Page 30 of Compelling Urges

Bodhi gave her a thoughtful look. “Commitment is a strong word.”

“Well, duh. I seem to remember you were a real commitment-phobe a year or so ago. Are you ready to grow up?”

“Are you asking me to commit?”

“Does anyone care what I think?” interjected Cooper who looked amused and a little frustrated.

“Of course, we do,” Bodhi answered for both of them.

Cooper looked from Bodhi to Ivy and said, “You both know I love you.”

Bodhi chimed in, “And I do as well… love you both, I mean. Ivy?”

She narrowed her eyes at Bodhi and said, “I know I love Cooper. And I’m equally sure that I loved you before you smashed my heart into bits.” Bodhi started to interrupt her, but she raised her hand to silence him. “You’re definitely growing on me, Bodhi. I saw the way you treated Blair with kindness and generosity even while she was lying and manipulating you. It takes a good man to do what you did while you were helping her with what you thought was your baby. That impressed me. I can’t say yet that I’m certain I’m in love with you, but I may be able to get there.”

“What do I need to do?” he asked.

“Nothing specific. Just be your best self and I’ll see if I can catch up. If you want to be a part of our relationship, we have to know we can trust you a hundred percent.”

“Well, I’m relieved,” Cooper sighed.

“Relieved?” asked Ivy.

“Yes. I have literally had nightmares that Bodhi would come sweeping back into town and I’d lose you to him. You loved him long before you loved me, and I worried I was a placeholder.” He looked down as his face turned pink.

Ivy stood and went to Cooper. She crawled into his lap and whispered to him, “I won’t stop loving you. Never worry about that.” She nuzzled his neck. “But I love seeing the two of you together and it’s beyond exciting to have you both to myself.”

Cooper chuckled, “You little perv.”

Ivy gave a belly laugh. “And proud of it!” Then she turned to Bodhi and said, “That was so freakin’ hot when you kissed Cooper at the beach. What possessed you to do that?”

“I wanted to lose the barnacle and publicly stake my claim on the two best people I’ve ever known. Seriously, thank you for sticking by me during the shitstorm that’s been going on. I would have been a mess by myself. I know I haven’t always been good company, but having you near kept me sane.”

“We’re happy to be here for you, man,” announced Cooper.

“Would you guys like to take a road trip with me this weekend?” Bodhi explained about getting a call from the clinic and finding where Blair’s mother lived in Chuckwalla, Arizona. “I’m curious to meet the woman who raised Blair and to possibly understand why she was so messed up. She needs to know Blair is gone, so I guess I’m the one who needs to tell her.”

“Sure,” answered Cooper as he looked for assent from Ivy. “I’ll drive. You might not want to drive a long way with that sore leg.”

“I’ll come along and keep you guys out of trouble,” agreed Ivy with a giggle. She gave Cooper another smooch.

“Oh,” added Bodhi, “I meant to tell you… the doctor I met today at the cancer clinic thinks it’s highly likely that Blair roofied me, and that’s why I had no recollection about that night. The doctor was also led to believe that I was madly in love with Blair and would do just about anything to save her life. Blair made me out to be some kind of tragic hero.”

“Well,” Ivy piped up, “in a sense, you are. You were in love with the baby, even if you weren’t in love with Blair.”

Bodhi cleared his throat with difficulty. “Yeah, you’re right on that score. I had all of these amazing ideas of how to raise my son. It was going to beperfect, and then Blair said, ‘It’s not a boy.’” He shook his head, looking down. “It dawned on me later that she wasn’t even lying then. Sheshouldhave said, ‘It’s not a baby,’ though, and I wouldn’t have jumped to conclusions and fallen in love with my little pink tutu-ed ballerina with sparkles everywhere. I’d even mentally picked out the puppy we were going to get when she was old enough.” Bodhi’s voice cracked. “I thought having a little girl would be so awesome.” He rose from the table. “Excuse me a moment.” He walked out the back door wiping his eye and stood watching the tail-end of the sunset. He needed to compose himself.

Ivy looked at Cooper and exclaimed softly, “I think my heart just exploded a little.”

“I know just what you mean,” answered Cooper, and then he kissed her softly. “Our boy’s been through a lot, and he’s really made for love now that he’s not afraid of it.” He looked deeply into Ivy’s dark eyes and asked, “Do you think you can love both of us at the same time? I know it’s a big thing to ask.”

“I’m pretty sure I can get there, but how would it work? Do you still want to marry me?”

“I definitely do because I want a life with you. But I also don’t want to give up on Bodhi. It’s strange, but it feels so right and complete with the three of us. I don’t mean just in bed, although that’s amazing, but all of it. It’s like things are perfect and balanced that way, you know?”

Ivy nodded. “I do know, actually.” She smiled sweetly at Cooper and said, “Let’s go get our man and take him to bed. We can have some fun now and worry about the details later, I guess. He just needs to know his affection is safe with us.”

“I love you,” he whispered and kissed her softly.

---