“I wonder what you’ll look like or what you’ll act like,” he continued. “I’m trying to imagine the person you’re going to be. And I can’t wait to meet you. I can already feel our bond starting to grow.”
I looked up at Nick. “You’re going to be the best father ever.”
He wiped a tear from my eye. “And you’re going to be the best mother ever. We might make a few mistakes and be completely clueless, but I think we’ll eventually get this parenthood thing nailed down and be the best parents ever.”
I smiled. “I think so too.”
“Are you scared?” he asked.
“I was at first, but not anymore. Not with you at my side. How about you?”
“The idea of fatherhood scared the shit out of me and I always thought the universe wouldn’t be that stupid to give me a child. But I wasn’t in love. And when you’re in love, you think different. I want to start a family with you, Abby. I think about us buying the perfect home with a big yard and a white picket fence, and a big yellow lab running around. I know we can have a great future and the perfect life together.”
I couldn’t stop grinning.
“You’re ready to settle down?” I asked.
“It doesn’t feel like settling down. It feels like we’re continuing our adventure and I want to spend every waking moment with you.”
When we heard footfalls marching triumphantly down the hall, we pulled apart, wearing matching grins. I climbed off the bed, and Nick braced himself against the mattress with a little smile.
“We need to tell James.”
“I’ll go get us something to drink,” I said.
“To hear this news, James is going to need something stronger than what they’ve got in the vending machine,” Nick teased.
“Yeah, well, we’ll just have to ease him into it with Mountain Dew.” I gathered my purse and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
The two of us locked eyes with a conspiratorial grin just as James swept past me, balancing a small mountain of blankets in his arms.
“Twenty-seven,” he announced proudly. “Coulda been twenty-eight, but security caught me trying to pull one off of this comatose guy on the seventh floor.”
“James!” I screamed, my mouth falling open in astonishment.
“What? He wasn’t complaining,” he said, brushing it off with a casual shrug.
“Oh my gosh!”
“I’m kidding, Abby,” James clarified. “C’mon, woman! I’d never do that, not even for this clumsy asshole,” he said, nodding toward Nick. “Where’s your sense of humor? Ever heard of lightening the mood?”
I turned around with an incredulous grin and slipped out into the hallway. “I’m just gonna go...get some coffee or something. I’ll be back in a bit.”
The nurses parted before me, each gushing in delight as they flashed their crisp $100 bills, but I didn’t even make it to the elevator before I heard the explosion.
“She’s what!?”
The doors slid shut in front of me but not fast enough to hide my grin.
Ease him into it? Right! I bet he’s comatose now!
Chapter 17
Given the sheer magnitude of James’s response, I decided to give the two of them a little extra time. Theirs was a bromance for the ages, and if Nick and I were set on carving out a future together, James was the person I was going to have to compete with for the rest of my life.
I wandered around the gift shop with a little smile on my face, putting an occasional item in my bag and silently marveling at how fast the day had turned around. An escape from the Hamptons, a confrontation in Brooklyn, and a life-altering confession in Manhattan? Yeah, just your typical day in the Big Apple!
I selected some chocolates and a few bottles of water, then paused a second to stare at row of headlines: “New York Royalty Elopes in Peruvian Paradise,” I muttered before walking down the aisle with a grin, shaking my head. For a moment, I considered picking up an extra pair of clothes for Nick, since his doctor insisted on keeping him there for at least one night for observation. Knowing Nick as well as I did, though, I was sure he was already plotting his escape, so I decided to put the cheap pants and t-shirt back on the shelf. At any rate, he would never wear polyester anyway.