My hand grabs for the bed controller and I hit the button to raise my head, scooting my body so I’m sitting up. My nerves hum with excitement that he would do such a thing, and eager to listen to what he’s learned. “That’s unbelievable. And so damn sweet…and romantic…and I don’t even know what to say.”
“You might want to hold all those compliments until you hear me play,” he says dryly as he positions the ukulele in his hands. And oh my God, it looks ridiculous against his large frame and those long, strong fingers. “And a word of warning: I’m not the best singer.”
“I think you’ll be fabulous,” I tell him, already bursting with pride no matter how bad he is.
Roman gives me a grateful smile, then a little cough to clear his throat. His eyebrows furrow inward in concentration as he places his fingers on the strings to make the first chord, and gives a little strum. His eyes slide to me, so damn nervous, so adorably cute, and I nod in encouragement.
His strumming hand starts to move, his chord changes choppy, but when he sings the first few lyrics, tears immediately fill my eyes.
Wise men say,
Only fools rush in…
I blink, and the tears slide free, rolling down my face as Roman struggles with the chord changes. He’s not secure enough to look away from his fingers on the strings, but I can still see a world of emotion in his eyes as he pours the words of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
I listen to him sing, loving his courage and bravery to play a song he’s just learned to a musician. I watch as he struggles, his voice cracking on a few high notes, because Roman is a hockey player, not a singer, and I start to fall right along with him.
By the time he gets to the last verse, I start singing too and his lips curve into a smile as he strums and we sing together. Movement behind Roman catches my eye, and I see my dad and Georgia standing in the doorway, their arms around each other’s waists. Georgia has tears in her eyes and my dad has a goofy grin on his face.
My gaze slides back to Roman as he seems to be more confident with the music, and as he gets to the last line, he looks up at me with a last glide of his fingers on the strings and we sing the ending together.
For I can’t help falling in love with you.
The notes fade away from the ukulele and Roman and I stare at each other for a blistering moment as we realize what this moment means for both of us. He leans forward in his chair, intent on giving me a kiss, but then my dad and Georgia start clapping enthusiastically. Roman jerks with a start and then just places his forehead on my lap in embarrassment while he mutters, “Jesus fuck. Are you kidding me?”
My hand goes to the back of his head and rubs against the short bristles of his hair. I laugh softly and say, “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”
Roman lifts his head and grins at me with sparkling eyes. Regardless of his audience now, he tells me softly, “I am falling in love with you, Lexi.”
“After that song,” I tell him earnestly, “I’m already there.”
“Okay, well…I’m actually there too,” he admits, and then finally pops up out of his chair to give me a soft kiss. His mouth moves to my ear and he whispers, “And despite Gray and those two behind me being a pain in my ass, I’m sure I’ll come to love them too.”
I can’t help the giggle that breaks free, and I wrap my arms around his neck, holding him to me in a fierce hug. When I release him, he stands and turns to my dad, who has walked into the room now. Roman holds his hand out, holding my ukulele by the neck with the other.
“Mr. Brannon,” Roman says in greeting.
My dad gives him a hard look, and the minute they grasp hands, my dad pulls him in for a sharp, one-handed bro hug where they sort of bump chests. My dad claps him hard on the shoulder, and when he pulls back, he says, “None of that Mr. Brannon crap. You’re part of the family now.”
Roman turns his head to look at me over his shoulder, and I give him a wink. “Part of the family. Get used to it.”
“Thinking that’s not going to be as hard as I thought it would be,” Roman says with a smile back at me.
He then releases my dad’s hand and moves over to the other side of the bed to take the chair Gray has been sitting in, waving to the two chairs on the other side for them to sit in.
We spend the rest of the morning talking and laughing. Gray comes back and joins us, and I watch as she and Roman sort of lapse into a sibling type of rivalry, taking snipes at each other but in a completely teasing way. My dad hovers over me at times, and Georgia flirts with him shamelessly, which causes him to blush. The nurses have to tell us to be quiet on more than one occasion, and that makes us laugh harder.
My heart feels full, ready to burst…joyful in the knowledge that Roman is part of a family again.
Amazing to think of how my life turned out.
That I am part of a family again.
Epilogue
Roman
TWO WEEKS LATER…
Some say it would be too early to propose.
You don’t know each other all that well.
What’s the rush?