My baby! I have a baby… a tiny human.
“She’s beautiful,” he said, “like her mother.”
“I can’t believe it.” Marveling at her tiny features, Brookes heart swelled so big it pressed against her throat. “She’s perfect.”
“I’m so sorry you thought she died. It’s just one more way I failed you.”
He bent to brush a tear from her cheek. “You’re still crying.”
“Happy tears now,” she said. “That and hormones galore.”
“Dave says the baby’s really strong.” Cole lifted his chin, as if her strength somehow reflected on him. “They didn’t have to put her in the neonatal unit. Her lungs were fully developed at thirty-six weeks.”
“How much does she weigh?” Brooke asked. It seemed impossible that a few hours earlier, the baby had been inside her. How did she fit?
A sheepish smile crept onto his face. “I don’t know. It’s written on the outside of her bed. But I think it’s out in the hallway—they were afraid to come inside after I yelled at them.”
“You do have a problem with your temper,” she teased.
“I wonder if Dr. Black likes flowers.”
“An apology would probably do,” Brooke suggested. “But you should wait until you’re genuinely sorry.”
“I am genuinely sorry,” Cole said, “but not for that. I’m genuinely sorry I brought all this on you. Thanks to me, you almost died and you almost lost the baby. Not to mention how I hurt you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, gazing at the baby in her arms. “Nothing else matters now.”
“I love you, Brooke. Do you believe me?”
Her chest clenched around her heart. “Cole, I know you mean well, but you don’t really love me. This is you feeling guilty for something that wasn’t even your fault. You can’t help that there are crazy people out there. I’m alive. The baby’s alive. You’re not responsible.”
He pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down at eye level, gently resting his hand on her arm, wrapped around the squirming baby.
“Jarrett says I’ll mess this up, so I need you to listen with your heart.” He swallowed hard. “When I say I love you, I’m not just throwing words around. I haven’t said that to anyone since… well, since ever. Not counting my mom and my sister.”
She wanted to believe it, but she couldn’t stand going through that heartache again.
“You can’t suddenly decide you’re in love when you weren’t in love before. Love isn’t something you can turn off and on.”
“Before I met you, I was like Shrek.” He lifted the green prosthetic arm. “I performed well, but I had no feeling. But you brought me to life! For the first time, I can feel. It’s scary, because I can feel the good stuff and the awful stuff. The point is, now that I can feel, I can never go back. Even if I wanted to.”
“Cole, it sounds good. But you’re making an emotional decision. You didn’t love me three weeks ago. We haven’t spent five minutes together and suddenly you love me? How am I supposed to trust you?”
“It’s okay if you don’t believe I love you.” His eyes softened, his pupils so dilated she could’ve fallen into them. “All I’m asking for is a chance to prove it to you… today, tomorrow, and every day for the rest of our lives.”
He’d said the words she’d longed to hear. Why couldn’t she believe him?
“How can I know for sure, Cole? I’ve been hurting for so long. I was ready to get on with my life and try to forget you ever existed. I don’t want to take a risk that I’ll have to start all over again.”
His brows furrowed, and he stood up, pacing in the small space like a caged lion. Then he froze and turned to her, enthusiasm etching dimples into his face.
“I’ve got it!” He lifted a finger in the air. “Didn’t you tell me you’d found a name for me? A lead that might help me find my birth mom?”
“Yes, I forgot all about it. I had it with me today. It’s in my purse, wherever that ended up.”
He crossed his arms and huffed out a long, slow breath, like he was trying to work up his courage. “Throw it away,” he said, with a sharp nod. “I don’t want it anymore. I don’t need it.”
“Why not?” She patted her squirming baby as she made little grunting noises.
“Because it doesn’t matter why the woman who gave birth to me chose to give me up for adoption. It doesn’t even matter if she tried to abort me and messed up my arm.”
He was practically dancing in his boots, but she still didn’t get it. “Why not?”
“Don’t you see? Every single thing that happened in my life brought me to the point where I walked into that coffee shop and spilled my coffee on you.” He gestured in the air. “If I hadn’t been adopted… if I hadn’t had this arm… we never would’ve met! I was praying for answers, and the answer was you.”
Something like a crusty shell crumbled and fell from around her heart.
“You really love me?” she asked, wanting to hear it one more time, just to be sure she wasn’t dreaming.
“You’re so lovely. So beautiful. Inside and out.” His hand reached out, knuckles brushing along her cheek. “How could I not love you?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”
“And what about you?” A crease formed between his brows. “Do you still love me? Please tell me I didn’t wait too long.”
“I do.” She sniffed, blinking the moisture out of her eyes. “I love you with every stubborn, foolish, hopelessly romantic part of me that somehow refused to die no matter how many times I tried to kill it.”
“I want you to know,” he said, his voice unsteady, “you just made me the richest man on earth.”
