I looked at my sister, whose cheeks were flushed, eyes shiny with unshed tears. “Don’t cry, El.”
She blinked rapidly and dragged her index finger beneath her eyes. “You were always so good at taking care of me, so I knew you’d be a good dad, but I didn’t think you wanted it.”
“I didn’t.” I picked up Joey’s foot and slid it into the leg hole then did the other side. “Not until Catherine and Joey.”
“She’s so cute.” Elise patted Joey’s tummy and slid her hand over the top of her head. “I think it will be easy for me to fall in love with her.”
“I promise you it will be.”
Once I had her all dressed, Elise asked if she could hold her, and I told her of course. My sister carefully scooped my girl into her arms, softly telling Joey her name. Seeing Elise like that, happily holding my girl, settled another part of me that had been off-kilter most of my life.
Elise swayed and rhythmically rubbed Joey’s back while Joey looked her over, deciding what to think of her. After less than a minute, Joey came to a decision, her head slowly descending onto Elise’s shoulder, her little body going lax.
“Oh god,” Elise whispered. “I’m a goner already.”
I chuckled through the tightness in my throat. “See?”
“Can I be Aunt Elise now?”
“Yeah.” I hit my chest to clear away the knot. “That’d be all right with me.”
Understanding passed between my sister and me. We’d gone through hell, and this was our other side. The crumbled foundation of our adolescence hadn’t defeated us. We’d both found our own version of a new beginning, and it was our good fucking luck we got to be side by side to witness each other’s happiness.
The Levys’ days were looking up.
Elise kissed Joey’s head and sighed. “I think you should marry her, El.”
“I’m going to, El. Don’t worry about that.”
“Oh yeah? When’s that going to happen?”
I leaned down, kissed my girl, then whispered in my sister’s ear, “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Chapter Forty-one
Catherine
I reentered the kitchen to find Miles holding the monitor and the others crowded around him, watching the scene happening in the nursery.
“Are you spying on my baby?” I teased.
“Yup,” Miles replied unabashedly. “This is cool as hell. You can just watch your kid whenever you want to?”
“I can. I’m not as neurotic about watching her as I used to be, though.”
Saoirse laughed. “Let me guess, Elliot is?”
I grinned. “He finds it soothing having the monitor close by.”
Luca shook his head. “Yeah, I can see Elliot as a total hover father.” When he realized what he’d said, that he called Elliot a father, he clamped his mouth shut.
“It’s fine,” I assured him. “He absolutely is a hover father, but I like it. It makes me feel not so crazy.”
Miles turned the sound up to listen in on Elliot and Elise talking.
“Can I be Aunt Elise now?”
“Yeah. That’d be all right with me.”
Elise sighed. “I think you should marry her, El.”
“All right, turn that off.” Weston tried to snatch the monitor from his brother, but Miles spun away, cackling.
“I’m going to, El. Don’t worry about that.”
“Oh yeah? When’s that going to happen?”
Luca snuck in from behind Miles and swiped the monitor out of his hand, shutting it off before any of us could hear Elliot’s reply. He handed it to me.
“Sorry,” he uttered, shooting Miles a dirty look.
“It’s fine.” And it was, even though my face was on fire and my heart had expanded ten times. I knew Elliot planned on marrying me—he told me daily I was his forever—but hearing him say it to his sister with such assurance was a whole other ball game.
Weston smacked the back of Miles’s head. “Learn when enough is enough.”
“That’s boring,” Miles proclaimed before turning a contrite smile on me. “Sorry, Kit.”
I picked up my half-full wineglass and waved him off. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about.”
As I sipped my wine and tried to recover from what I’d heard, I wondered if Elliot had remembered the monitor was on when he was speaking to Elise.
But this was Elliot. He didn’t miss important details.
Of course he’d remembered and known all of us might hear, including me.
I bit down on my bottom lip, and my toes curled. Elliot Levy wanted to marry me, and he made sure everyone important to him knew it too.
The atrium lobby of the Rockford building had been transformed from a sleek, modern passage into a cocktail party venue. When we arrived, finely dressed guests were milling about, waiters carrying trays filled with champagne and hors d’oeuvres weaving between them. Twinkle lights had been wrapped around steel pillars and seating had been arranged in clusters. Sprays of exotic flowers livened up the space, giving it a celebratory feel.
Our group split off, Luca and Weston running into people they knew who wanted to speak with them, and Miles ventured off to find the bar and new friends. Elliot kept his arm around my waist, introducing me to too many people for me to keep straight.
Not that this was a party full of strangers. I’d been by Elliot’s side for over a year as his assistant, so there were many people I had met when I’d accompanied him to his meetings, but this was our official coming out. We were showing in no uncertain terms we were far more than boss and assistant now, and though it was nerve-racking, feeling Elliot’s pride when he reintroduced me as his girlfriend had me beaming like a little loon.
God, I loved this man.
We were speaking to two women who ran a nonprofit that helped the unhoused in Denver.
Elliot slid his palm up to my shoulder. “Catherine was the project manager for a charity that builds houses in impoverished areas of the world. Fair housing is a topic she’s passionate about.”
He winked at me, and I knew he was thinking about me being arrested for protesting my father’s business practices. This man of mine got a kick out of being with a criminal.
I was drawn into the conversation with the women and shared my experience in Mexico and Costa Rica. While I was speaking with them, Elliot signaled he had to go talk to someone else for a moment.
He stayed in my eyeline and kept me in his. Although I was comfortable where I was, it was beyond nice to know he hadn’t forgotten who he was with, even while conversing with other people.
Then, before I knew what was happening, Elliot was at the front of the crowd, a mic in his hand. He’d mentioned he would be speaking for a minute or two tonight, but I’d lost track of time, so the sound of his voice rising above everyone else’s took me by surprise.