Page 51 of Five Alarm Love
Deal-breaker.Tuli’s thoughts spun out like an ATV stuck in silty mud.
Everything he wanted rested in his arms right now.His deepest dream, come to life.
Only… that dream had always involved children.His children.His chance at being better than his parents.
Their family.
That dream would never exist.Not in the way that he had hoped it would.
But this was Lou.
His Lou.
Lou from the schoolyard, the girl who always hugged her older brother, no matter how the other students snickered.The woman who had held Tuli’s heart since… forever.
What did someone say to news like this?
Before he could come up with any consolation worthy of speaking aloud, Lou pulled back a few inches, briefly met his gaze, then stared near the top of his collarbone.“Now you know why I wasn’t in a hurry to date anyone when I didn’t have that information.Now I’m not in a hurry to date,knowingthat information.”
Her defeated, cracked laugh made him tighten his embrace.Press his palms against her flannel-covered back, spread out his fingers.Try anything to give more support and comfort.
“I know that at some point, you might have hoped for us to go out,” she continued.“But with your influencer stuff, I’ve never wanted, like, to be exposed socially.That was before.But now?I want exposure even less.”
“But—”
She gave a sharp shake of her head.“We both have things we need in our lives.I couldn’t take away your dream.You had made it clear from childhood that all you’ve ever wanted was a family with children.”
Tuli held still, except for the thumb rubbing absently over the soft skin of her neck as they stood pressed to one another.She was right.He had always yearned for what he never had.Two parents who loved each other and their children.As he leaned back and stared down into Lou’s dark eyes and sad but thoughtful expression, the truth hit him harder than a tree rolling off of a logging truck.
“You shut me out so that we wouldn’t get to this point,” he said.“So I wouldn’t get hurt.”
He felt her shrug.
Tuli took a big breath.“We don’t always get what we want.”No way did he want to admit his truth, but hell, it looked like all the Band-Aids were getting ripped off today.“I wanted my leg to work again after the accident, but here I am.”
“It’s still messed up?”
“Yep.Way worse than what anyone knows.”
A silentohpreceded her murmured words.“I thought it gave you a little trouble.I had no idea.”
“Docs say it will never be the same again.Permanent damage.”
“I didn’t realize that.”
“I didn’t want people to think even less of me.”He let out a low chuckle and briefly pressed his forehead to hers.“Seems like we’ve both kept pieces of ourselves from each other for all the right and wrong reasons.”Unable to resist, he brushed his lips over her hairline and inhaled her scent of fresh air and berries.As always, Lou’s quiet, steady presence grounded him.Her presence also created other feelings that he wanted to explore.Not right now.Not in this situation.“So, the genetic condition means—”
Leaning back, she met his eyes.“If I have a child, they will either inherit the genetic duplication or the deletion.Both will cause a syndrome involving disabilities.”
“There are other ways to have a family.”
“I know that.My parents had really hoped that I would be able to have a natural child.It was important to them.”
“That’s their wish.”He lifted a hand and brushed the windswept strands of hair back from her face.“What’s your wish?”
“Similar to theirs.It’s a fantasy now.”
“What about something real that isn’t fantasy?Something right in front of you?”
