some stuff for us to entertain ourselves with while we wait. Skye told me there might be a lot of waiting.”
He grabs my bag, grunting at the weight, and looks through it. His voice is incredulous. “You packed a book on molecular physics?”
“I’ve always wanted to learn more.”
“Wilma’s thesis?”
“She asked me to read through it and comment on any mistakes.”
“You brought this?” He holds up a tome of a book, written by one of the literary greats.
“I saw it in your study. I’ve never read it. It’s a classic, come on. Don’t look at me that way.”
He puts the entire bag down, contents and all. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”
“Hey, the bag isn’t that bad.”
“Sure it’s not,” he says, grinning. “We’re not here for a vacation. But if you want to read Tolstoy in between contractions, I won’t stop you.”
I mutter something about how I’m at least trying to be cultured and Ethan bends to kiss me, breaking off my protests.
But his kiss is soon broken off in turn by another contraction. And then another. And it’s not long until our doctor returns, a smile on her face.
“Looks like someone’s getting ready to meet their baby,” she tells me.
If I’ve ever doubted the theory of relativity before, I’ll never do it again. Because time warps and bends and speeds up and slows down in the coming hours. Or is it days? Weeks? An eternity?
Because there’s no telling how long my labor is. It’s a blur of pain and orders and breathing. Of faces. Dearest is Ethan’s, close to mine, telling me things in a deep, calm manner. I barely make out his words, but his voice is heavenly.
Or at least I thought his voice was heavenly, but then a wail cuts through the air that is infinitely preferable. I see two tiny, blood-covered feet before my screaming baby is pulled away.
“I can only see his feet,” I half-sob, half-cry. “I love his feet.”
Ethan isn’t next to me anymore, his face focused on the bundle. “Wait till you see the rest of him.”
“Him? It’s a boy?”
The nurse returns, placing the tiny, ruddy-faced baby on my chest. “A boy,” she confirms.
“Hi,” I whisper to him, to this beautiful, mushed, minuscule human being who is somehow part me and part Ethan. “I’ve waited for you for so long.”
He looks up at me and I look down at him and my tears don’t stop. I doubt they ever will.
“Ethan, look,” I breathe.
“I’m looking,” he murmurs, bending so his head rests next to mine. “I’m looking, Bella.”
“He’s asleep?”
“Yes.” Ethan stretches out beside me, and we both watch the crib at the foot of the bed with bated breath.
Not a peep.
“Thank God.” I stretch out fully for what feels like the first time in days. Not even at gunpoint could I come up with a single part of my body that isn’t sore.
Ethan slides his arm underneath my head. “I practically had to bar the door to keep the girls out.”
I smile at that. “They want to play with him?”
“Yes. Haven gets that he’s not big enough yet, but Evie doesn’t.”
“Yesterday she snuck a doll into his crib when I looked away.”
Ethan groans. “Was it her purple-haired one, at least?”
“Oh, you bet it was. She means the best.” Both the girls did. The other day they’d sat next to me and watched him as he slept, and I’d answered all their questions to the best of my ability. Certain questions, like how did you and Daddy make him? had been difficult to answer.
We picked him up at the baby store, I’d felt like saying, but I’d mangled a short reply about how it could happen when two people loved each other. Anything more elaborate than that and I’d need Ethan as backup.
“Your parents just called,” he tells me. “They arrive in town next weekend to meet him.”
“They’ll be taking a ton of pictures,” I warn. “Prepare yourself.”
“Oh, your mother told me she already has a scrapbook planned,” Ethan says, sounding pleased by the thought. His meeting with my parents a few months ago had gone far better than I’d hoped. My parents, apprehensive of the whole situation, were immediately at ease in his company. I understood the feeling perfectly.
“Both of our brothers need to meet him, too,” Ethan says.
“Wyatt is dying to,” I say. “Has Liam accepted your offer to work with you on the new company?”
“No, and I don’t even know what city he’s in.” There’s more in his voice than