“Michael? Why are there men I don’t know surrounding the house?” I ask, frustrated. There’s at least three guys…three scary looking guys, standing around my house. None of them look familiar.

“Protection. I’m not taking any chances on something happening to you and the baby. I can’t be awake 24/7 and I can’t be everywhere. This helps,” he explains patiently, his hand at my back as he helps me up the steps. I’m holding the baby. We both had to stay in the hospital a little longer. He had jaundice and had to stay longer and I wasn’t about to leave him. Now he’s got the all clear and we’re home—finally. He will still have to go back for some bloodwork, to make sure his levels keep going down.

“But…Who are they? I’ve never seen them before. Where’s Clive?”

“Will you forget about Clive,” Michael growls. “Jesus, woman. He’s gone.”

“Are you jealous?” I ask giggling, because obviously he is. I’d be a liar if I didn’t say that it didn’t make me feel good.

“Hayden,” he growls and I giggle harder.

“Fine. Whatever. Who are these people?” I ask him, when I finally get control of myself.

“Can’t we get Junior in the house first? So he doesn’t catch a chill?”

“It’s eighty degrees out here, Michael.”

“Are you always going to argue with me?” he grumbles, but his eyes are crinkling, which means he’s happy.

“Probably,” I giggle as he opens the door to my kitchen and lets us in.

“Let me just get Michael changed and we’ll—”

“We’ll do nothing, Hayden. You’re going to rest.”

“But I’m hungry and no offense, Michael you have many skills, but cooking is definitely not one of them,” I rebuff him gently.

“I can make a mean bologna sandwich.”

I curl my nose and shake my head. “Um…no. No bologna.”

“Fine, I bought you some tuna, I’ll make you that. You whined while you were pregnant that you had to give it up,” he says and he has no idea how much he has floored me. He remembered I liked tuna. He remembered that I hated giving it up. More importantly, he went out and bought it for me. I don’t know where he found the time. He barely left me alone and yet, he managed to have our home protected, and make sure we had food in the house. I hadn’t even bought the baby a car seat yet, but he showed up today with a brand new one. The baby loves it, though instead of leaving him in it, I’m carrying him now. I’m not supposed to lift a lot yet, so I was afraid to chance carrying him and the seat.

“I think I love you Michael Jameson,” I tell him, reaching up on my tiptoes to kiss him. He takes my kiss and it might have gone further, but the baby picks that moment to cry out. We break apart and I give the baby some attention, quieting him down.

“Why don’t you go rock him in the nursery and I’ll bring your food and take over while you eat,” he suggests.

“Yeah, I was right. I definitely love you,” I tell him. I used to be nervous about saying it, but I’ve noticed something. Every time I tell Michael I love him, his eyes sparkle and he smiles. Every time. Knowing that I love him makes him happy. Maybe if I say it enough, one day…he might say it back.

“Go. I’ll try and fix you a sandwich without burning it,” he mutters, which makes me giggle.

I walk through the hall and open the door to the nursery. When I got here I began drawing the images on the wall to match the old nursery. Yet, I hadn’t been able to replace all the things Michael purchased. I looked and looked around here and on the internet, but I hadn’t been able to find the animals again. I went with the solid color yellow to match, because I had no choice. When I walk into the room, everything is changed. Everything including the furniture. All the things that Michael bought me in North Carolina, are now here. Here in this house. Little Michael now has the nursery I always intended to give him—right down to this beautiful but silly lamp of an elephant wearing a yellow tutu.

I don’t know how long I stand there, touching the lamp by the glider. It must have been a while because Michael comes in carrying a paper plate with my food and a drink. I look up at him and I do my best to broadcast all the love, and gratitude I have in my heart for him right now.

“Hayden?”

“When did you find time? How did you get it all here?” I ask him, my voice so soft that he probably has to strain to hear it.

“Victor helped me get it here, but I had already shipped it to his house after you left. I wanted Maggie…Michael to have it.”

“Thank you Michael. Thank you so much,” I tell him my heart so full it’s a miracle I even get the words out.

He clears his throat out—obviously uncomfortable. He puts the food on the small shelf by the door. “It was yours,” he tries to shrug off and I let it go because the last thing I want is for him to be embarrassed. “That does bring up one thing we need to discuss. You can’t call me Michael and then the baby that too. It’s too damn confusing.”

“Do you wish I hadn’t named the baby after you?”

“No…I like that he has my name—especially my last name, Hayden.”

“I don’t know what to do then, because I’m not calling you Beast.”

“I don’t want you to.”

“Then what do you suggest?” I ask him, completely lost.

“I’d hate for the little guy to grow up being called Junior.

“We’ll call him Connor then,” I tell Michael and he smiles.

“Connor it is,” he agrees and he kisses me softly. Yeah. He definitely likes that the baby has his name.

“Connor it is,” I murmur against Michael’s lips, before he pulls away. He looks down at me, his fingers curling a strand of my hair. I’m not sure he’s aware of what he’s doing, but he’s smiling broadly and a smile on Michael’s face is starting to look more and more natural.