Cole’s eyes sweep over my face and I can feel the love pouring out of them. My tears threaten to spill over. I want to bottle this moment and keep it forever. My throat is so tight I can barely get the words out.
“I’m pregnant.”
Cole’s smile is genuine as he lifts me off the stool and pulls me into an embrace.
“That’s great, Brooke. I’m so happy for Ellie and Josh.”
I sink into Cole’s embrace, letting his strong arms hold me. I love the way he makes me feel safe and protected, secure and content. The way I’m sure he will make his son or daughter feel. For once I don’t want to rush things, or be impatient to move on to the next thing, I want to savor this moment.
I don’t want to leave his arms, but I pull away so I can meet his eyes.
“The baby isn’t Ellie and Josh’s. It’s yours.”
40
Cole
Brooke’s words hit my ears but it takes me a minute to understand what she is telling me.
“I haven’t done the embryo implantation, and I stopped taking the fertility hormones, because Ellie and Josh are pregnant, on their own, by some miracle. I have been feeling really tired and my stomach has been unsettled, so I took a test last night at Ellie’s and it was positive.”
Her green eyes are shining with tears, and it takes me a moment to realize I haven’t said anything.
“I don’t know how it happened. We used condoms and I was using spermicidal films Dr. Yang gave me. Except that one time I was sliding on top of you and you slipped inside me for like five seconds. Okay, maybe ten…”
“Brooke.”
“You probably think I’m a crazy person and are a little stressed about creating offspring with me that might share these traits as well, but I think it might just be a personal issue and not necessarily DNA, because Ellie is my twin and she seems normal. I know you only met her briefly and under odd circumstances, but she really is a stable, organized and rational person. And with you contributing fifty percent of this baby’s genetic material, I think we have a solid shot at creating a normal human being.”
“Brooke.”
“What?” Brooke finally pauses from her ramblings to meet my eyes.
“You are crazy if you think that I wouldn’t be the happiest man in the world right now.”
I pull her into my arms, her happy tears soaking the front of my shirt as she half laughs, half cries, but I don’t care. My mind’s already filling with visions of a mini-Brooke running around the house, wearing brightly-colored dresses, climbing on the counters and drawing on the walls with markers. Or, maybe it’s a boy, with Brooke’s green eyes and captivating smile, and my easy-going temperament. That would be fun, too.
I’ve been a part of so many pregnancies throughout my career, investing in other people’s journeys to parenthood, but nothing can compare to the thought of having my own family, and being on that journey with Brooke. I’m crazy in love with her. I can’t imagine my life without her in it.
When I lower my mouth to hers, Brooke’s soft lips open up to me and even the fact that we’re in a diner at six-thirty in the morning surrounded by people eating breakfast can’t stop me from kissing her breathless. We’re both caught up in the moment until the waitress stops by to drop off a plate with a slice of peach pie on it. I can tell she warmed it up because the filling is oozing out the sides.
“Pie for breakfast?” I ask.
“It’s actually breakfast dessert. I’m going to eat these eggs first.”
“Well, I guesstechnicallyit is a serving of fruit.”
Brooke smiles at me in delight. “Exactly.”
I’ve never eaten pie for breakfast but I think this could be the perfect occasion for it.
I signal to the waitress, “I’d like a piece of the peach pie, too, please.”
“Sorry, that’s my last piece.” She nods at the plate in front of Brooke before picking up a coffee pot and moving to the other end of the counter.
When I turn back to Brooke, she’s biting her lower lip, trying not to laugh.
“You’re going to share, right?” My eyebrows lift in question.
