I leaned into Ross’s hold, hiding my face in his chest so he wouldn’t see just how relieved I was.

After I broke down when I saw him with that woman—Natalia—and had a chat with my mom, I’d decided to trust him. But that hadn't made it easy for me. He didn’t try to contact me that day, or days after that, and I’d get worried.

I’d told myself I would hear him out, but a big part of me had feared he’d take her back. She was, after all, Sophia’s real mom, when I was just a substitute.

“I knew about her,” I murmured into his chest. I felt him go still, then force himself to relax.

“When?”

I sighed and pulled back to look up at his face. He looked a little pained, probably because I couldn’t entirely hide the hurt in my face or my voice.

“Probably the day she came here first. I saw you with her, the two of you were talking. Well, she was flirting with you, and you didn’t do anything about it, so…” I chuckled a little and gave him a sheepish smile. “I’ll admit, I thought the worst. So, you’re not the only one that should be asking for forgiveness here.”

“No,” he said firmly with a shake of his head. “I wouldn’t blame you for thinking the worst. I didn’t exactly give you a reason to believe in me. I pretty much forgot all about you the moment she was on my doorstep.”

I couldn’t help a wince, because that fucking hurt. Ross’s arms tightened around me as if he was worried I would pull away. I relaxed into his hold again, rubbing a palm down his chest to reassure him I wasn’t going anywhere.

“I don’t mean that in the way you’re probably thinking. I can't picture, or want, a future with Natalia like I can with you. I kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong. I didn’t want her to meet Sophia, but she’s her mother…”

“And you can't exactly stop her if she insists,” I finished.

He nodded. “It was pointless worrying about it. She asked to see her a few times, but she didn’t exactly insist on seeing her. I mean, she knows Sophia has been staying with my mom while she’s in town, and she’s never gone there to try and see her.”

“You don’t think she cares about her?”

“Maybe, in her way,” he said, though he looked doubtful. “And then she started talking about us getting back together for Sophia’s sake. And fuck, Jessica, I talked about it.”

“It’s understandable,” I said with a nonchalant shrug, though I was upset.

“It’s not, though,” Ross said in protest. “I did something stupid, and I will be sorry for it for a while. I should have told her to go away the first day she came. I haven’t even told Sophia about her being in town because I was worried about it upsetting her, and even more worried about her wanting to see her mother. And I didn’t even contact you to explain things. I was worried the whole day today; I couldn’t even work because I wasn’t sure what I would say to you.”

I’d noticed he was anxious. I thought it was a little funny because I was the one that had to be anxious, if he had told me anything other than what I hoped to hear.

“I want you to know I wasn’t mad at you, though. I never left you, either. I was just trying to let you have time to think things through and make your decisions, to give you space.”

“That’s all?” he asked, frowning.

I was going to nod, but I hesitated. Then I sighed. “Well, not entirely. When I found out she was your ex, and you weren’t cheating on me...”

I gave him a look of apology for that, but he just shook his head.

“I felt stupid for jumping to conclusions, but then you didn’t contact me, and I was waiting for you to reach out to me… so I had plenty of time to think up other scenarios.”

“And what did you think up?”

I sniffled and glanced away because I couldn’t look at him right then. “I wondered what I would do if we finally talked and you told me you and she would be getting back together. I would have stepped aside, of course, for Sophia’s sake. The woman is her mother. There were others, I guess that would have been even more painful.”

Ross groaned, sounding like he was the one in pain, and when I looked up at him, he had his eyes closed, his face twisted in a tortured expression.

“Ross? What’s wrong?” I asked, alarmed.

“Ah, nothing, just,” he opened his eyes, “I can't believe I pushed you to thoughts like that. I made a real mess of things, didn’t I?”

I shook my head, smiling. “Not really. I mean, yeah, I was worried. But at least I know you thought things through. I wanted you to be sure of yourself, and now I know that I’m the one you want to be with, I’m happy.”

He looked stunned for a moment, then he just looked relieved. He pressed a line of kisses along my forehead. Then he pulled away, releasing all of me, to take only my arm. He tugged me behind him to the couch and sat down, pulling me down to lie against him. I went gladly, sighing once I had his arms around me again, and curled my legs up on the couch.

“Would you stay the night?” he asked, hesitance in his voice.

“Of course, Ross.”

I felt his chest move as he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Good. My mom is going to be bringing Sophia over tonight. I wanted to tell her about Natalia, and… I want you to be there with me when I tell her.”

I was surprised he would ask, because I knew it meant how much he trusted me.

“Sure, Ross,” I murmured, snuggling closer and smiling happily to myself.