Page 44 of Jaime
“She looks so peaceful,” he said quietly.
I looked down at Evie. She did indeed, in a fuzzy onesie, her face turned to the side, chest rising and falling softly.
“I left for hours and she’s just fine.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, kissing the top of his head. “How does that feel?”
“Surreal,” he said. “In a good way. Like I don’t need to worry as much. For a while, if I wasn’t physicallytouchingher, I would panic.”
“Did you think she would get hurt?” I asked gently.
“Yes,” he whispered. “She’s so delicate… I just wanted to protect her.”
“You did,” I whispered, stroking back his hair. “You were there for her when no one else could be.”
Jaime took a shuddering breath.
“And you were there formewhen no one else could be. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
I could hear the emotion in his voice and pulled him into a tight embrace, unsure of what else to do.
He clung to me, and I could feel the way his breath trembled.
“Come to bed,” I whispered.
He nodded, pulling off his clothes but for his boxers and climbing in. I joined him, getting into the cool sheets and wrapping him up in my arms.
“Everything’s okay now,” I found myself whispering into his hair.
CHAPTER15
JAIME
As expected,Evie woke up in the middle of the night for a feed and a diaper change. At the sound of her crying, I got up instinctively, before I was even fully awake.
It only took a minute to get her clean and then I couldn’t resist climbing back into bed with her in my arms.
Ethan was awake, watching with sleep-hazed eyes.
He held the blanket up for me, tucking it around me when I settled down, Evie cradled in my arm and bottle held to her lips.
I never would have dared to do this before. It still made me a little bit nervous, but people co-slept all the time, and Ethan holding me where I was made me a little bit more comfortable.
It felt like I’d fallen into a little slice of heaven here in my small apartment. Cuddled up with both of the people I loved.
The thought just flew into my mind unbidden. I stiffened momentarily, then let the shock and fear go. It was the middle of the night. Maybe I’d fallen in love with Ethan a little too fast, but I could deal with that in the morning. He was here now.
Sighing, I sank into the pillow, relishing the cute sounds Evie made while she drank her bottle, half asleep.
I woke up sometime later with the bottle laying on its side, dripping onto the mattress and Evie passed out, still on my shoulder. Behind me, Ethan was snoring softly.
Nothing had happened, but I had to take baby steps here. I couldn’t bring myself to go back to sleep with Evie in bed with me. Just in case.
As carefully as I could, I lifted her and crawled out of bed.
She let out a little disgruntled noise, but I held her still, rocking her until she was snoring again, then carefully laid her back down in her crib.
Satisfied, I moved her bottle to the bedside table and crawled back into bed.
