Page 62 of Hold Me Closer
Teo's gaze flies to mine, shock painting his expression. "What?"
"I'm pregnant."
He stares at me, hope and awe welling in his eyes. "You're serious, butterfly? You're pregnant?"
I bite my lip, nodding as a tear slips down my cheek.
"Fuck," he breathes, leaning forward to crush his mouth to mine. He chokes on a soft sob, his body shaking. And then he curses again. "You have to agree to marry me now. If you don't, your dad is going to fucking kill me."
"I'll marry you," I whisper. "But not because of my dad, Teo Kirby. I'll marry you because you're my future. You're my dream. You always were."
He slips the ring onto my finger, pulling me out of my chair onto his lap. For long moments, we're the only two people in the world. And then my dad clears his throat, pulling us apart.
I look up into his eyes, his arm wrapped around my mom's shoulders, and see nothing but pride. Nothing but love. "This is good,zaika," he says. "It is forever."
"It's always been forever," I murmur, pressing my face against Teo's throat. "We just took a little detour along the way."
My dad nods, smiling. "A very long detour,zaika. Perhaps you take no more, hmm? I am old man now."
"Old? Motherfucker, you're ancient," Teo's dad, Jason says, grinning at him.
"Then what does that make you?" Aunt Miranda asks her husband. "You're a year older than he is."
My mom laughs quietly.
"Shit. Forgot about that," Jason mutters. "Never mind. We aren't old."
"I am old man," my dad argues, looking at me with humor in his eyes. "Very old man, Nadia."
"Okay…grandpa," I whisper, meeting his gaze.
His brows furrow before his eyes light with understanding. His expression softens, pure happiness rolling through them. And then he glances at Teo. "You are not good boy, Mateo Kirby," he says, his voice somber. "You are good man. You will be best husband for my Nadia. And best father. This is good. I am proud of you. I have always been proud to call you son."
"Fuck," Teo whispers, swallowing hard. The sheen of tears in his eyes and the smile on his lips is utter perfection. He's been trying to make my dad proud and prove he could be good enoughfor me since we were kids. And now, he knows he's always been good enough in his eyes. He's always been good enough, period.
"Thank you," I mouth to my dad, grateful as hell.
He winks at me, smiling.
I cling to Teo's hand, tears in my eyes as our families—no, our family—surges to their feet, swarming us with congratulations. I just take it all in, reveling in their warmth and love. Inhome. It's been so long. So damn long. I feel like we've been trying to find our way back here forever. But we never really needed to go back, after all. We just needed to let go and go forward. That was the way all along—back to one another. And back to the people who love us.
