He shook his head as though he was pleased and embarrassed at the same time.
“So anyway, yeah, I think now, maybe I could have a kid and not be totally shit at it,” he turned to regard me with a fathomless expression I’d never seen before. “Especially if I had you to help me.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “I feel the same way, honey. Not like I came from stellar parenting. But, I think between the two of us we’d do all right.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, giving my leg a reassuring squeeze.
And there we were, two people who came from different but equally broken backgrounds agreeing with fragile confidence to bring a life into the world someday. It was one of the most profound moments of my life, and I’d never loved him more.
Chapter 17
“Babe, we gotta roll!” I heard Sal holler as I dressed the next morning.
I rolled my eyes in response. I’d agreed to go to get the rest of my stuff from my apartment, and he was enthusiastic to get it done.
“Sal, babe, what’s the rush?” I laughed as he stood in the doorway watching me throw on my shirt.
“Just wanna get it done, that’s all,” he said as he shrugged.
“Can we stop for coffee on the way?” I asked, knowing he’d agree. No one wanted to hang with me if I hadn’t had my caffeine fix.
“Yeah,” he agreed as I grabbed my purse and moved to follow him outside.
He opened the door and we nearly ran over Sophie, standing there poised to knock.
“Soph?” Sal asked incredulously as his sister stood there looking at us both with an uncertain expression.
“Um, hi,” she stammered, looking clearly uncomfortable and unsure of herself.
“Sophie, hi! Come in,” I greeted with a smile, moving out from behind Sal and gesturing her inside.
“I’m sorry; you were obviously on your way out somewhere. I can come back,” she said looking between the two of us.
“No, no,” I said as I shook my head. “This is a great surprise. I’ll make some coffee,” I assured her, giving her hand a quick squeeze. Judging from Sal’s expression, I needed to give them a minute.
I busied myself making coffee, watching them out of the corner of my eye.
“How’d you get here?” Sal asked while shrugging off his jacket and throwing a leg over the back of a chair to face his sister. He gestured for her to sit on the sofa across from him.
“I hopped a red-eye and then took a cab here,” she answered quietly, her fingers twisting in her lap so tightly I worried she’d hurt herself.
“Why didn’t you call first? I would have come to get you. What if we weren’t home?” he demanded, sounding frustrated.
I silently pleaded for him to take it a bit easier on her. The poor girl looked ready to fall over with the next breeze.
She shrugged, biting her lip and I knew she was barely holding it together.
“What’s goin’ on?” Sal demanded.
Then I looked at Sophie, really looked at her. I didn’t know her well as I’d only met her the one time, but she looked pale even to me. Her eyes looked too large in her beautiful face, and I knew whatever was going on was more than simply being tired from a flight.
Her face crumpled and I glanced worriedly at Sal whose expression had hardened. I knew it wasn’t because of Sophie, but rather whatever was causing this reaction in her.
I moved to sit next to her, hoping my comfort was welcome, and put an arm around her thin shoulder.
“I’m just tired,” she choked out, her head in her hands and a wall of chestnut hair hiding her face.
“Are you hurt?” I asked quietly.