Page 32 of When Alec Met Evie
Alec coughs, his eyes widening like he’s starting to choke. He’s clearly moving air through his lungs, so I don’t think he needs the Heimlich, but his distress is still pretty obvious.
I scoot closer and thwack him on the back a few times. “You okay?”
He finally recovers, a fist lifted to his mouth as the coughing subsides. He wipes tears from his eyes. “I’m good. Sorry. Just went down the wrong pipe.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry. I probably should have given you more of a warning before mentioning my nipples.” I wince. “Oh geez. I keep doing it!”
Alec laughs. “It’s okay. Ididask.”
“I think something happens when you’re having a baby. I thought I would be so private, that I wouldn’t want anyone in the room with me. But then when you’re in labor, it becomes about so much more. Your body is doing this incredible thing, and…I don’t know. With so many people coming in, poking, prodding, I guess I stopped caring as much. It was more about function, about allowing them to take care of me.”
I stand up and reposition Juno in her bouncy seat. She’s kicking her feet, sliding herself closer to the bottom edge, so I tighten the buckles to keep her in place. “What are you so excited about, huh?” I squeeze her little toes. “Are you in a good mood?” She smiles and gurgles, kicking a few more times and making the seat bounce up and down.
Alec is quiet for a beat, his expression reflective, before he says, “Honestly, I think your body is pretty amazing.”
I lift my eyebrows, fighting a grin. “Do you, now?”
“Wait. That’s not what—I mean,yes.I do in that way too. But I meant that it’s amazing what your body cando.What itdid.”
If Alec weren’t being so incredibly adorable right now, I might get hung up on the fact that he just admitted he thinks my body isamazing.If he saw me naked, he might not think so, because everything from my collarbone down to my hip bones is a roadmap of stretch marks. But there’s a sincerity in Alec’s eyes that forces that shallow thought away and holds me in the moment.
He really means it.
I know my body is amazing. Bringing Juno into the world was practically a sacred experience. And of course, it was incredible to have Megan and Mom there with me, cheering me on, wiping away my tears and celebrating with me when Juno took her first breath.
But it still feels good to hear Alec acknowledge it. Maybe because he’s a man, and I’m not sure men always get it. At least not until they see a woman do it. Maybe because Devon wasn’t there. Now, Alec is validating some part of me I didn’t know needed validation.
“You grew a whole person,” Alec continues. “That’s big.”
I shrug. “I did, but…honestly, that’s not what changed me the most.”
“No?”
I tilt my head toward Juno. “She did. There are lots of ways to become a parent, and not all of them include pregnancy. I think your heart changes through the process no matter how it looks.”
Alec holds my gaze. “That’s pretty deep, nerd.”
I grin. “Shut up.”
“No, I mean it. I really do,” he says. “I like what you said. My mom is no less my mom because she wasn’t my birth mom. I get what you’re saying.”
I lean my elbow on the back of the couch. “Sometimes I forget your parents are actually your grandparents. I never think of them that way.”
“We really don’t either.”
“Do you see your birth mom any more frequently than Megan does?”
He shakes his head. “Nah. She isn’t interested in seeing us. She’s got a different life. Other kids. But it’s fine. I’m glad she’s happy.”
“That’s very mature of you,” I say, because it honestlyis.Though knowing what I know of their parents, Alec and Meganprobably had a lot of support processing and understanding their circumstances. Megan had a therapist when we were in middle and high school, and her parents were loving and supportive, fully engaged in her life. It stands to reason Alec would have had the same. If he and Megan’s birth mom left a hole when she left, I have no doubt their parents filled it.
Somewhere across the couch, a vibration sounds deep in the cushions, and Alec’s eyebrows lift. His phone is sitting on the coffee table next to my soda, so the buzzing has to be coming from mine. He sticks his hand in between the cushion and the arm of the couch and rummages around before pulling the phone up in a triumphant gesture. “Got it.” He glances at the screen, his expression shifting just slightly before holding it out to me. “Yours?”
I take the phone, wincing when I see another text from Devon on my notification screen. This one is only two words long.
Devon
Evie, please.
