He jerks in surprise. I haven’t told him.
“He wants me to take his name. Can you imagine that? Me? A Romero.”
“Pr … Pr-prooooud,” Dad gets out.
He’s trying to tell her that nothing would make him prouder than Mac being a Romero. “You’ll be my father-in-law, Mike. And a grandpa.”
He jerks harder at the second revelation.
Mac pats her belly. “Will you come to the hospital when she’s born? My dad can come get you.”
“L-l-looove,” he answers.
I inhale a shaky breath and my eyes burn.
“M-m-mmmm Miiiiitch,” he gets out, “be gord unc unc … uncle.”
Mac’s jaw tightens and her voice chokes. “I don’t know how I’ll live with myself if he doesn’t wake up.”
I go to step in, but Dad moves a shaky hand toward her. It flops down on top of hers in an awkward attempt at comfort. “T-t tttime. Jake. B-b bbbabyy.”
He’s telling her that she’ll forgive herself in time. That I’ll be there for her. And that she needs to think of the baby.
“I told him to get out,” she tells him. “I wanted to see Mitch. I wanted space but now …”
“N-now?” Dad prompts.
“I just want Jake,” she whispers. “I blame him for leaving, but I pushed him to do it. We lost a baby once. A long time ago. I was in a car accident. Jake didn’t know. I thought he did, but he didn’t, and I was so angry at him for not being there. I lost him that day too and it felt like I died. It took me two years to remember how to live again. And ever since, all I could think was that I never wanted to go through that again. I was scared. But that’s stupid, right? Because I’m a Valentine. We don’t get scared. But I was. I still am. And I panicked when I found out I was pregnant again and Jake had gone. So panicked I couldn’t think straight or see straight. It was happening all over again. But then Jake said something in my room today that he’s never said before.”
I hold my breath.
“Wh-wh …” Dad is trying to ask what.
Mac answers. “I’m not going anywhere, Princess. Not—”
“Ever again,” I finish for her.
She lifts her head, startled, her green eyes finding mine. They fill rapidly and she blinks. “You found me.”
I want to tell her that I’ll find her no matter where she goes, but the truth is that Mac is more slippery than an eel. I’d have better luck finding the secret city of Paititi. “Dad had the duty nurse call me. She told me it was urgent, but she didn’t say that you were here. I just assumed Dad needed me.”
He pats the bed, indicating to come closer. “Mar-mar-m … M…”
“Yes, Dad. I asked her to marry me.”
His face fixes in a scowl.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.”
“Gr-gr …” He grabs my hand in a tight grip when I go to finish for him. I wait. “Gr-graaandparr.”
“And you’re going to be a grandpa.”
His lips tremble. He slams them together, and his head moves back and forth on the pillow, back and forth, back and forth. He’s worked up. Releasing emotion is difficult for him.
“Mike,” Mac says in a calm, normal tone, unaffected by his actions. “I’m going to read to you now.”
She twists awkwardly in her seat, trying to reach for the cupboard by his daybed. It’s always filled with library books, the pages old and worn and read a thousand times by thousands of people. How does she know they’re there?
I walk around the bed and crouch in front of the cupboard. “I’ll get it,” I tell her, opening the door. There’s a haphazard pile inside. “Which one are you up to, Dad?”
But he can’t answer, his head is jerking around. “The Matthew Reilly one,” Mac answers. “The Four Legendary Kingdoms.”
I look up at her. “How do you know?”
“I read to him,” she says softly. “Every fortnight.”
“You …” I can’t catch my breath.
“He’s family, Jake.”
Loyal to the bone. That’s my girl. And it makes my heart so full I can barely stand it. I grab for the book. Blindly. Because my vision is blurred. I hand it to her. She finds her place in the story and begins to read. And as her voice carries through the room, slow and repetitive, my father begins to calm.
I don’t know how it’s possible to fall in love with someone more than once, but I do.
I pull my phone out and tap a message to Travis.
Found her. She’s fine. Will bring her back to the hospital in an hour.
After hitting send, I put it away and drag an uncomfortable chair toward my father’s side. We both sit there listening to her tell a story. And for the first time since I met Mackenzie Valentine and went on this crazy ride, I finally feel complete.
MAC
Six months later…
I wake slowly. Deliciously. It’s a warm summer morning, and my bedroom window is open. The sheer curtains billow from a delicate breeze. “Crying Shame” by The Teskey Brothers croons softly from the speaker by my bed, right where a thick dark mug of coffee rests waiting for me to rise.
A deep breath fills my lungs. I let it out leisurely, feeling well-rested and happy. Today is the first day of my maternity leave and my first holiday since … Well it’s my first holiday. Ever.
“Mac!” Jared’s voice roars up the staircase, ruining my appealing fantasy. “Get out of bed, you lazy beached whale! You’re needed downstairs.”
“Fuck off!” I shriek back.
The truth is that I haven’t woken slowly because I barely slept at all. Who can sleep when your belly is bigger than Mt. Everest? There’s no crooning music to gently rouse me either. And no leisurely breaths of air or sweet breeze wafting through my window. The only thing true is my maternity leave starting today.
My bedroom is a sweaty hotbox because I’m the dick that’s due to have a baby in the height of summer. A baby pffft. An evil being grows inside me. One who kicks and punches and bounces on my bladder like it’s a jumping castle of fun. I’m literally being attacked from the inside out.
Pregnancy is a total shit sandwich. I’m not glowing and my hair hasn’t thickened into a glorious mane. It’s lank and damp from sweat and tangled around my neck, choking me like the tentacles of a giant Architeuthis.
And I’m not resting comfortably in my own room. Nooooooo. That would be asking too much. I’m in my old bedroom at my parents’ house. Why? Because I’m an idiot, that’s why.
We gave up our lease with the duplex six months ago. Henry, Frog, and Cooper, bought a loft in the building where Casey, Grace, and Coby still reside. The three twits think the area exudes some kind of badass vibe, and they’re hoping it will rub off on them. I eventually had to ruin their ridiculous notion and explain that you’re actually born with the badass gene inside you. It’s not something you can just acquire by association. It’s not magical glitter that you sprinkle over yourself at the start of the day.