Page 126 of Our Broken Pieces
Today, I feel driven to lead people well and to make sure Gigi is taken care of.
Nervous.
Today, I feel nervous because I know I’m going to tell Gigi I love her. I’m so scared that she doesn’t feel the same way.
Sure.
Today, I feel so sure that I want Gigi in my life for as long as she’ll stay. I don’t want a day without her again.
I keep reading through the entries. My cheeks burn as I try to stammer a response. I look up to his eyes. “You really feel this way?”
“One-hundred percent. You’re going to have a really hard time getting rid of me.”
I place the book down on the counter beside me, placing my hands on his jaw, pulling his lips to mine. “I guess I’ll stay for grilled cheese.”
“Good. Here’s what’s going to happen: you’re going to take that damn cat out of the carrier, drag your suitcase upstairs, strip out of those clothes, and wait for me by the fireplace. We’re going to light a fire, eat grilled cheese, take a bubble bath, and spend the night cuddled up. And if, after a good night’s sleep and breakfast in the morning, you still think leaving is a good idea—then we’ll talk. Got it?”
I blink at him, completely flustered, while he just gives me a cocky grin and gestures toward the stairs. “Upstairs, now.”
“Okay.” It’s barely above a whisper as his words—both spoken and written—sink into every corner of my being. It’s hard to be well loved after a lifetime of let downs. It’s a different feeling to have the man you love return the words you’ve always given and desperately needed to hear back. A tear slithers down my cheek as I realize the universe has answered my prayers with him. Every sob-filled word whispered in the night, every heartbreak is now worth it, because it brought him to me. I wipe my face, watching him move around the kitchen preparing our littlepicnic. Ethel meows from her entrapment to remind us she’s still waiting. “Calm down, Ethel. I’m coming.”
I lower to the floor and walk to her, opening the carrier, and she darts across the room to her water dish. I grab my suitcase and point to the stairs. “I’m going to head up.”
“I’ll be right behind you, baby.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?”
“It’s your new nickname.” He says it as if it’s obvious.
“If I get a new one, you do, too.”
He looks up from the tray he’s putting together, smirking. “Have one ready, or do you need to think about it?”
I bring my finger to my chin, peering up at the ceiling. “Captain Thunderpants.”
“Nope.”
“Stud muffin?”
“Keep trying.”
“Big guy?”
His head tilts back and forth as he considers it. “That one’s alright.”
“Alright, big guy, I’m going upstairs.”
“See you in a minute, baby.”
Epilogue One
Gigi
Seven years later
Iring Jax and Audrey’s doorbell. I know it’s nine a.m. on a Saturday, but Wren left her teddy on their couch last night, and it’s been a rough ten hours.
Wren tugs on my shirt. “Are you sure Alastair is here, Mommy?” The name became one of her favorites after watchingthe 1951 version of A Christmas Carol, starring Alastair Sim, last Christmas. Of course, when she got the teddy bear from Linc and Melonie for her birthday in January, it was the chosen name for the new stuffy that is now her ride or die.
