Page 70 of Forever

“So invested.”

I laughed. “Tanner said you wanted to talk?”

“I do want to do that.”

I just stared at her.

She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slowly. “You know, I always pictured a big family.” She stared out at the field.

I swallowed hard. We hadn’t spoken about this since she told me about her miscarriage. She hadn’t liked the way I’d responded. I’d wanted her to see a specialist. But she just wanted to know if that was okay. If we could move forward just the three of us. Of course we could.

“We do have a big family.” I placed my hand on her knee and stared out at Tanner, Nigel, and Jacob tossing the ball around. “All our friends. All our nieces and nephews.”

She didn’t respond.

“And there’s more than one way to have children.”

She still didn’t respond.

When Brooklyn’s mother died, she’d been an orphan. She was lucky that she’d had such a kind, caring uncle to take her in. But if she hadn’t? There were lots of kids out there that didn’t. “I’m happy just the three of us,” I said. I tried to think about my words before I said them out loud. “I know you’re scared of trying again. And I just want you to know that I’m open to talking about adoption.”

“Hmm.”

“Is that a good hmm or a bad hmm?”

She laughed. “I didn’t realize how much you’d been thinking about this. I’ve been thinking about it a lot too.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “I actually can’t stop thinking about it.” Her smile was back now. “And I have something for you.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a jewelry box. The kind you’d find a fancy necklace in. It wasn’t wrapped, but there was a white bow tied around it to keep it closed.

I wasn’t a big jewelry person. And I had no idea what this had to do with our discussion.

“I have so much respect for people who adopt,” she said.

I smiled. “Me too.”

“But I…I want a little you.”

Yeah.I wanted a little her too. “Have you thought more about maybe going to see a specialist?”

“I think maybe you should open this.” She placed the jewelry box in my hands.

I had no idea what this had to do with our conversation. But she nodded at the box. I was about to pull on the bow, but she grabbed my hand to stop me.

“I love you.” It suddenly looked like she was going to burst into tears. “So much.”

“I love you too.” All I wanted to do was pull her into my arms. “We don’t need to talk about this right now if you don’t…”

She shook her head. “No. I can’t think of a better time to talk about this. Here, you know?” She gestured toward the field. “I wanted to give this to you here.”

I had no idea what she was talking about.

“But just don’t get too excited.” She shook her head. “No, be excited. Positive vibes, you know?”

What the hell was going on?

She let go of my hand. “Open it.”

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