He turned, spotting Aurelia, and as he closed the distance between them, he said, “You and your mama.” He kissed Aurelia and said, “Right, Mama?”
Her heart leapt as tears tumbled down her cheek. Mama. Mama! It was all she could do to nod.
“Hey there, beautiful.” He slid a hand to the nape of her neck, pulling her close as he kissed her. Then he dipped lower and kissed her collarbone. “I had something made for you.”
He reached into his pocket and opened his hand, revealing a necklace with three small silver charms. A happy, astonished sound escaped as Aurelia took in the tiny silver charm shaped like an open book with ONCE UPON A TIME engraved on it. Silver heart charms hung on either side of the book. One had A+B inscribed on it, the other had only the letter B.
“Ben,” she said softly. “They’re beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful, Rels.” He handed Bea to her and stepped behind her to put the gift around her neck. As he clasped it, he said, “I wanted to give you something to commemorate all the changes in your life.”
“Blessings. You guys are blessings in my life,” she said, touching the charms.
Ben gazed deeply into her eyes and said, “Once upon a time there were two best friends, a sassy, sexy girl who loved Converse sneakers and was careful with every penny, and an insanely handsome, rich man who adored her. They did everything together except share the truth of their hearts. They joked and cried, ate too much pizza, and sometimes they drank too much. On more than one occasion, the handsome, rich man held the sassy, sexy girl’s hair back while she puked.” He smiled and said, “And the sassy, sexy girl . . . Well, we won’t divulge the details of her cleaning up after his messes. This guy, he wasn’t the smartest dude on the block, and he waited too long to let the sassy, sexy girl know how he really felt about her. And one day she moved away—and he was lost without her. And the insanely handsome, rich man realized that without his friend by his side, he wasn’t rich at all.”
Aurelia smiled through tears, melting inside.
“Then this beautiful baby girl appeared on the guy’s doorstep, and his friend, the smarter of the two of them, didn’t run the other way. The handsome, rich guy knew that staying by his side was the hardest thing that friend had ever had to do. She was just starting a new chapter in her life, and she didn’t need the chaos of midnight feedings or tracking down women he’d been with. But she stuck to him like glue, and she welcomed the baby girl into her life as if she were her own flesh and blood. And the rich guy fell deeper in love with her and felt richer than he’d ever been.”
Her throat thickened as she said, “And she fell deeper in love with him, too.”
“I was getting to that,” he said, sounding choked up. “Together these two friends worked really hard and got really exhausted, learning how to take care of the little girl. And the handsome, rich guy knew he was the luckiest man on earth because of the way the sassy, sexy girl is looking at him right now.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks. “Oh, Ben . . .” she whispered, going up on her toes to kiss him.
“I love you, Aurelia, and I’m so thankful you’re mine. I can’t wait to see what our next chapter holds.”
“I love this, and I love you.”
As he lowered his lips to hers, the doorbell rang.
He groaned against her lips and said, “Our timing suuuucks.”
“I don’t know. Our timing might always be a little off, but it is ours, and that makes it perfect.”
“God, I love you.” He kissed her again.
“Want me to get the door while you start breakfast? I’m starved.”
“Yeah, thanks.” As she walked out of the kitchen, he said, “I’ll make your favorite. Ten-inch pancakes!”
“Your daddy is a silly, wonderful, romantic man,” she said to Bea as she walked through the living room, touching her beautiful new necklace. “And we are two very lucky girls.”
She pulled open the door, and in the space of a second the hair on the back of Aurelia’s neck stood on end, and she knew the tall blonde before her, whose teary eyes locked on Bea, was Bea’s mother. Aurelia held Bea tighter, tasting bile in her throat.
Please don’t be her. Please don’t be her.