crawling by eight months, walking at thirteen. His first word was ball, even though I really hoped it would be mama. He eats like a champ—whatever I put in front of him. And he’s polite. He smiles at everyone and everything, and when he laughs—like, really laughs—his entire body laughs with him.” She takes a breath, and before I get a chance to speak, she’s saying, “Please don’t be mad at me. I have proof. Pictures and videos. So many videos. And he loves watching himself. His favorite one to watch is from his first haircut. He didn’t move once. Barely even blinked. He thinks it’s hilarious, like he was a robot or something. And he’s smart, Leo. Like, really smart, and he likes science experiments. We do them all the time. And he’s—”
“Perfect,” I cut in, my heart heavy. “He’s perfect, Mia,” I whisper, pulling her into me. With her face pressed to my chest, she releases sob after sob, and I mindlessly stroke her hair, my gaze lost, full of images of the past, the present, the future. I kiss the top of her head. “And so are you.” Her breaths stall, and then she’s pulling away, looking up at me, her eyes filled with liquid hope. I press another kiss to her forehead. “When can I meet him?”
Chapter Sixty-Four
Mia
I can feel his eyes on me as my fingers tremble, trying to fight the nerves swarming through me. So far, I’ve managed to hide it well enough, keeping my hands busy and the conversation light, and then trigger.
Dang it!
It came out of nowhere, and I wasn’t prepared. I guess the one good thing about being in that emotional state is that I don’t have time to overthink my responses. I lay it all out there, bare and exposed, and if there’s anyone and any subject I should be like that with, it’s Leo and Benny.
We sit side by side at the kitchen counter now—Leo forcing me to eat before the food gets cold—while I go through the calendar in my phone searching for the next chance to bring Benny down. Being on my phone while stuffing my face has given my mind something else to focus on other than my meltdown. “Crud,” I mutter, and Leo chuckles.
“Still with the no-swearing thing, huh?” I narrow my eyes at him, and he’s smirking, motioning his head toward my phone. “When?”
“I have a project that’s due late next week, so I’ll be slammed with work until then. I can bring him that weekend, though.”
Leo nods, thinking, and then a slow smile spreads across his lips. “That works well for me. I have to go to—” He breaks off. “Just… a thing… with Logan, so…” He focuses on his meal. “Not that Logan’s a priority over—”
“I get it,” I cut in. “You don’t have to explain.”
We fall silent, my mind circling. Leo’s the first to speak. “What do you do? For work, I mean.”
“I work for my dad,” I tell him, holding back an eye-roll, because of course I do. I don’t think Dad would be happy for me to do anything else. “I work in the graphics and digital marketing departments. Most of it I can do remotely, so I’m not in the office a lot. I spend my days with Benny, and when he’s asleep, I work.” I shrug. “It works well, because I can submit my work as part of my course load—”
Leo’s head swivels, eyes scrutinizing. “You study, too?”
I nod, suddenly anxious. “It’s distance learning, so it’s 100 percent online. Double degree so I’ll probably graduate the same time Benny does.” I release a nervous giggle, then add lamely, “I don’t miss out on time with Benny. I promise.”
Leo’s sigh is short, sharp. He uses a paper napkin to wipe his mouth, and then dumps it in his now-empty bowl. Pushing it aside, he turns his entire body to me. “So you graduated high school.” It’s not a question.
With a smile and a nod, I say, “Yep. After I found out I was pregnant, Dad moved us back to New York so I could get the best treatment—for my pregnancy and my disease and my grief.” Whoa. That was a lot to reveal in literally once sentence, but I don’t backtrack. And I can see his mind working, processing. “I didn’t board at the school, though, and I think they may have had a few pregnant students before because my being there in that state didn’t seem all