Page 137 of Forever

“I told you I needed to buy some pregnancy books. They were delivered when you were in the shower.”

“I thought you meant like…next week. And I didn’t think you’d buy the whole bookstore.” I laughed.

He shrugged and looked a little embarrassed. “Well, you’ve done all this before. And I want to make sure I know what I can do to help out.”

He was the sweetest. I opened to the page he’d bookmarked. It was all about morning sickness. He’d highlighted a few things. I scanned down the highlights. “Wait, they make anti-nausea candy drops? I don’t remember them having anything like that when I was pregnant with Jacob.”

Matt smiled. “We should give those a try.”

I liked when he saidwelike that. “We definitely should.”

“Do you want me to order some now?” He pulled out his phone.

I laughed and grabbed his hand. “Stop torturing the delivery people on Thanksgiving. We’ll go shopping after the wedding.”

“After the wedding.” He smiled. “God I love the sound of that.”

Jacob came running into the room. He skidded across the floor in his socks.

“You all ready?” Matt ruffled his hair.

“Yessie. Just let me get my sword.” He picked up a stick off the floor. “Ready.”

“We can leave the sword here I think, kiddo.”

“But you need a sword in a castle, Coach. How else will we play knights? I’ll get one for you too.” He went over to his basket full of toys and pulled out a second stick. “And one for my abuelo!” He selected a third stick.

I shrugged. That made sense to me. “You definitely need swords to play knights,” I said.

Matt laughed. “Okay, you guys. Let’s get going.” He helped Jacob into his coat and shoes. I pulled on my coat too as I smiled at Matt lacing Jacob’s shoes. Matt was always meant to be a dad. I felt tears welling in the corners of my eyes. God, it was like I had no control over my emotions. I blinked fast, getting rid of the tears. Tonight was not for tears. We were celebrating.

Someone must have been burning leaves nearby because the smell of fall was everywhere when we walked outside. Matt opened the car door for me before getting Jacob situated in the back seat. The heat was turned up full blast, but it was still chilly. I would have been lying to myself if this smell and this temperature hadn’t reminded me of Matt over the years. I smiled as Matt pulled away from the curb. Soon the city would be decorated for Christmas. I’d never seen the city in winter before. And I couldn’t wait to see everything lit up even more. I couldn’t wait to spend every season with this man.

“I love seeing you this happy,” Matt said.

How could I not be happy? My 16-year-old self dreamed of this day just as much as my 32-year-old self. “I love you.”

Matt smiled as he paid attention to the traffic.

It didn’t take us long to get to Tanner’s apartment. I looked out the window. “This looks very fancy.”

“Because it’s a castle!” Jacob said.

I smiled. “I can’t wait to see it. Grab the swords!”

“Got ‘em, Mommy.”

I held Matt’s hand and Jacob’s hand as we walked toward the apartment. A doorman opened the door for us, welcoming us in from the cold.

Matt dropped my hand and pulled an envelope out of his inside suit pocket. He handed it to the doorman. “Happy Thanksgiving,” he said.

“Happy Thanksgiving,” the doorman said with a big smile.

“What did you give him?” I asked as we stepped in front of the elevator.

“Oh.” Matt shrugged like it was nothing. “Just a little present.”

“What kind of present?”

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