundred times. “Maybe.”
“I was thinking I could stay here. Sleep on your couch, if that makes you comfortable. Then we can head to the appointment together. I already let Yael know I was here, but she can still come if you want her to.”
My eyes instantly welled with tears. “That’s really fucking considerate.” Dropping my forehead to his chest, I squeezed my eyes shut. “I mean freaking. And I’m good with it just being us tomorrow.”
“Are we not cussing anymore?”