Page 118 of Protect My Heart
I smile. ‘That’s right. I keep forgetting I’m marrying a celebrity. But I’m not sure that makes what we did that night any more acceptable to my mom.’
‘How would you feel if it was our kid who did that? Would you be disappointed in him?’
‘Not if he felt something for the girl and wasn’t just using her for sex.’
‘Is that what you think I was doing that night? Using you for sex?’
‘No, not at all. That’s one of the reasons I liked you so much. You didn’t pressure me. In fact, I felt like I was the one trying to convinceyouto do it.’
‘You didn’t have to try too hard.’
‘It was such a great night.’
‘It was.’ He reaches over and holds my hand. ‘And we’ve got a lot of great ones ahead of us.’
Tonight is one of them. We go home, make love, then go to the restaurant where we had our first date. I guess that wasn’t a date, but it felt like one, and it confirmed that Jason wasn’t just a one-night stand but a guy I could actually see myself with in the future. And now, here we are, living that future.
Chapter 24
Three Months Later
Jason
‘Can you help me with my dress?’ Mia asks, turning her back to me. ‘I’m not sure it’ll fit, but I’m going to try.’
I come up behind her and kiss the side of her neck as I zip up the dress. ‘You look beautiful.’
She looks in the mirror. ‘I feel fat. But at least the dress fits.’
I turn her away from the mirror. ‘You’re not fat. Stop saying that. You’re beautiful.’ I kiss her, slowly, my tongue slipping past her lips. I want her so damn bad, but the doctor wants us to wait another week. I’m counting the days.
The baby fusses and Mia pulls away from me.
‘He’s fine,’ I tell her, knowing how worried she gets every time the baby cries or fusses. She’s always calling her mom or mine to make sure he’s okay and she’s doing everything right.
She walks over to the bassinet where Milo is sleeping. We finally agreed on a name. We didn’t decide until we saw him and then it’s like we just knew. Mia looked at me, said the name Milo, and I told her yes. We didn’t even have to think about it.
I walk over to the bassinet and pick up Milo. ‘What are you fussing about?’ I gently rock him. ‘Are you telling us to hurry up and go?’ I kiss his cheek. ‘You love these family dinners, don’t you? You get nonstop attention.’
‘And everyone fighting over who gets to hold you,’ Mia says to him.
It’s Sunday, which is when we have family dinner at my parents’ house. It’s one of my favorite traditions, especially now that my brothers are busy with their own lives and I don’t see them as much as I’d like. Mia’s parents come over too, and after dinner, my dad and Walter go out to the barn and do whatever old guys do. I think Walter’s making a wooden toy tractor for Milo, but he won’t confirm it. He just tells Mia and me to stay out of the barn.
Mia’s parents moved here the first week of September. Kate and Mia helped them decorate the house and Nick and I did whatever small repairs needed to be done. It’s a cute little house and perfect for the two of them. And the best part? Walter hasn’t fallen once since living there.
Mia and I got married at the orchard on a beautiful fall day—September 15th, four months after Nick’s wedding. I went to that wedding thinking I’d never get married, that I’d always be a bachelor. I never in a million years thought I’d be getting married four months later. But I didn’t see a need to wait. I knew Mia was the one. I knew it the night we met. Nobody would believe me if I told them that, so I don’t. I keep it to myself. But I really did feel that way, like Mia was meant for me. I think sometimes you just know. It’s like what Walter told me on campus that day—when you know you know. I just keptdenying I felt that way because I never thought I could be with her.
‘You think your mom would watch him tomorrow?’ Mia asks. ‘That meeting with Sheryl got moved to tomorrow at nine. She just texted me.’
I chuckle. ‘You really think my mom would tell you no? She begs us to let her watch him.’
‘Yes, but she’s been really busy with the orchard. She has all that baking to do. She may not have time.’
‘Trust me, she is not going to say no. So the meeting tomorrow is about the grant?’
‘Yes, we’re going to finalize it and then submit it. I’m getting really excited. I think this might actually happen.’
Mia and Sheryl, the woman who runs the summer school program, are trying to get a teen counseling center approved. It’d be based in Haydon Falls but would serve teens in all the surrounding towns. For now, it’d just be a room in the high school and Mia would be the only counselor, but if there was enough of a need, it could grow.
