Page 57 of His Forever

“I feel better now that I’ve washed the hospital grime off me!” she said. “Thank you for staying with me, Zeus, I know you missed a day at work.”

“It’s the perks of being the boss,” he told her. “How are you feeling with all that your mother told you the other day?” he finally asked.

“Um, well, I don’t know how to feel. I mean, it explains a lot, that’s for sure, but hearing that your own mother didn’t want you and tried to abort you is kind of hard to get past.”

“Marleigh, I can’t claim to know how she was feeling then or even now, since I’m a man, but I don’t think she was looking at you likeyou. She felt like you did, violated, only in her case it was a reality and she was probably trying to get rid of anything that made her feel like that, sweetheart.”

She thought about what he said and tried to put herself in her mother’s shoes. If Colton had been successful and she had gotten pregnant, how would she react? She would have done whatever she could to eradicate that memory. “Zeus?” she asked quietly. “I think…I think if I had been in her shoes, I would have tried the same thing.”

He hugged her closer as he said, “I am beyond grateful that she wasn’t successful, mi siempre hermosa. But I understand why she tried as well.”

“I hope…I hope her therapy continues to go well. Seeing how Daddy was with her, I got a glimpse of what she must have been like before that happened,” she finally admitted. “While I wish my childhood had been different, I got Paulie out of the deal and he’s been a godsend.”

“Did someone say Paulie?” a voice called out from behind the screened door. “Here I am, chica!”

She burst into laughter seeing him shoulder his way in with two duffel bags and a suitcase. “Did you get everything?” she asked.

“Everything I need for right now, yes,” he replied as he dropped the bags by the door before sitting down in the lounge chair across from them. “What time do we need to go in tomorrow?”

“Um, the shop opens at nine, I usually go in earlier to make sure I’m all set up and tomorrow is my day to get donuts and coffee. Are you riding in with me?” she asked.

“Yeah, may as well. Gray and I found a place today and he’s staying to meet with the realtor to go over a few things.”

“Sweet!”

“And you didn’t hear it from me, but I think my folks are considering relocating as well.”

“Oh good grief, is everyone going to move here?” she asked as laughter bubbled up.

“Looking like it, yes,” Paulie said.

“Paulie? Mamá brought over chicken and dumplings and the leftovers are in the refrigerator if you’re hungry,” Zeus said. “I think Marleigh needs to head to bed.”

“Yeah, chica, go get some sleep. We’ll see you two in the morning.”

Rolling her eyes at how bossy everyone had gotten, she got up and headed inside, cradling the kitten in her arms. The two men came in with Paulie’s bags, dropping them off in the guest room. As Zeus followed her into her room, he waited for the other two cats before he pulled the door closed. Since he had started staying with her, she had moved a litter box into her bathroom, as well as a water dish and food bowl. “Go get ready for bed, mi siempre hermosa,” he told her.

She finished brushing her teeth and quickly braided her hair before she headed into the bedroom where he waited with her side pulled down. “So, where were we on that series?” he asked once she was in bed and lying on his chest.

“Um, I don’t remember, do you?”

“I do, yes. Let me get it queued up,” he told her, grabbing the remote. As they settled in to watch, she found herself thinking about all that had happened.

“Zeus?”

“Hmm?”

“We didn’t get to dance,” she finally said. “I was looking forward to dancing with you Saturday night!”

He grinned at how disgruntled she sounded. “Mi siempre hermosa, we will dance at the Fourth of July party, okay? Mamá has a dance floor set up and we have a DJ,” he told her.

“Fine. I guess I’ll wait. I don’t have much choice, do I?”

Capturing her lips with his, he kissed her thoroughly before saying, “Any time you’re in my arms I feel as though we are dancing, mi siempre hermosa.”

He always knew the right thing to say. Out loud she said, “Sweet talker.”

Laughing, he leaned in to whisper, “Only with you.”

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