me and you’re in a place you’re not ready to be in.”
She hadn’t asked that question out loud, had she?
“No, you didn’t,” Tom said with a smirk. “Wish I had this ability when I first met you …”
No. That would have been embarrassing.
“No, it would have been awesome.”
“Tom! Get out of my mind,” she shouted, gripping the top of her head, panic beginning to attack her and making her feel uncomfortable in her own body.
“Calm down, Mia.”
“Tom, where am I?” she asked out loud this time, her eyes fixated on the beautiful little girl by his side.
“Where do you think, baby girl? Where am I?”
Her head shook back and forth repeatedly, not wanting to say it. She couldn’t be here with him. This wasn’t real.
“Where am I, Mia?” he repeated.
“Heaven …” she whispered, tears rushing to her eyes and falling when the strangled sob escaped her throat.
Letting go of the little girl’s hand, Tom stepped forward until he was right in front of her. His eyes so sad when he replied. “Yeah.”
“Tom—” she cried out and then his arms were around her, holding her to him, comforting her and it felt like the real thing. She clutched him, fighting the truths that were trying to get her to see. “Why am I here? I don’t understand …”
Smoothing back her hair, he peered at her again with those sad eyes. “Something went wrong during the delivery of your boys—”
“Are they okay?” she asked, fear gripping her heart.
“Yes, they are. You, on the other hand …”
With a sigh of relief that her babies were okay, she stepped out of his embrace slightly and looked up at him. “Are you real?”
“As real as I can get …”
“I miss you,” she said on a long sigh.
A sad smile broke out on his face. “I miss you too.”
They stood like that, staring into each other’s eyes, silent meanings passing back and forth, until Tom cleared his throat. “Very handsome boys you made there, and they have a great birthday.”
She smiled up at him. Tom’s birthday … as well as the day he died.
Her smile faltered and she looked at him—he knew what she had just thought. “Yeah, that too. And I’m still not going to let you join me on that day either. You need to go back, Mia. It’s not time for you to be here.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“I’m not alone. I’m always with you guys—you, Marc, and Lizzie. I know how you’re doing. I hear those thoughts.”
Her tears fell then. “Oh, God! This is so fucking unfair!”
“Go back, baby girl. I’m just fine here,” he said, looking back at the little girl watching them with her big, dark eyes. “Be a mother to those two little boys. Don’t give up. Fight. Fight for everything you want. Don’t ever stop. Keep living your life. Okay?”
She couldn’t speak through the tears, so she nodded.
“Promise me!” he yelled with a tinge of panic in his voice.
“I promise,” she told him on an exhale of breath.
“I need you to go now,” he said, pushing her towards the darkness and chaotic noise.
She stumbled and called out to him. “Tom!”
“Mia! Go now or it will be too late! Please!” he begged.
She took a step back towards him and his eyes went wide in fear. “Tom! Who is she? Who’s the little girl?”
He stalked towards her, determination lining his face, and with his hands on her arms, he walked her backwards so quickly, her feet slipped. That didn’t stop him and when she reached the edge of the light, he pushed her back to the darkness at the same time he spoke. “Our baby girl.”
With a jolt, the noise level assaulted her ears. Her instinct was to cover them from the painful noise but she couldn’t. Her arms seemed pinned down. She couldn’t move them, nor could she open her eyes to see where she was.
“There!” a man shouted as the blaring beeping calmed down. “I think we’ve got it!”
A loud cheer erupted around her. “Her pressure is stabilizing,” said a woman to her right.
“Thank God!” came the voice of her husband, thick with emotion.
“Mr. Christopher, why don’t you go with the nurses and they’ll take you to the nursery to see your sons? Your wife is going to be okay.”
Oh shit, Mia thought. She was in the hospital. What the hell happened? Why couldn’t she see him? Why couldn’t she talk?
“I love you, suga,” Ethan said, his lips lightly pressed against that spot where her ear