I don’t realize I’m crying until Penny lifts up and smooths her thumbs over my cheeks. My mind twists with her words, the dots connecting, the clouds parting, and light shining down on that exact feeling she’s talking about.
The breathlessness when she’s not around.
The feeling of peace when she’s near me.
The need I have to hold her hand, to walk through this life with no one else but her.
The knowledge that no matter what happens in my day, I can count on her beautiful face, her charming wit, her empathetic heart to carry me through all life’s challenges.
The kernel needled me from the first day I met her.
And if I’m honest, it’s grown over time.
On my birthday, I was struck so goddamn hard by that kernel blossoming into so much more.
And now, all I can think about is her. All I want is her. And I can’t even fathom a day moving forward when she isn’t mine. When I can’t call her, kiss her . . . love on her.
Holy . . . shit.
“Penny?” I ask, my voice choked up.
“Yes, Eli?”
“I think . . .” I swallow hard, pushing down the lump forming in my throat. “You mean everything to me. Your smile.” I kiss her lips. “Your heart.” I kiss her chest. “Your mind.” I kiss her forehead. “I couldn’t go a day without knowing that they belong to me. I’m so sorry it took me so long to figure it out.” Her eyes well, and I quickly kiss them and push her gently on her back. “Baby, I love you . . . Jesus Christ, I can’t believe it took me so long to say it, to acknowledge it. But fuck, Penny, I love you.”
“Don’t apologize,” she says. “I just hope that I didn’t push you.”
I shake my head. “You didn’t, Penny. You opened my eyes, you let me figure it out, and you never fucking left me. You never gave up. Even when I could see the pain in your eyes, you never gave up on me.”
“I couldn’t,” she says. “Because I love you and that strong bond that I have for you in my heart, it’s unbreakable, Eli.”
Smiling, I let a tear fall down my cheek right before I press my lips to hers. “You make me so goddamn happy. I didn’t know what I was missing in my life until you, Penny. You’ve parted the clouds that were hanging over me, and you let the sunshine in.” I kiss her again. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me, Eli. Just loving me is enough.”
With that, I smooth my hand over her stomach and between her legs. She spreads for me as she sinks into the mattress. My mouth finds hers as I press my thumb along her slit.
“I love you,” I say again, the words falling off my tongue with ease now. “Just you and me, Penny. Just you and me.”
She reaches for my hardening cock and starts stroking me. “You and me.”
I move over the top of her and spread her legs, trying not to put any pressure on her growing stomach, but the position doesn’t quite work, so I slide us both down to the edge of the bed where I stand in front of her. Getting the perfect angle without pressing on her stomach, I bring my cock to her entrance, and I tease her with my head, running it along her clit for a few strokes.
“Make love to me, Eli. Please . . . make love to me.”
“That was the plan, baby.”
And then I enter her, and I can feel my world changing around me with each deep stroke.
With each connection of our eyes.
With every beautiful sound that falls past her lips.
She’s mine.
Forever.
Epilogue
ELI
I shift in bed and reach for Penny, but when my arms come up short, on the cold side of a bed, I quickly sit up and look around the dark room.
She’s not in bed, nor is there a light on in the apartment anywhere.
Worry immediately strikes me as I stand from the bed and go straight to the bathroom, where I flip the light on. She’s not here.
I slip on a pair of shorts and then quickly stick my head into the baby’s room. She’s not there, either.
Next is the living room, dining room, kitchen area. I turn on the light, but she’s not here, either.
What the hell?
Are her keys here? I check the console table near the entryway and see that her keys and wallet are missing. She left?
I jog back to our bedroom and pick up my phone to dial her number. When her phone on the nightstand rings, I curse loudly. Checking the time, I see that it’s three in the morning. Where could she be at three in the morning?
Would she go to the hospital without waking me up? That doesn’t seem right.