Perfectly Adequate(95)
I wipe my face, sniffling as I look up at him. The moonlight illuminates his face, and right now I want to be selfish, but I can’t. I won’t. “You just got your family back. Don’t let this ruin that. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”
He rubs my cheeks with his thumbs, drying my tears and pushing away the hairs stuck to my cheeks. “Define stupid.” A grin pulls at his lips.
“Stupid is thinking that I can’t do this by myself. I can. And my parents are here. This baby will be loved and well cared for. Stupid is thinking I need you more than they do.”
“Dorothy Mayhem, stupid is thinking that I don’t need you. Stupid is thinking this baby is anything short of the best damn miracle I’ve experienced since Julie told me she was pregnant with Roman. Stupid is thinking I’m letting you make any more decisions for me.” Eli’s grip on my face intensifies as he leans down to force me to look him in the eye.
“The only thing that’s been ruined is me. You ruined me the day you walked into my life, wearing those outrageous red Nikes. You ruined me for Julie and all other women. I’m the expensive vase you broke while shopping. I’m no good for anybody. I’m yours. You are stuck with me. So pick up the fucking pieces and deal with it because I’m not going anywhere.”
“But Roman—”
He releases me. “No! No! No! No!” Brushing past me he walks a good twenty feet down my driveway, pulling at his hair. “Roman is perfect!” he yells … as if he’s trying to wake up everyone in a five-mile radius. “He’s happy. He’s loved. He’s well-adjusted. AND HE ADORES DORFEE MAYHEM!” Eli cups his hands around his mouth and tips his head back like an animal howling at the moon. “EVERYBODY LOVES DORFEE MAYHEM BECAUSE SHE’S THE VERY BEST HUMAN THAT EVER EXISTED! AND SHE’S HAVING MY BABY! I. AM. THE. LUCKIEST. MAN. ALIVE!”
Dropping his hands from his face, he marches back toward me. I can’t even begin to explain how completely embarrassed I am right now.
“I choose you, Dorothy. I chose you then, even when you didn’t choose me. I choose you now. I’ll choose you tomorrow. But for the love of god, woman …” He drops to his knees at my feet, literally resting his forehead on my tennis shoes, hands gripping my calves. “Would you please choose me? Would you let your own happiness matter for once?”
“Sweetie?” Mom calls out the door behind me. She sounds a bit worried. I can’t imagine why that would be. “Is everything good?”
Wiping the last few tears from my face, I curl my hair behind my ears and squat down, running my fingers though Eli’s hair as he breathes heavily with his forehead still resting on my shoes. “Yeah, everything is … okay.”
Eli mumbles something, but I can’t make it out. He lifts his head slowly. “Say it again.”
I let my smile show, but just a little.
He sits back onto his butt, evidently not caring that he’s sitting in a mix of dirt and grass, but mostly dirt. Then he grabs my waist and pulls me to him, so my legs straddle his legs, so my nose nearly touches his nose. “Say it again.”
“Everything is okay.” My smile crawls a bit farther up my face.
“Again …” he grins.
I press my palms to his very stubbly face and brush my lips across his lips. “Okay … everything is okay.”
“Because you love me.”
I kiss his top lip. “Because I love you.”
“Because you choose me.”
I kiss his bottom lip. “Because I choose you.”
“And we’re having a baby.”
I nod, kissing his nose, his cheeks, his forehead. “And we’re having a baby.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Elijah
“Oh … my god!”
Grimacing, I crack open one eye. My back hurts. I’m on my stomach. Rarely do I sleep on my stomach. Must be why my back hurts. A pillow lands on my ass—my bare ass.
Kellie stares at me, wide-eyed, with her hand over her mouth. And she starts to mumble behind that hand. “I was going to do a load of laundry for Dorothy. And I thought I’d wash the blanket that was tossed onto her bed, but I had no idea you were under the blanket. Oh my god … why would she completely cover up a naked, sleeping man and then just go to work without saying anything?”
“Um …” I squint, opening my other eye and rolling onto my back, keeping the pillow over my midsection. “We’re talking about Dorothy … clearly your guess is as good as mine.”
We were zipped into her bed. And then we started doing certain activities that required more freedom to move about the bed … and the floor. Yeah, I’m pretty sure we were on the floor at some point. My mind is a little fuzzy because I don’t think I got more than two hours of sleep. I have no clue when Dorothy even got up or how she’s functioning on so little sleep.
“Thank you for loving my baby girl.” She hugs a wad of dirty clothes to her chest.
I rub my eyes before lacing my fingers behind my head, meeting Kellie’s huge grin and bright eyes. Julie’s mom never thanked me for loving her daughter.
I return the smile. “It’s truly a pleasure. And I …” I cringe, feeling eighteen instead of thirty-eight. Maybe my naked body only covered by a pillow is what has me feeling a bit insecure. “I apologize for not being more responsible with your daughter. But I love her. And I’m going to take care of her and raise this baby with her. I have only the best intentions where Dorothy is concerned.”