The Proposal(73)

Finally, Jon bounced back into the room.

“You can all see Jessie, but only for a few minutes, okay? The baby is in the NICU. I’m going back to her, but I’ll take you to Jessie first.”

“Jessica!” Tia Eva raced into the room and threw her arms around Jessie. “I was so worried. I love you so much.”

Well, that did it. The whole room was crying again. Including both him and Jon.

When it was his turn to give Jessie a hug, he pulled Nik along with him.

“This is Nik. She’s the one who recommended all of those creepy books I bought you that you loved. She dropped by to bring food for all of us while we were waiting, and I made her stay so she could meet you.”

Jessie was glowing, despite the tears still streaming down her face. She reached out to grab Nik’s hand.

“Nik, it’s so nice to meet you. Those books kept me from going crazy over the past five weeks, I can’t thank you enough.”

Nik smiled back at her.

“I was happy to help. And I’m so happy that everything went well today.”

Jessie beamed at her.

“Me too. We still have a bumpy road ahead. She’ll be in the NICU for a while, and I’m”—more tears spilled from her eyes, and Carlos put his hand on her shoulder—“worried, but the doctors seem very optimistic, so I’m going to be optimistic, too.”

“What is her NAME?” his mom said from the other side of the room.

Jessie smiled. He and Nik stepped back so everyone could see her.

“Her name.” Jessie looked at her mom and smiled. “Her name is Eva Jane. After her two grandmothers.”

Tia Eva charged the bed and would have tackled Jessie with her hug if Carlos hadn’t intervened.





Chapter Eighteen


. . . . . . .



As soon as Carlos walked inside his house, he fell down onto his couch and tugged Nik down with him.

“I am so damn tired,” he said.

He buried his head in the curve of her neck and finally let his face relax.

“I could not be happier right now to be here on the couch with you. I managed to keep it together around my family for most of the night, and now I need to let myself fall apart for, like, thirty seconds.”

She wrapped her arms around him. He breathed in her smell, her warmth, her presence. They lay there in silence for a long time.

She kissed him on the cheek.

“Hey. I’m really sorry that I showed up at the hospital without checking with you. I think I made something already stressful for you harder. I feel really bad about that.”

He’d already forgotten that he’d been irritated when Nik walked in. So much had happened tonight.

“No, it’s okay,” he said. “I was surprised when you showed up, but I think having you—and the enchiladas—there made it easier on everyone. Plus, my mom hates hospitals and getting to criticize my cooking helped take her mind off of things.”

She ran her fingers slowly through his hair and he closed his eyes. He wished he could stay like this forever.

“When my dad died . . . my mom was at the hospital with him by herself. She’d called both me and Angie, but neither of us got there in time. It was pretty hard on her. I don’t think she’s set foot in a hospital since. I could tell she was having a tough time there tonight, especially since we were all so worried.” He bent down and kissed her hand. “The enchiladas helped. Thank you.”

She squeezed his hand.

“Did you . . . how was yesterday?”

He pushed her hair back from her face and smiled at her. Of course she’d remembered.

“I spent the evening with Angie. She said Mama likes to spend the day at church. Angie usually spends it with friends or Jessie. The first year Angie asked me if I wanted to meet up with her, but I told her I had to work. Which was true, but I’d switched with someone to make sure I was working all day that day.” He ran his finger down her cheek. “But yesterday the two of us ate a lot of tacos and drank some of Dad’s favorite beer, and just . . . talked.” He never would have spent the anniversary of his dad’s death with Angela if it hadn’t been for Nik. He was so glad he had. “Thanks for . . . well, thanks.”

She smiled up at him.

“You’re welcome.”

He leaned forward the few inches between them and kissed her. It had been so hard to not kiss her in the hospital. She kissed him back hard. They dove into each other like they were parched, like it had been just weeks and not hours since they’d last kissed, like she’d wanted to kiss him in these last few hours as much as he’d wanted to kiss her.

He started to pull off her shirt, then stopped and sat up.

“Come to bed. Please?”

She stood up and reached her hand out to him.

Once in his bedroom, he wasted no time in undressing her. She stood there and let him unbutton her shirt, pull off her tank top, unzip her jeans and pull them down to the floor, until she was in only a matching set of a hot pink bra and underwear.

“Where did this come from?” he asked her, as he ran his finger over the lace on the bra.

She smiled and reached for him, but he stepped away. He wanted to concentrate on her first.

“I bought it last week,” she said. “I thought you might like it.”