Page 80 of Meet Me in the Blue

“I’ll be in the break room… making coffee.” Charity pointed over her shoulder. “If you need me.”

“I want Dot to make our birthday cakes next month,” I said as soon as his receptionist disappeared down the hall.

“Um…okay,” he said and took a few tentative steps toward me. “But—”

“Let me finish,” I said, and he nodded, resting his hands on my hips. “I don’t want to get lost in a big city and forget who we are. It doesn’t feel right, leaving all this behind. And the more I open my eyes, the more I see how much I love this place as much as I love you. I want to eat breakfast at The Early Bird, and have Dot make our birthday cakes and our kids’ birthday cakes. I want to build a fort in our backyard.” I gripped the strap of his bag, pulling him closer. “You know that spot, between those two trees near the dock, it’s the perfect place for a treehouse. I want our kids to have that, Rook. I want them to have everything we did. I don’t want to have to try and make it work somewhere else. This is where we make sense. This is our home.” My voice cracked as I reached up and cupped his cheek. He leaned into my hand and turned to press his lips to the center of my palm. “I want to marry you, Rook. Tell me yes… tell me you want that too. To get married here, in our spot… Meet me there, in the blue, one last time?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation and ghosted a kiss across my lips as he whispered, “I will always meet you there.”

ROOK

THE STRING OF LIGHTSglittered in Luka’s eyes as the sun set and the blue, gray sky turned to pitch. His fingers trembled in my hands, his nervous laugh stirring up the butterflies in my stomach. The small crowd of friends and family gathered with us under the canopy laughed, too, as he stumbled through the last few lines of his vows.

“This ring is a symbol…” he said with a deep, stuttered breath, and I wanted to kiss him right then, not later when we were supposed to, but he took my hand and slipped a simple silver band onto my left ring finger. It was the same as the one I’d given him not more than a minute ago. “Of how we’ve come full circle.” Luka rubbed his thumb over the metal, his stare fixed on mine. “It’s always been you, Rook. Always this place…” The wind whistled through the trees as if they agreed, the wood of the old fort creaking behind us. “And I promise to love you forever, to be your partner in this life and the next.”

Somewhere in the white noise, I heard the officiant speak, but his words were wasted in the rush of my pulse as Luka’s mouth covered mine. We were supposed to wait, wait for that iconic moment when we were announced as partners, but Luka and I had spent too much time already waiting, hoping, wanting, and we were ready for this next chapter to begin.

TWO YEARS LATER

“Grab that two-by-four by the shed,” I called out, and Ron gave me the middle finger as he walked toward the dock. Laughing, I added, “Please.”

“I just got here and you’re already bossing me around.” He picked up the piece of wood, stacking a few extras in his arms. “Where’s your husband?”

“Inside, refilling our water bottles.” I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my arm. “Thanks for coming.”

“It looks really good,” he said, dropping the wood onto the grass. The summer sun filtered through the branches, and he squinted as he stared up at the treehouse. “Just not sure what an infant is going to do with a two-story fort.”

“When he gets older, he’ll appreciate it. Why not build it now, while we have the time? Once he’s here, who knows when we’ll have the chance.”

“I see lots of sleepless nights in your future.” Ron clapped his hand on my shoulder. “I don’t envy you that.”

“Thanks.” I laughed. “Luka’s been sleeping in every morning because he thinks he can save up energy.”

“Why is that kind of cute?”

“Rook,” Luka shouted, and I turned in time to watch him burst from the back door of the house with Maribelle hot on his heels. “We have to go.”

“Go where?” Ron asked. “I just got here.”

“The hospital…” Luka’s chest heaved as he braced his hands on his knees. “Water broke… your dad called, he said—”

“Shit.” For five full seconds I didn’t know what to do.

The midwife. The guy who had rushed to so many deliveries before. I stood stock still, my mind racing too fast to catch a thought.

“Babe, we gotta go.” Luka grabbed my hand, the heat of his skin a jolt to my nervous system, and I woke from my stupor to see Ron and my husband grinning at me. “Come on.”

“Congrats, Daddy.” Ron gave me a small shove. “I’ll take care of the dog. Better hurry before you miss it.”

I couldn’t remember if Luka had even stopped at any of the traffic lights, and I was grateful the universe had gotten us there in one piece. I hadn’t ever been this nervous about anything before. I knew too much. The knowledge of everything that could go wrong choked me as we made our way through the sliding doors of the main entrance of the hospital. One of the volunteers was playing the piano in the lobby, and I didn’t know the song, but the melody soothed me as we waited for the elevator. It filled my chest, and I squeezed Luka’s hand.

“Are we ready?”

We had diapers and clothes and Jesus, had we gotten those colic drops my mom had mentioned to me the other day?

“It’s going to be okay,” he said, and I smiled because this time he was the one soothing me. “We’re ready, Rook.”

“We are,” I said and kissed him as the elevator doors opened. “We can do this.”

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