I stared at my phone, locking and unlocking it. I needed to call Oliver. But what would I say?

Faith had taken Chloe downstairs for a snack, but I was still on the floor just inside Oliver's room. What had happened? Had I misread the situation? Did Oliver not want the baby? I finally gathered up the courage to press dial just as the front door opened and the most delicious scent wafted up the stairs. I sprang to my feet. It was Oliver's scent, honey and lavender.

And there he was. I froze, not wanting to make a wrong move. Why had he left? Why had he returned? Until now, I'd had no huge worries in our relationship. I had concerns and thoughts, like any new relationship, but now I was terrified of losing him. Like I'd lost Jen. His disappearance was different, but it stirred up those same fears of abandonment.

He stared up the stairs at me, an equal uncertainty weighing down his normally cheerful expression.

Slowly, I took my first step down the stairs, and then another.

"You left..." my voice cracked, but I didn't care.

Oliver nodded, his eyes not leaving my face. "I was stupid."

I took another few slow steps. "Why?"

Oliver came up the stairs to meet me, and we stood in the middle, staring at each other. 

"I—" He cleared his throat. "I let my fears get the best of me. When you didn't say anything, when you ran away, I thought... well, you can imagine what I thought."

I reached tentatively for his hand. "I didn't— I couldn't—"

Oliver smiled wryly. "I figured that out. With a little help from Marge."

I was still frozen, my emotions whiplashing from excitement to despair to tentative hope.

He let me take his hand. "I'm so, sorry, Wyatt. I assumed I knew what you were feeling, I didn't ask. That was unfair and wrong of me. Can you forgive me?"

I pulled him to me, desperately. "I'd thought I'd lost you, and I didn't know why."

"Can we get off the stairs? Looking up at you like this is hurting my neck."

"Yeah, but let's go to my room. Chloe is really upset, and I don't... let's talk first."

I saw the regret on his face, but I had to hold myself back from trying to comfort him. Yes, my reaction had been inconsiderate, but his had as well. And he'd hurt my little girl. 

We sat on the edge of my bed, our fingers twined together.

"How do you feel about this baby?" Oliver asked

"I'm excited," I admitted. "I mean, maybe this isn't how we thought things would play out, but I've always wanted more children." I hesitated, then asked, "How do you feel?"

Oliver took a deep breath and I braced myself. He'd said before he loved children, but loving children and being pregnant were two different ball games.

"I'm in disbelief," he said. "I thought for so long this was something I'd never have. And I wanted it so bad, I'm almost afraid to believe it's happening. Maybe that's part of why I ran. It's hard to believe that all of this is happening, that everything I've ever wanted could be mine. I'm afraid it's a dream. I'm afraid someone is going to take it away."

I finally wrapped my arms around him. "No one is going to take me away. No one is going to take our baby away." I took a deep breath. "But your running away is definitely an issue. Chloe is devastated."

Oliver heaved a broken sob. "I know."

"If we're going to be a family, you can't do that. We need to be a team. We need to talk."

Oliver nodded. "I know."

It hurt me to push him like this. I wanted to wrap him up and protect him. I wanted to whisk him away to a place where nothing bad could ever happen to us. But there was no such place. And I had not only Oliver and our little one to protect, I had to protect Chloe.

"What do you want to do now?"

Oliver's head was on my shoulder so I couldn't see his face. "I want to stay," he said. "That's all I've ever wanted. And if I feel like running again, for whatever reason, I'll wait until we've talked about it. Really talked about it."

I heaved a sigh of relief. It would take a while before I could enter the house without wondering if he'd disappeared again. But I wanted the chance to try and move past that.

"I want to talk to Chloe about us and I want you to move into my bedroom."

He lifted his head to look at me in surprise.

"Partly, I know that if you're not in bed with me, I'm not going to sleep because I'll be half awake wondering if you're really here. But mostly because I want you there. Our relationship needs to be built on hope and love, not fear. But I will be honest with you about my fears."

"That... that sounds good."

I rubbed his arm comfortingly. "Are you ready to go talk to Chloe?"

"Actually, can I talk to her alone, first?" Oliver asked. "I think I need to apologize to her."

I pulled him into a hug, so grateful he'd come back, so terrified he would leave again. "I think that would be good. I'll let Faith know she can head home and I'll bring Chloe up."

He got to his feet. "If you could take a few minutes, that would be amazing. I just need to prepare something for her. I'll be in her room when she's ready."

He turned to go but I stood and pulled him back into a kiss. I poured all of my fear, all of my desire, all of my hope into that kiss, and when I finished, Oliver sagged against me. 

"Well, I certainly understand the weak-kneed heroine now," he said, his voice breathy.

"I'll send her up in a minute," I promised.

Faith and Chloe were playing with play dough in the kitchen, Chloe's face still tear-streaked, but calmer.

"Thanks, Faith. We're good here. Do you need a ride home?"

She grabbed her bag as I paid her, but turned down the offer of a ride. "Aunt Sally said she'd wait for me, so I'll just catch a ride with her. Thanks, though! Bye, Chloe!"

Chloe waved a half-hearted goodbye.

"How are you, Chloe bug?"

She shrugged.

"Are you sad?"

She nodded.

"Can you tell me why?"

"Oliver doesn't want to be my daddy."

I couldn't help the surge of frustration toward Oliver. But he was going to have to fix his relationship with Chloe on his own.

"Do you want to talk to Oliver?" 

If she wasn't ready for it, I wouldn't make her. Even though it would hurt me to see Oliver hurting more as well. But Chloe nodded.

"I want to tell him it's okay if he doesn't want to be my daddy. He can still be my Oliver."

A tear dripped onto the table in front of her and I pulled my beautiful baby girl into my arms. "I'm so sorry, Chloe bug. Oliver wants to talk to you, too."

She pulled back to look me in the face. "He's here?"

"He's here, baby girl."

She jumped off of me, suddenly all excitement. "Where? Where is my Oliver?"

"Go on up to your room, Chloe bug. I think he has a surprise for you."

She shrieked and ran for the stairs.

I followed to make sure she didn't hurt herself, yelling, "Be careful, Chloe! No running on the stairs!"

I stayed at the bottom though. If only my heart would heal as fast as hers seemed to.