my forearm, and I don’t say anything. We finally get Ivy’s room number, and I take off at full speed. Mashing the elevator buttons, I get impatient and decide to rush up the stairs. I can’t stay still. I need to see Ivy, to touch her, to make sure she’s okay.
When I get to her floor, I run down the hallway until I get to the very last room. It has floor-to-ceiling windows on either side, encasing Ivy almost entirely in glass. The blinds haven’t been drawn, and I can see Ivy’s black hair against the white hospital bed sheets. Her face is turned toward me, her eyes peacefully closed.
My heart jumps to my throat and a tear slides down my face.
She should have told me. I should have been here.
A weird mix of love, relief, and anger swirls inside me. Love for Ivy, relief that she’s okay, and anger that she didn’t tell me she was here.
I push the door open gently and walk to her bedside. Cupping her face in my hands, I press a trembling kiss to her lips.
When I pull back to look at her face, Ivy’s eyes open.
A sigh escapes her lips, and a tiny, tired smile stretches across her face.
“You’re here,” she whispers.
“Of course I’m here. I’ll always be here.”
39
Ivy
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out, opening my eyes wider.
I hadn’t meant to say it like that, in the darkness of a hospital room with the Prince leaning over my bed. I’d spent all afternoon crafting the perfect speech to tell him, when I was finally strong enough. But now that he’s here, I just had to get it out. I had to tell him the truth.
The Prince freezes, and for a horrible moment, I think I feel him pull away from me. My mind spirals, and all my fears come true. He doesn’t want the baby. He doesn’t want me. He’s going to leave.
Instead, he strokes the side of my face with the back of his fingers as his eyes soften.
“You’re...pregnant?” His eyebrows arch hopefully, and a flash crosses his eyes.
I nod, not trusting my voice. When the Prince’s face breaks into a smile, my heart erupts. I don’t realize how much fear was housed inside me until it’s released all at once. My worries fall away, and I cling onto the Prince like the lifeline that he is. He buries his face into my neck as a sobbing laugh falls out of him.
Of course he wasn’t leaving me. Of course he wants the baby.
I was a fool to push him away.
I don’t even realize tears are falling from my eyes until the Prince brushes them away. He presses his trembling lips to mine, and in his kiss I feel the strength of his love. I hook my arms around his neck and pull him close, deepening our embrace and showing him what he means to me.
When he pulls away, Luca slides his hand over my stomach and leans his forehead against mine. He lets out a shuddering breath, and a tear rolls down his cheek.
“I’m going to be a dad,” he sighs.
“And you’re…you’re happy about that?” My voice squeaks.
Luca chuckles. “Yes, Ivy. I’m happy about it. More than happy. Ecstatic. Over the moon. Head over heels in love with you.”
I bite my lip to stop it from trembling. Luca grabs a chair and pulls it toward the bed, sliding his hand into mine. I bring it up to my lips and lay a kiss on the back of his hand, and then nuzzle my face against him. His skin smells so good.
I missed him so, so much.
“I’m here,” he repeats, over and over. “I’m here.”
We stay there for a long time without moving. Every time he says, ‘I’m here,’ it loosens some of the tension in my heart. When he presses another kiss to my lips, love fills up my heart so fully that I feel like I’m going to explode with happiness.
In that moment, I realize many things.
I learn that I’m strong enough to do it on my own. Strong enough to rebuild the bakery. Strong enough to carry this child. Strong enough to walk away from my sister if she doesn’t want me in her life, and doesn’t treat me like I deserve to be treated.
But I also learn that I don’t want to do it on my own—and I don’t have to. In Luca’s arms, with few words being spoken between us, I feel the kind of unity and peace that