Page 88 of Left Behind

Wiley blinked, then looked at Linette. She wasn’t giving him any signs of helping, and that was the last thing he’d expected her to ask.

“Uh, well, we hadn’t planned on it. Why?”

“Well, if she’s your almost wife, I thought you would sleep together. Grown-ups do that,” she said, and peeled a slice of pepperoni off her pizza and took a bite.

“Right. Well, sometimes she does,” he said.

Ava nodded, and then looked straight at Linette. “I will be good when you come over. I don’t bother anyone. You can ask Bubba. I know how to be quiet.”

Linette was overwhelmed by Ava’s constant need to please. “You’ll never be a bother. I don’t need you to be quiet, just happy.”

Ava gave Wiley the side-eye. “If she was married to you, then would she be my sister, too, like Dani and Amalie?”

“Yes, she would,” Wiley said. “Would that be okay with you?”

“Yes, but would I still go to Dani’s house when you’re at work?” Ava asked.

“Yes, because Linnie works, too. She’s a nurse. And she goes to work every day like I do,” Wiley said.

Ava thought about that a minute. “But then when you came to get me, Linnie would be home with us? And we would be a whole family, like a mommy and daddy, only not?”

“Yes, that’s how it would work. Would you be okay with that?” Wiley asked.

“Yes. I would like that,” Ava said. “Bubba, I’m full.”

“Then hop down, go wash your face and hands. You can play until bedtime, okay?”

Ava gave the both of them a look. “Linnie could stay. Bubba has extra toothbrushes,” she said, and then she slid out of her chair and left the room.

Linette was in tears. This child was breaking her heart. It was apparent how badly she wanted to belong to people, but she needed the reassurance that whatever changed in her life, she would still be loved.

“Oh, Wiley. She’s discovered family, something she never had, and she is so afraid she’ll lose it. I’ve purposefully not popped in and out like we’ve been doing, because I thought you two needed bonding time. But now it seems like knowing I exist in your life, she needs me to be in her space, too. You won’t hurt my feelings, whatever you decide, but what do you want me to do?”

“You already know I want you here. All the time. But I don’t want to force you into anything. It’s totally your call.”

Linette hugged him. “Your ‘almost wife’ misses being with you, too, and I think the sooner we provide a united front, the easier it will be for Ava to feel like every other little kid who has a home and two parents.”

“She’s never had either. You’re giving up all of the honeymoon phase and jumping into the life of a parent without so much as a ring on your finger, let alone a wedding.”

“All that will come in its own time,” Linette said. “I think I can tough out the burden of having to come home to a sexy man and an adorable child every night. Do I still have a toothbrush and a change of clothes here?”

He grinned. “Yeah.”

“May I share your bed tonight?” she asked.

He cupped her face, brushed a kiss across her lips, and then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

“I don’t know how I got this lucky, but you have no clue as to how much I love you. You were the entirety of my world, and then Ava showed up at the police station with that monster of a woman. Her eyes were wide with fright, and she was sitting so still I thought she was about to pass out. Instead, I find out that was Ava being quiet so we couldn’t see her, and once again, another female had taken hold of my heart. Now I have the best of both worlds. A little sister and the woman who holds my heart in her hands. Thank you for not quitting on me.”

Linette laid her head on his shoulder, feeling the power and strength within him as he held her close.

“Love you, too, Wiley Pope. Now, you clear off the table and I’ll load the dishwasher. And if I’m moving in here, then I’ll have to get out of my lease.”

“I know the landlord,” he said, thinking of PCG Inc., the company that owned Jubilee. “You’ll be fine.”

That night, they both put Ava to bed and kissed her good night, and the light in her eyes had gone all the way to the smile on her face.

And their journey began anew, becoming a family for Ava and making love in the dark.

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