Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 33713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
"I'm fine," she says, but her smile is different now. It’s nervous, vibrating with a secret that’s too big to keep inside. She reaches into her small clutch and pulls out a tiny, folded piece of paper, sliding it across the tablecloth toward me. "I have one more graduation present. For both of us."
I pick up the paper, my fingers feeling clumsy. I unfold it, expecting a card or maybe a printout of her final grades. Instead, it’s a black-and-white image, grainy and blurry, showing something that looks like a small, curled bean nestled in a dark gray void. My brain stalls for a second, the gears grinding as I try to process what I'm seeing.
"Ren?" I ask, my voice coming out as a choked rasp. I look from the photo to her, my heart doing a slow, heavy roll in my chest. "Is this…"
"Two months," she whispers, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "I found out right before finals, but I wanted to wait until today. I wanted to make sure we were together with everyone when I told you."
The world stops. The noise of the restaurant, Eden and Bones’ congratulations, and Alana’s shrieking—it all vanishes into a vacuum. There is only Ren, and the knowledge that there is a life we created, a tiny heart beating somewhere inside the woman who owns my goddamn heart. A baby. My baby. Our baby.
I can’t speak. The words are trapped behind the massive lump in my throat, a physical obstruction that makes it impossible to do anything but stare at her in stunned, terrified, ecstatic silence. I thought I knew what love felt like. I thought I’d reached the limit of what my heart could hold two years ago when I put the ring on her finger. I was wrong. This is a whole new level of gravity, a force that’s currently pinning me to the earth and setting me free all at once.
I don't say anything. I can't. Instead, I reach out and cup her face in both of my hands, pulling her toward me. I kiss her with everything I have. All the gratitude, all the protective fury that’s finally found peace, all the hope I didn't think I was allowed to keep. She tastes like chocolate and salt, and she tastes like the future. I pull back just enough to rest my forehead against hers, my eyes squeezed shut.
"I love you. I’ll love you forever," I murmur and reach down to lay my hand against her belly. "I've got both of you. Forever."
"I love you, too," she says, her hands moving to cover mine. "We’ve got each other."
My last chance at happiness didn't just work out. It became my greatest blessing, a light so bright it’s burned away every shadow I ever carried. I look at the woman beside me, my partner in every sense of the word, and I know that no matter what comes next, no matter how many miles we have to cover, we’ll do it together.
The End