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Her voice was breathy. “I like those things too.”

Open-mouthed kisses replaced his thumb. He stopped and spoke into her ear. “You are my favourite thing, Ivy. I love you.”

Ivy’s heart rate picked up at his words. She wasn’t sure how her feelings for him morphed so completely. From disdain to this overwhelming affection, she felt now. If she was being honest, it scared her a little. The way he could steal her focus. Invade her thoughts. It was scary, but it was also a bright spot in her life.

“I love you too.”

“Good, because I don’t plan to let you go.”

Emmanuel hadn’t. They didn’t move in together, but they would split their time between their places. Ivy had thought she would spend the nights he was away at her place, but she found she preferred to be in his space when he was gone. It made it feel like he wasn’t so far away. Life was so much easier back then. When she finally realised how much it meant to him that she be at his games. Ivy started studying football. So, she could understand the game he loved playing so much. It was frustrating for her. She just couldn’t get it. Finally, Manny pulled her into his lap.

“Ivs, it means so much to me that you want to learn about football, but you don’t have to commit the rules and plays to memory. Just come to the games and enjoy it.”

She didn’t know about the last part, but she showed up at his games. Slowly, she understood what was happening.

As Ivy became his biggest cheerleader, her understanding of the game grew. She made it to all his home games and tried her best to make it to away games as well. It continued when he went professional.

While he played professionally, Ivy never once worried about his fidelity. Emmanuel Scott always made sure she knew that she was his one and only. At times, even Ivy wondered how a man who looked like him, with all the attention he received, kept her as his only focus. Then he would look at her in that way that he did, and she’d forget about the how, and just relish in the fact that he made her the centre of everything.

Ivy fluffed the pillow which supported her posture against the headboard. The spot beside her was empty. She tried desperately not to look at it. However, her peripheral was drawn to the empty spot. She sighed deeply. God, she missed him. Her phone rang as if she had summoned his call.

“Hey Doc.” He sounded tired. She looked at the clock. It was later than she thought. Her trip down memory lane had caused her to lose time.

“Hey, Manny. How did your afternoon go?” They had spoken briefly at lunch, but he couldn’t talk long.

“Could have been better. It seemed like every meeting ran long. The one bright side is I get to talk to you.”

Manny said the sweetest things. It made her want to beg him to return home, but Ivy wouldn’t until she knew things had changed. While she missed him, the scientist in her hadn’t reconciled the positive paternity tests.

“I miss you, Manny.” Ivy had avoided saying those words to him because it felt unfair to inflict her emotions… especially because they resulted from her own making.

“I miss you too, Doc.” He sighed. “You know, you don’t have to be scared to tell me that.”

Her husband knew her.

“I know this is hard on you. I don’t want to make it worse.”

“This isn’t on you. I’m not just paying you lip service when I tell you I understand. If the roles were reversed, I may not have taken it as well as you have, Doc.”

They hadn’t spoken about that before. The empathy of this man. He was trying to look at the situation from her point of view.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“I have a question,” Manny asked.

“Sure.”

“I get why it is better we live apart, but I don’t see why we can’t go out.”

Ivy smiled. This wasn’t a question, but she got the message. This reminded her of how he was when they first started seeing each other.

“I agree.”

“Good. Then, can I take you out tomorrow night? Sage is going on that trip with my Mom, right?”

“Yes. That sounds like a plan.”

Just the idea of them going out on a date set butterflies fluttering in her stomach. After all these years, and despite the current turmoil, their lives were in that hadn’t changed. Couldn’t be taken away. They discussed the logistics of their date. It was nice to have something to look forward to.

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