“Sit, please,” I say.
She slowly sits down. “What is all this?”
I walk over to my seat, pull it out, and sink into it. I smile at her, taking a deep breath.
“I meant what I said,” I say finally. “I meant it when I said I love you. The baby thing threw me, and I regret that. But…” I reach forward and lift the flowers up off a small stack of papers. I push them over to her. “Read that.”
She picks them up, frowning at first. “These are… human resources documents?” She clears her throat. “Why am I reading paperwork right now?”
“Just read it,” I say, grinning. I reach into my pocket as she scans the words.
I watch her face slowly. I can see the surprise pass over her features and she finally looks up.
“You told them?” she asks softly.
I nod. “Signed the papers. All you need to do is sign yourself.”
“They don’t care?”
I laugh a little. “They really fucking care, actually. I took a lot of shit yesterday. But I called in every favor I have and they agreed that if we waive the hospital of any liability and make our relationship public, we can continue on.” I hesitate a second. “Except you’ll need a new resident to finish out your year.”
She chews her lip. “Why would you do this? I mean, you risked your career for this.”
“I did,” I say softly. “Melody, you’re more important than this fucking hospital. You’re more important than my job. We’re going to have a baby and this is the only way I know to show you how serious I am about you.”
She chews her lip again, looking back down at the papers. “It says we’re… engaged?” She cocks her head at me.
A grin slowly passes over my lips as I put the box on top of the table. Her eyes go wide and she stares at it.
“Go ahead,” I say, pushing it toward her.
“Gavin,” she whispers.
“Take it.”
Slowly, she takes the box. As she opens it, I get down on one knee next to her.
She stares at the ring. It’s a huge diamond surrounded by a halo of gold and smaller diamonds all around it. It took me hours to track down the perfect ring and wiped out a good chunk of my savings, but the expression on her face was worth it.
“Gavin,” she says.
“Melody, I love you. I’ve been in love with you since I first saw you. I want to marry you, be with you always, and raise our baby together. Will you marry me?”
She stares at me. She lifts the ring from the box, holding it in her hands.
“Are you just… doing the right thing?” she asks me slowly.
I smirk at her. “No,” I say. “I’m probably doing the wrong thing. I already told you I loved you before I knew about the baby. And maybe we should wait, you know, be sensible. But fuck sensible and fuck the right thing.” I reach out and grab her hand, a growl in the back of my throat. “I want you, Melody, I want you to be mine forever. Fuck anything else.”
She stares at me. “Okay,” she says quietly. “Okay.”
I grin and take the ring. I slip it onto her finger. She stares at it.
I lean close. “I love you, Melody.”
“I love you too,” she says.
I kiss her hard. She kisses me back with everything, our bodies wrapped together, and I feel it. I feel that rightness inside of me clicking into place and I know this was the best decision I ever could’ve made.
Melody’s mine, all mine, my fucking wife, the mother of my future baby. We have so fucking much to plan for, so much to do, but I don’t care. I don’t care at all.
I have my Melody. I have my future. Anything else, well, fuck it.
Anything else is just a bonus.
13
Melody
Two Years Later
I watch Mrs. Kane as the nurse draws blood. She doesn’t wince, doesn’t show pain, but I know she’s suffering. It’s been a long, hard illness and nothing’s gone right.
I’ve been sitting here for an hour. I haven’t done much, just talked with her. Mrs. Kane doesn’t have family, doesn’t have siblings or children or a husband. She came in alone and she’ll leave alone, but while she’s here, I won’t let her be alone.
My shift ended a while back but I still haven’t moved. I’ve been listening to her talk about her life, about going back to college at forty, about starting a small business, about falling in and out of love but never finding the right person. I listen to her tell the story of her life and for a little while I think she forgets about the pain and the sadness and the awful aching she feels every other moment.
I can’t do any more than this. I’m helping her in every way I know how, like I’ve helped any other patient that’s come to me, and I’ll keep doing it as long as I live. It’s hard, really hard, but it’s right.
There’s a knock at the door as the nurse finishes up. Mrs. Kane smiles at me. “I think that’s for you, dear.”
I look over as Gavin steps into the room. He’s smiling and little Joey is teetering in front of him, still a little unsteady on his feet.
“Hey,” I say, smiling at him.
“Hey. Tracy said I’d find you in here.”
Joey makes an excited noise and comes running over. I scoop him up, kiss him, and show him to Mrs. Kane.
“This is Joey,” I say.
“He’s so cute.” Mrs. Kane sits up a little straighter. “And is this your husband?”
“Gavin,” he says, nodding.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lucille.”
“Not at all,” she says. “She’s just listening to an old woman tell stories, is all.”
“Joey, this is Lucille and she’s a very nice person. Can you say hi?”
Joey waves. We’re working on the talking part.
Gavin comes over. “You okay?” he whispers.
I nod once but I’m exhausted. Long shifts followed by long chats really take a lot out of me and he knows it. I think that’s why he brings Joey sometimes, just to cheer me up.
“Well, dears, you two run along. I can tell you have a lot to do.”
I smile at Mrs. Kane. “I’ll be back tomorrow to see you, okay?”
“Okay, dear. Thanks for the chat.”
“Of course. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
I turn and leave her room, Joey squirming to look back and wave. Gavin follows, shutting the door behind him.
“Hi,” he says, kissing me.
“Hi,” I say back, smiling. I glance at the ring on my finger and I marvel at the fact that I am the wife of Gavin Scott. I never thought I’d see the day, but two months after Joey was born, we got married. It was a small ceremony but we invited our closest friends and family and it was perfect.
“Let’s go home,” he says. “I can tell you’re tired.”
“I should get some paperwork done,” I say, biting my lip.
He sighs. “Come on. You can do it tomorrow.”
I grin at him. We kiss again. “You know, not all of us are the poster boy for the hospital.”
He groans. The hospital recently put up billboards all along the city and used a promotional shot of Gavin himself. Everybody keeps calling him the model doctor and it drives him absolutely insane.
I love it, of course. Lets me tease him whenever I want. But he also does look amazing in that picture.
Well, let’s be honest. He looks amazing all the time. I got lucky with my handsome doctor baby daddy, the love of my life.
We leave the hospital together and head home. I moved into his townhouse and finally hired people to actually renovate the place properly. We’re living there for a while until we can sell it and find a place of our own.
Gavin changes Joey upstairs while I start on dinner. When he’s finished, my two boys join me, and we all cook together. Joey loves being held and watches while we stir and chop and fry.
Gavin kisses m
e and I kiss him back. He can’t ever keep his hands off me and I absolutely love it. Every night after Joey’s down, he makes me feel incredible, every inch of my body vibrating with the need for him. Gavin makes me feel sexy in ways I never thought I would, even right after having a baby.
When we’re done, we all sit at the table.
“I’m thankful for my wife, my kid, and my life,” Gavin says over the meal.
“I’m thankful for my husband and my baby,” I say. “What are you thankful for, Joey?”
He just squeals and pops a piece of chicken into his mouth.
We laugh and I sit back for a second, watching my two boys. My man and my son. I put my hand over my belly and although I’m not pregnant yet, I know I’m going to be again sooner or later at the rate we’ve been going.
I hope it happens sooner. I love my family and I want to make it bigger. Every day I want more, more time with them, more smiles, more kisses.
When all this started, I never pictured this is how it would end. I never pictured the dinner table with my husband and my baby. I never pictured being happy like this, content in a life I never dreamed of. But here I am, content, happy, feeling better than I’ve ever felt before.
Gavin loves me. He’s my man, my everything, my doctor. I couldn’t picture going through life without him and I know I’ll never have to.
This is my dream, right here. This is the love of my life. I’ll never give it up, not for anything, and I’ll never have to.
THE END
* * *
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