Page 71 of Stone Vows

“Thanks. That means a lot to me.”

I spend the next ten minutes telling her all about it as I watch her burp the baby and then switch to the other side. When she’s done feeding her, Elizabeth asks, “Do you want to burp her?”

“Sure,” I say. “I never liked this shirt very much anyway.”

She giggles and hands me a burp cloth. “Use this. I love that shirt, it really brings out the green in your eyes.”

I carefully pick up the baby and rest her on my shoulder as I lightly pat her back.

“You like green shirts,” I say. “Duly noted.”

“I like your eyes when you wear scrubs, too,” she says. “The blue brings out the blue in your eyes. In fact, your eyes are amazing. They seem to change colors based on what you wear.”

It’s the eyes. Girls have always loved them. It’s one thing I got from my mother that my brothers don’t also possess.

“Technically, my eyes are hazel. But yes, they do seem to take on the color of my clothing, especially if I’m wearing brown, green, or blue.”

“I love that. I wishshewould have eyes like that,” she says, nodding at her daughter.

I wish she would too. I wish she hadmyeyes.

Elizabeth seems to understand what I’m thinking. Or maybe I’m understanding what she was insinuating. Either way, we stare at each other as I bounce and pat, bounce and pat.

She reaches over into the Sal’s bag and pulls out a fortune cookie. “I’m opening mine,” she says with a smile. This has become the favorite part of our dinners together.

After she eats the cookie, I watch her face as she reads her fortune.“Two days from now, tomorrow will be yesterday.”She studies the slip of paper. “Wow, that’s so simplistic, yet so deep.”

I laugh. “That guy in Boston must do a lot of Googling.”

“Want me to do yours?” she asks, pulling another cookie from the bag.

“No. I want to open my own,” I say, laying the baby down in her waiting arms and then sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. “Plus, isn’t that against the rules, to open someone else’s fortune?”

“What are you, ten?” she asks, giggling.

“Hey, don’t come between a guy and his fortunes. When I was seven, I got a fortune cookie that told me I would heal the world. Maybe that’s why I’m a doctor. What if someone else had opened my fortune?”

She holds one out to me. “Well, now that I know your fortunes dictate your destiny, I wouldn’t dream of interfering.”

I open the cookie and pop it in my mouth before I glance at the words. I can’t believe what I’m reading. I look at Elizabeth. I look at the baby. I look back at the little slip of paper.

“Well, what does it say?” she asks.

“Uh, it says,‘Your future is right in front of you’.”

Her mouth hangs open. Just like mine is.

I look into her eyes. The damn thing is right. I swear I can see my future in them.

I want to kiss her. No—Ineedto kiss her. I need to kiss her like I need air.

So I do.

I lean over and take her face in my hands. She looks at me with baited breath. She knows what I’m about to do. Her eyes close and her lips part ever so slightly. It’s an invitation. One I don’t hesitate to accept.

When my lips meet hers, I wonder why I ever wasted time kissing anyone else. Because these are the lips that were made for me. They’re plump. They’re soft. They’re small. And they fit perfectly against mine.

I kiss her top lip. I kiss her bottom lip. My tongue comes out and requests entry into her mouth that she’s quick to allow. A faint mewl escapes her throat as our tongues meet and mingle. The tiny sound travels through me and goes all the way to my groin. But not before taking up residence in my heart.

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