Page 35 of This Is Love (The Light to My Darkness 3)

I glanced over at Rob. He was bouncing up and down, holding Liam close to his chest.

“J.J.?” I asked.

“It’s my nickname for him,” Rob said. “You shoulda named him James Junior in my opinion.”

“I love the name Liam.” I looked up at James. “I can’t believe you named him that though. I thought you didn’t like it.”

“I never said I didn’t like Liam. I just thought it was going to be a girl.”

I smiled, remembering a simpler time. When betting on the sex of our child was our only concern. But Liam was perfect. He was just small. “How is he doing?” I asked the nurse on duty.

“His doctor will be in tomorrow morning if you want updates.”

I swallowed hard. Her response wasn’t exactly settling. “That would be great. What time?”

“Let me go check the schedule for you.”

“It’s okay,” James said as he slipped his arm around me. “We’ll be here for most of the day. We won’t miss him.”

“Alright. I’ll see you both tomorrow then.” She gave us a kind smile as she went to put Liam back down.

“Just one second,” I said and pulled him into my arms once more. It still felt like I was running out of time even now that I saw him. It was the worst feeling in the world. “I remember you, Liam. I remember you and I’m here to fight for you now. So don’t you forget that. Okay?” He was still sleeping, his chest rising and falling quickly, like he was struggling for air, which I knew he was.

Liam kicked one of his feet out again and I smiled. He and I had an agreement. When he kicked, that meant we were on the same page. I looked down at him and tried to ingrain his adorable little face into my mind. I wasn’t sure how many of these moments we’d have. And once you lost your memories, you started to appreciate them even more. Especially the important ones. The ones that were fleeting.

***

Coming home earlier tonight had been jarring. Too many faces. Too much noise. All I needed was James and he hadn’t been there. I had probably been rude and insensitive. God, they had all thought I had run off with Tyler. It was a freaking mess.

But when we walked into our home now, there was no longer a search party. The silence was startling. I was expecting Scarlett to run into the foyer and jump into my arms, knowing it was truly me again. I’d twirl her around in excitement. But I guess I had built up our reuniting in my head.

James locked the door behind us. Rob and Susan had gone home after the hospital visit. It was late. And I needed my moment with Scarlett before I introduced her to a stranger anyway. She had been practically living with one as it was.

“Why is the freezer door open?” James asked.

I laughed as we entered the kitchen. “How should I know? I wasn’t here either.”

He frowned and closed it. There were small little brown dots on the kitchen floor too. He bent down for a closer look. “Chocolate? Maybe?” He raised his left eyebrow at me.

I laughed and looked toward the stairs where the chocolaty trail led. “Nothing to put a child to sleep like chocolate ice cream. I was worried that Scar liked Melissa more than me. And no wonder…she feeds her ice cream as a late night snack. How can I possibly compete with that?”

“Scarlett loves you, baby. How about we go let her know that you’re home. She’s probably still awake if she just ate ice cream anyway.”

“True.” I gripped James’ hand tightly as we walked up the stairs together. I had been so worried about remembering that I hadn’t thought about what Scarlett remembered. What if she didn’t recognize the real me? What if she preferred my 19-year-old mind more? Was that possible?

Melissa and Josh were sleeping on the floor. Her head was in his lap, and Scarlett’s favorite book, Be Careful What You Joust For, was on the floor by Josh’s hand, like he had dropped it as he dozed off. Melissa always wore a lot of makeup, but whatever was on her face right now was definitely overboard. And completely horrible. Her lipstick was basically all over her face. The eyeshadow had also left her eyelids. Josh’s hair had been pulled into two pigtails that could really only be described as horns with bows. I stifled a laugh. They looked absolutely ridiculous.

“I put Aunt Melissa and Uncle Josh to sleep for you,” Scarlett said. “They were hard to put down.”

I pulled my eyes away from the sleeping couple to see Scarlett sitting in her bed eating a huge bowl of ice cream. Well, technically it wasn’t even a bowl. It was a saucepan, which was one of the only cabinets she could get into without finding a way to crawl up onto the counter. She was holding the handle in one hand and a huge spoon used for stirring things on the stove in the other. The saucepan was balancing precariously on one knee.

“Scar, what are you doing?” I asked. “You’re not allowed to eat ice cream before bed and you know it.”

“But they said it was okay and that I could have as much as I wanted.” She pulled the saucepan tightly to her chest. “I didn’t do anything bad.”

“And what have we said about lying?”

“Well, that’s bad. But I didn’t do that. I’m always a good girl.” She looked down at her ice cream and then back up at me. A smile broke over her face. “Lying’s bad! My mommy told me it was bad! Only my real mommy knows about lying rules!” She launched herself out of her bed, knocking the saucepan onto her comforter. I didn’t even care that she had made a mess. All I cared about was her. I knelt down to catch her in my arms.

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