at the time were not having to share a bathroom with Mayson anymore and having the balcony right outside my bedroom to place all three of my telescopes on.
I tugged Stephen toward my bed, and we sat with our backs to the headboard, hands locked together.
“Your mama’s gonna be mad as heck if she wakes up and you aren’t there,” I said once we were situated.
He shrugged. “This is more important.”
“You know the rules: Christmas Eve with grandparents, Christmas morning with the immediate family, and Christmas afternoon with all of us.” It was practically the only time Stephen and I were ever apart growing up.
“Some things are going to have to change,” Stephen said.
I snickered. “Good luck getting that past my mama or yours.”
Stephen pulled a couple of pages of crumpled paper from the pocket of his UTK sweatshirt, the same one he’d been wearing the day before. I wasn’t sure he’d slept at all. Guilt riddled me because I’d thrown a lot at him.
“I made a list. Keeping the baby or not keeping the baby,” he said, and I was surprised there wasn’t more anger in his voice.
“I don’t need to see the list,” I told him.
“Humor me?” he asked, and I realized he still thought I wanted to have an abortion.
I took the papers from his hands and moved so I was sitting in his lap, legs straddling him, looking down into his eyes. So pale and clear compared to mine which were always stormy and gray.
“I want to keep the baby,” I told him.
“You do?” he said, trying to hold back a smile.
“I do.”
“But you haven’t seen the list.”
“I don’t need to,” I said. I pulled his hand so that it rested on the bare skin of my belly under the long sleeve T-shirt I’d worn to bed. His hands were warm and soft as he slowly began to caress my skin. “This little life has made itself known. Like one of my stars bursting into existence. What would happen if it didn’t get a chance to burn bright and strong? I don’t have the right to end it.”
He had both hands on me now, caressing, slowly moving up from my waist to the base of my breasts and back down. I caught my breath.
“You have a choice, ‘Ley. It’s your body.”
“It is, but it’s our child.”
His breath hitched, and tears filled his eyes.
“What? You changed your mind? You don’t want to keep it?” I asked, and panic started to fill me. Now that I’d made up my mind to keep our baby, I wasn’t sure what I’d do if we’d somehow switched roles.
“You said our child.” His voice was thick with emotion, and his hands continued to roam, making the nausea all but disappear as other parts of me came awake.
“I have a question,” I said with a smile.
“Yeah?”
“On your list…” I paused, and he nodded, his beautiful smile matching my own. “Was one of the pros that we can have sex for months without using birth control and not worry about getting pregnant?”
His face broke into the wide grin that made my heart flip every time I saw it. It had since I was a little girl and he’d smile at me while giving me the last cookie. The one I’d always split in half and share right back.
“Nope. That sure wasn’t on the list, but I can tell you, that one thing pretty much pushes the pros way, way over the cons list.”
And he was kissing me. Hard and full of the emotions of the last few days. Anger and hurt and longing. Sadness and loss and regret. Going past that until there was hope and excitement and joy.
A banging on my door pulled our lips apart. We stared at each other, smiling.
“I’m not kidding, smartass. You better get down here before Dad goes ballistic.” Mayson’s voice boomed through the door.
“He’s going to go ballistic anyway,” Stephen said, but he was still smiling. I brushed my hands over his lips.
“He can’t kill his grandbaby’s daddy.”
“I’m sure Cam would prevent him from killing her best friend’s son.”
I giggled. “I don’t know. I’m more afraid of telling Mama than Daddy.”
“Tomorrow. We’ll tell them at Christmas. When we’re all together, and they’re distracted because there are so many people here. Some or all of our grandparents will keep them from killing us,” Stephen said.
“’Kay. But kiss me again and then leave like you used to—out the balcony and down the tree.”
He groaned but kissed me. Deeply. As