“Agreed. Maybe this is just about her friend and it’s getting her down. Or one of her brothers. Let me do some recon, and I’ll report back.”
“Okay, keep me in the loop. I’m here to help.”
“Okay, talk to you later.” I hang up the phone and go back into the living room where I see Knox on the ground with Matty, playing with a large orange ball. I take that moment to lean against the wall of the hallway and observe my two boys. Matty is the spitting image of his father and has the same fiery spirit.
Knox’s mom keeps telling me how much it feels like déjà vu, being here with Matty, watching him, his mannerisms, the way he’s toddling around, curious about everything. He’s just like Knox and I see it more and more as he grows up. It’s scary how similar they are, but also adorable. Makes me wonder if our second child will be like me. And if we should start on that soon.
Knox lifts Matty into the air and treats him like an airplane, zooming him around. Matty’s adorably sweet laughter rings through the living room, and it’s the small moments like these that remind me how grateful I am for giving Knox Gentry a chance back in college. We might have had a rough start, but the wait was totally worth it, because now we have this life together. This beautiful life.
“Hey you,” Knox says, spotting me. “Spying on us?”
I walk into the living room and take a seat next to them on the floor. Matty flings himself into my arms and presses a wet “kiss” to my cheek. “Mommy. Mommy. Dah. Mommy.”
“Oh yeah, buddy?” I say, watching him point his pudgy finger at the ball. “Go get it, bud.”
With one arm pumping, he runs to get the ball.
Knox pulls me into his chest so my back is resting against him once again. I love this about him. Since we spend so much time apart during the season, when he’s home, he’s often holding me and loving on me. “Your appointment is all set up. I also text Carson, and he said he’ll make sure Milly’s there as well. Did you hear anything from Dottie?”
I shake my head. “Not really. But she did mention something. Not sure there’s much to it, especially given how much Carson and Milly love each other, but she said Milly was upset about Shane getting a divorce.”
“Shane from college?” Knox asks.
I nod. “Yeah. Do you think she could be having an affair?”
“No way.” Knox shakes his head. “Carson and Milly are infatuated with each other. There’s no way anything is going on like that. Plus, I didn’t get the impression that he was mad, more like something was going on with Milly.”
“Hmm, maybe Shane said something to her. You know, maybe he had secret feelings for her or something. Maybe when Shane told her about his divorce, he said the reason they divorced was because he still loved her, all these years later.”
Knox chuckles. “Babe, you need to cut down on the soap operas.”
I squeeze his thigh, making him laugh. “I’m being serious.”
“So am I. I don’t think people actually do that, confess their feelings many years later, to someone who is happily married nonetheless. That’s really selfish.”
“Maybe he’s selfish.” I shrug. “Maybe he couldn’t move on without telling her. Unrequited love is very hard to live with.”
“And how would you know?” he asks.
“Because I loved you all those years we were apart. I never stopped loving you.”
“And I never stopped loving you—”
“Except for when you were dating celebrities . . .”
He groans behind me and I try to hide my laugh, but I can’t help it, I chuckle. He HATES it when I bring up his past dating life when we were apart. Not that I was a saint by any means. I dated, but his dating life was publicized given he was the starting shortstop for the Chicago bobbies.
“Will you stop it with that shit?”
“But it’s too much fun for me,” I admit.
“Apparently.” He squeezes my side and I chuckle while his face nuzzles next to mine. “You’re all I ever want, don’t forget that. But back to Carson and Milly, I really don’t think it has anything to do with someone on the outside. I think this might be something between them.”
“I guess there’s only one way to find out, huh?”
“Go straight to the source.” He kisses my nose just as his mom walks into the living room.
“I got more juice on the floor.” She winces.
Holding back my groan, I attempt to stand, but Knox keeps me still, kisses my cheek, and says, “I got this. You hang out with the gremlin.”
***
CARSON
“Milly, you home?” I call out into a dark apartment.
When I don’t hear anything, I turn on the living room light to our expansive loft apartment. Doesn’t seem like she’s been home all day, which means she’s most likely still at the cages.
I set my wallet and keys on the console table in the entryway and head to the kitchen where I open the fridge. Besides a few stalks of celery and some cheese, we have noting to eat. I retreat to the pantry, give that a quick look and then sigh when I realize we haven’t been shopping since we got back from Greece.
Knowing my girl, she’s going to want something light, since we ate to our heart’s content in Greece. Experiencing ancient history through her eyes—and Milly in a two-piece on white-sand beaches in my eyes—was definitely better than staying at home. I pull up my phone, open a food app, and start putting in an order for our favorite salads from a place a few blocks away. Just as I’m about to hit the purchase button, the front door opens and Milly comes in with a brown bag in hand.
Dinner.
God, I love this girl.
Not just because she brings home dinner.
“Hey, you,” I say, walking up to her.
She smiles over the bag. “Hey.”
Her smile is bigger than usual. She hasn’t had a smile this big in a while, which can only mean one thing . . .
“Did you get ice cream?”
She hands me the bag. “You know me too well.”
As she slips her shoes off, I peek into the bag and spot six pints of ice cream and . . .
My eyes shoot up to hers. She’s standing there, hands clasped together, a giddy look on her face.
“Milly . . . there’s a pregnancy test in this bag.” She nods. “A pregnancy test, you know . . . to find out if you’re pregnant.”
“I know.” She smiles even bigger.
“But I thought . . . you said . . . in Greece . . .”
She smiles even more. “I thought I was getting my period, but it was just some spotting. I haven’t gotten anything else. When I spoke to our doctor, she said to take a test. So here we are, taking a test.”
“Tonight? We’re going to take a test . . . tonight?”
“Well, you see, I kind of drank a whole bottle of water while I was at the store, in preparation for peeing on a stick, so I really have to go now.”
Still stunned, I say, “Like, right now?”
“Yes.” She laughs. She stands on her toes, grabs the test, and then presses a kiss to my cheek. “Put the ice cream in the freezer and then meet me in our bathroom.”