Page 74 of Family Like This

“Just remember, if you need to replace any lost blood, I’ve got you covered,” Joel says with a smile.

Aaron side-eyes him then looks at me. “You sure you want a piece of Joel inside you forever?”

“Ew. No. Don’t say things like that,” I say.

Sarah and Aaron laugh as Joel makes a retching noise.

And I’m crying again.

Maybe I’m not keeping it together all that well.

“I love you guys,” I whisper.

“You know. We love you too, Rae Rae.”

I breathe out a sigh and squeeze my legs to my chest again. This fucking hurts. There’s a quick knock on the door and the anesthesiologist walks in again, followed by a nurse.

“Okay, anyone who is not the husband needs to leave now. Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her,” the anesthesiologist says.

“Love you, Rae baby.” Sarah smacks a kiss on my cheek and climbs out of bed as Joel leans over and kisses my forehead.

“You got this.” He winks at me, then he and Sarah walk out of the room.

I let out a shaky breath. I’m getting nervous again. Aaron, always my knight in shining armor, kisses my head. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

He gives me a soft kiss as the nurse checks my IV. When Aaron stands up and adjusts his baseball cap, the nurse pauses and tilts her head to the side. “Y’all are so familiar to me, but I can’t place you.”

I stare at her for a moment, then it clicks, and I start laughing. “You might remember us better if he had a shaved face, and he used my nickname.”

“Nickname?” the nurse asks in amusement.

Aaron looks at me, so I nod. “Beautiful,” he says in that sultry way that sets me on fire. I force myself not to clutch my stomach again. I want to have babies with him. I hope we’ll still be able to.

The nurse snaps her fingers. “You were in here years ago. Surgery—”

“A cyst on my fallopian tube. You were talking to me as we walked to the operating room and asked if he was my boyfriend.”

She smiles. “And you swore he was just your best friend.”

Aaron laughs out loud. “Wait, she’s the one who…”

“Who what?” the nurse asks, eyes wide.

“Who made me have a dream that he was my boyfriend.”

She claps her hands together. “Tell me I’m the one who set it all in motion.”

“Oh, it was already in motion. We were just too stupid to see it,” Aaron says. He swallows hard, eyes glassy as he looks at me. “Now here we are.”

Emotion fills the room again. He leans down and kisses me. “I love you, Beautiful.”

“Love you too, Ace.”

The nurse reaches over and squeezes my arm. “I’m so sorry you’re going through this, but if it helps, I’ve been there, and now I have three beautiful babies.”

“It does,” I choke out. “And thank you.”

“Not to interrupt the reunion,” the anesthesiologist says, “but it’s time to get this show on the road.” He looks at Aaron. “Grab her stuff. She’ll go to a recovery area after this. There are chairs in the hallway down toward the operating room, and a little waiting room in the opposite direction.”

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