Chapter Twenty-Seven
Noah
Elena and I held hands when we walked toward the house. When I walked in, Diane was in the kitchen fixing dinner for Lilly.
“Thank you, Diane,” I said. “You can go home.”
Diane looked at Elena and smiled.
“Have a good evening, Noah. Elena.” She walked past us to say goodbye to Lilly before she left the house. When Lilly came into the kitchen and saw Elena, she squealed and ran to her.
“You’re here!” she cried, and Elena kneeled to give Lilly a proper hug
“I am,” Elena said, laughing at Lilly’s enthusiasm. I watched the two of them together, hugging and chatting, so happy to see each other, and I knew that this was right. With Elena in my house, everything was the way it should be.
Lilly took Elena by the hand and dragged her out of the room to show her something. I stayed behind, smiling. I turned to the food Diane had prepared for Lilly and figured I would have to make food for the two of us as well, now that we were going to stay here for the night. I opened the fridge and looked at the contents.
I wasn’t in the mood to cook. Maybe we could go out somewhere or get takeout. I walked out of the kitchen in search of the two girls in my life. I found them in Lilly’s room where Lilly was showing Elena pictures she’d drawn at school that day.
“This one is us,” she said, pointing at three funny shaped people. “Daddy and you and me,” Lilly chatted on. “See my dress? It’s the new one daddy got me. And you can have a new one too. I drew you one with spots.”
“It’s beautiful,” Elena said, smiling and pointing and commenting on the colors. She looked up at me, but under her smile there was sadness.
“Gumdrop,” I said to Lilly, “Elena and I want to have a quick chat. Then after that, we’ll go out for dinner, what do you say?”
Lilly nodded eagerly.
“Right. Why don’t you decide what shoes you’re going to put on while Elena and I sit in the living room?”
Lilly agreed, happy to choose shoes from the pairs she had in her closet. I could already tell what her shoe closet would look like one day. She always wanted shoes.
Elena and I walked into the living room. She sat down on the couch where she always sat, the spot that I had come to think of as her spot, and she sighed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Elena said.
I shook my head. “I know something’s up. I can see it. I know you a little better by now.” I took her hand and pressed it to my lips. “You can tell me.”
Elena sighed. “You do know me quite well,” she said. “I’m sorry I stood you up. I feel awful about it.”
When she looked at me, it looked like she wanted to cry again. I shook my head and shifted closer to her on the couch, pulling her against me.
“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “We’ve taken care of that now. We’re okay. Let’s not look back.”
Elena nodded and looked down. I put my hand under her chin, lifting her head so I could look her in the eyes.
“You have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen,” I said to her. “Have I ever told you that?”
Elena shook her head.
“I’ll keep telling you that you are the most beautiful person, inside and out. So you never forget. I know why you did what you did. But it’s behind us now. We’re together, and I’m happier than any man could ever be. All I need is you in my life, and I know everything else will work itself out.”
Elena nodded, and this time, she looked like she believed me. There was trust in her eyes, and I would strive for the rest of my life never to break that trust. I leaned forward and kissed her. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and I held onto her tightly. I was never going to let go.
When we broke the kiss I hugged her to me and we sat like that for a while. My mind was spinning. I wanted to ask her something, something I’d been thinking about since I’d found out about the baby, but now suddenly I was nervous. My heart hammered against my chest and my mouth was suddenly dry.
“Elena,” I said and cleared my throat.
She looked up at me. “Yeah?”
“I was thinking, maybe you should move in with me.”
She sat back, lips slightly parted, face incredulous.
“What?” she asked.
I cleared my throat again. “Well, I was thinking with the baby, having you live with me would be a good idea for me to take care of you. And I want you here with me.” I took a deep breath. “Will you move in with me?”
Elena only had that shocked look on her face a moment longer before she smiled and nodded.
“Yes!” she said.
“Just like that? Without thinking about it?”
She nodded, still smiling. “Without thinking about it,” she said. “I know what I want. And it’s you.”
I kissed her again. Lilly came into the room, and we broke the kiss. Elena wiped her mouth, looking embarrassed, but Lilly didn’t seem to care at all.
“I chose my sparkly shoes,” she said, showing is the pink glitter shoes she had chosen. They were dress-up shoes, but I had told her she could choose, so I wasn’t going to tell her to take them off.
“Lil,” I said, pulling her onto my lap. “Your shoes are awesome.” I planted a kiss in her hair. “I have a surprise for you.”
“What?” Lilly asked.
“Elena is going to come live with us.”
Lilly looked at Elena as if she wanted her to confirm it. Elena nodded, smiling.
“You’re coming to stay here?” Lilly asked Elena, who nodded again. When she was sure she’d heard it right, she grinned. “That’s fun!” she cried out. I laughed and hugged her to me.
“That is fun,” I said. I looked at Elena who was smiling, too. I looked at her, raising my eyebrows. Should we tell her? Elena nodded. We were going to go all the way with this, telling Lilly what was happening.
“I also have a surprise,” Elena said, putting her hand on her stomach. “You’re going to be a big sister.”
Lilly frowned. “How?” she asked.
“Elena has a baby in her tummy,” I said. “And when the baby is born, you’ll be the big sister. What do you think about that?”
Lilly tilted her head to one side, looking at Elena’s stomach. “How does it fit in there?” she asked.
“It’s still really small. It’s going to grow and grow until it’s ready to come stay with us.”
“Just like you are?” Lilly asked.
“Just like I am,” Elena confirmed.
Lilly thought about it for a while. She didn’t get excited about it the way she did about Elena moving in. Instead, it looked like it was a fact she was going to accept. She nodded.
“Okay,” she said.
“Okay,” I echoed, and that was that. “And now, I think we should go out to celebrate.”
We left the house to a restaurant that had a children’s play area to keep Lilly busy. They had paper tablecloths for the kids to draw on and a jungle gym in an enclosed area with supervision so parents could have a good time without worrying about their kids. When Elena and I sat down, the evidence of a child on the tablecloth between us and the sound of kids in the background, I knew this was what my future was going to look like. And I loved it. We were already a little family, and we were growing. Soon, we would have another child with us, and I couldn’t be happier.