I just laid there staring at her, terrified if I did any of those things, she’d leave me once again.
“Bay,” I said above a whisper, scared even that would make her leave.
She tilted her head to the side, caressing the side of my face.
Staring at me so intently.
So lovingly.
So fucking Bailey.
“Hey, baby.” She smiled with tears in her gaze, holding it together for me.
We stayed there just like that.
Where time stood still.
For me.
For her.
For us.
She was the first to break the silence, rasping, “I miss you so much, Aiden Pierce.”
I didn’t hold back. I snapped, crying like a fucking baby.
“Shhh…” she muttered, hugging me into her chest. I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her as tight as I could, dying to keep her against me for as long as I could.
“Shhh…shhh…it’s okay. I’m okay, I promise you I’m okay now. I feel like myself again, Aiden. It’s the best thing that could have happened to me. All I ever wanted was to be Bailey Pierce, and I found her again. That makes me so happy. Because now I’m her for eternity.”
“Beauty,” I wept, mourning the loss of her all over again. I leaned into her embrace, holding on by a thread. My heart beating a mile a minute, my body seizing up, feeling like I was going to throw up.
“You’re really here?”
“Yeah… I am.”
“I’m so sorry, Bailey. I’m so fuckin’ sorry.”
“Aiden, please…please stop…I’m not here for this, and I only have so much time until I have to go.”
“Go? Where are you going? Where are you, my Beauty?”
“I’m watching over you, blue eyes. Forever and ever.”
My heart was shattering.
My soul fucking aching.
Our love crumbling through my eyes.
“Can you look at me? I just need you to look at me.”
I nodded, swallowing hard. Willing myself to do this for her.
She grabbed ahold of my face, doing it for me, knowing I needed her to.
“You’re as handsome as ever, Dr. Aiden Pierce.”
“Bay, I can’t take it when you cry.”
She smiled, breathtaking. “They’re happy tears, I’m with you again. I wasn’t when I left you, and for that I’m so sorry.” She let go of my face and held onto my hands, shining so fucking bright. “Sometimes life doesn’t work out the way we want, but even still… you gave me everything I ever wanted. Including our baby girl. Journey has gotten so big. She’s so smart, and she loves to dance. I forgave you for not holding her. I know why you couldn’t, but, Aiden, you wanted her as much as I did. And in the end, we made her together.”
“I wanted you more, Bay. It kills me to even say that, but it’s the truth. I always wanted you more.”
“I would have left regardless. It was just sooner with having her. I don’t regret it for one second, because I left you with our baby girl. With the family we always dreamt about. It was always the only thing I could give you, Aiden. And it too allowed me to leave in peace.”
“Oh, God, Bailey… I’ve been the worst father. How are you not ashamed of me?”
“I couldn’t take you with me, even when you begged, when you pleaded, I couldn’t do it. Our babies needed you. They still do. Even through the haze in my mind, I brought her to you through sunflowers, my favorite.”
“What?”
“I want you to be happy. You were so miserable after everything I put you through. All those years of pushing you away… I’m so sorry. It wasn’t me. Please tell me you know that?”
“I do.”
She sighed in relief. “Camila was my gift to you, and our middle holds the truth.”
“You’re not making sense, Bay. What do you mean?”
“I want you to move on, to love again, to let me go. I’ll always live in your heart, Aiden Pierce. No one can take our love story away from us, but it’s over, baby. It ended the day I left you. You’re allowed to love more than one person in a lifetime. Have more than one soulmate. You have my blessing, it’s why I sent her to you.”
“Cami?”
“Yes. I love her. I’ve always loved her, and you have too. It’s why I chose her for you.”
“How?”
“I already told you, through the sunflowers.”
“Beauty, I don’t und—”
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and for thirty-eight years you gave me everything. Baby, I’ll always have your past, but Camila has your future,