Page 80 of When Our Stars Aligned

I laugh, put my arms around her waist, and spin her around, catching her off guard. Her hair brushes against my face and the scent of her vanilla-coconut shampoo is euphoric.

“You”—I place a chaste kiss on her nose—“are apparently a very important person in not only my life but the rest of my family’s life too.”

“You do know,” she says, astonished. “How much do you know?”

“Enough.” I put her feet back on the floor. “I have a lot to tell you, but I’m sure you have more to tell me.”

“So, this means you’ll listen?” she asks hesitantly. Shit, yeah, that’s the whole reason why things ended in the first place. I refused to listen to her.

“From now on, I will listen to anything and everything you have to say. I am so sorry for the way I treated you. When I saw your ID with that name…it just gave me terrible flashbacks of what Maranda did to me. I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t believe you would lie to me. I realize now you didn’t. You were going to tell me the day you came home and saw me on the phone with the credit card company, weren’t you?”

“How did you…?” She looks at me in disbelief.

“I’ve had time to think things over. I knew something was up. When I thought back to how you acted that day, it just made sense. Now, about that ride home… Do you still need one?”

“When you say take me home, do you mean your place?” She raises her brow.

“That’s up to you, sweetheart.” I grab her luggage and nudge her towards the parking lot. I can’t get her out of this place fast enough. “I would love to have you back in my home, in my bed, preferably, but if you feel more comfortable with Michelle and Gabby, I will understand that too. It’s your decision.”

“Jax?”

“Yes?”

Aly puts her arms around my neck and I let go of the luggage to pull her in close. Then she says the words I’ve been dying to hear. “I want to go home with you.”

45

Jax

Aly stares out the window as I drive down I-5 towards the hospital where my sister gave birth to her twins earlier today. This morning was a bit of a frenzy. Emma was supposed to be induced on Monday, but she went into labor naturally on Friday night and gave birth early this morning. I pretty much threw some stuff together and told Aly to get in the truck.

“I’m nervous,” she says without lifting her gaze from the window.

“Nothing to be nervous about, sweetheart.” I put my hand on her knee and give it a squeeze. “My family is going to love you. Besides, most of them already do.”

“I’m not talking aboutthatside of the family. I’m talking aboutyourside. Maybe we should’ve waited.” Aly chews on the bottom of her lip. “I mean, Emma just gave birth and I’m basically anoutsider. Does she really need a complete stranger invading her space?”

“First of all, you are not a stranger, and second, she specifically asked me to bring you.”

“She did?” Her body starts to relax.

My family has been chomping at the bit to meet Aly. I’ve tried to keep them at bay since we got back together. I knew they would innocently come on too strong for her. The twins should be a great buffer in subduing my mom, who can’t wait to meet her future daughter-in-law. Her words, not mine, but that’s coming too.

We arrive at the hospital a little while later and make our way to the nursery hand in hand. The silhouette of my father standing beside a hospital room door comes into view and I feel Aly freeze beside me.

She breaks away from my hand and walks towards my father. “You look just like Papa Chris!” she says in awe.

A broad smile spreads across Dad’s face. “Actually, Chris looks just like me since I’m the older brother.”

“Aly, this is my dad, Mark, but I think you already figured that out,” I say as I approach them.

“This is crazy!” She shakes her head in disbelief. “If I had seen a picture of you beforehand, I would’ve known immediately.”

“I look more like my mom.” I shrug. “None of the Parker men have produced kids that look like them.”

“Papa Chris used to joke that I was his biological child since I looked more like him than his own daughters,” Aly says with humor laced in her voice.

“Thank God that wasn’t true or we’d be in a whole different mess right now.” I snort.

---