Unexpected Gift(81)
He stops pacing when he hears the door and turns his head to me. When he sees me, his eyes light up, and he is in front of me in two quick strides, pulling me into his arms. I’m in shock for a second and then return the hold. “I fucking missed you, Molly. I missed you so much.” His hand holds the back of my head, keeping me close to him.
“I missed you, too. I was just about to call you. What are you doing here?” I ask, and he sets me down, cupping my face.
He stares into my eyes, looking at me like it is the first time he has ever seen me. “I missed you. I fucked up. We fucked up. I never should have left, and you shouldn’t have let me leave. I understand why you pushed me out the door, but when I got to San Diego, and I didn’t have you…Molly, nothing was the same. I need you. I need you so much. I’m sorry for ever hurting you. I’m sorry for being selfish.”
“You have a right to be selfish, Caden.”
“I only want to be selfish with you. Like you said, my career doesn’t tuck me in at night.”
“That was an awful thing for me to say. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I don’t want to mess up again. I love you. I’m asking if I can come home?”
“I love you, too! Yes! I’m so sorry, too. Never again. I never want to be without you again.”
He picks me up and sways me from side to side, making my stomach turn. “Thank you. God, I missed you. I love you.”
“There’s one more thing.” I bite my lip, turning around over my shoulder to see Kenna watching us like we are on a reality TV show. She nods, shooing me to get on with it.
“What’s that? Whatever it is, I know we can work it out.”
“I’m pregnant. I just found out. Literally, I took a test right before you knocked on the door.”
The biggest smile I have ever seen takes over his face, and when he kisses me this time, I feel our story. I feel our past and our present, and when he lays his hand on my stomach, I feel our future.
Epilogue
Caden
Nine months later…
The sounds of machines beeping would lull me to sleep if it wasn’t for the sleeping angel I hold in my arms. Molly is asleep in the hospital bed, and baby Brandon Nikolai is soundly asleep in my arms. I brush my finger over his plump cheek, wishing Brandon, her brother, could be here to witness this.
Pregnancy has been hard on Molly. She was sick all the way up until her damn due date, and I hated seeing her like that, but now that my son is in my arms, I love her so much more for dealing with it. I appreciate her more, too. The pain, the strength, and the time it takes to give birth to a damn watermelon isn’t easy. But my girl makes labor look like a breeze.
“Hey, Brandon,” I coo at my son. Posie is with Amelia’s father so we can slowly introduce them in a few days. We want Brandon to ourselves for a bit.
It’s been a crazy nine months. I quit my job here, worked in San Diego, came back, and then Dr. Rawlings retired a month ago, and he made me the new Chief of Neuro. Everything worked out. My dreams are made. I always thought I would have to leave to make them happen, but my dream has been in front of me the entire time. For all these years.
Molly and I fought, but now I knew it was because we fought from being together. “We were silly, huh? Man, you’re going to be a good-looking kid. You’re a Jackson, after all.” I situate him in my left arm more comfortably, and I pull an old, crinkled envelope out of my back pocket.
It’s the letter Brandon wrote to me. The one the attorney gave me. “You’ll be with me as I read it, right?” Brandon yawns and smacks his mouth together before settling back down.
I don’t know what made me wait so long to read it. I know that I have been scared to read it because of what happened with the voicemail. I had a lot of pain to work through, and I wanted to read it when I felt healed. With Molly asleep in bed and my son in my arms, it seems like the perfect time.
Carefully, I open the paper, and one sheet is folded inside. When I open it, my breath catches in my throat. It’s short and to the point, but nothing else needed to be said.
“Caden,
Take care of them the way I never got to.
I love you, brother.
B.”
I fold the paper up and put it back in the envelope, staring at my perfect life. I whisper to my sleeping son, “That will never be a problem.”
THE END