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The next morning, Anna woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed despite the late night. She crept quietly out of her room to find Matthew already in the kitchen. She silently observed from the doorway as he prepared two cups of herbal tea. As she watched him, the light from the morning sun filtered in through the curtains behind him and glinted off of his golden hair. He appeared almost angelic in that instant, and an epiphany suddenly chased every other thought out of her head. She had hurt Matthew way more than he could ever hurt her, and none of her excuses could stand up under intense scrutiny.
“Good morning,” she said with a smile when he finally looked up and noticed her watching him. “How’d you sleep last night?”
“Surprisingly well. Your guest bed is comfortable,” he replied.
“I didn’t realize you’d be up so early. I won’t need to wake Kylie for another hour,” she said as she approached him.
“I’m a morning person for life now; you converted me when we first moved in together. Remember?” he said with an unabashed grin at her. “Don’t bother looking embarrassed that I brought it up. Those were the best mornings of my life.”
“Mine too,” she said as she took a sip of her tea. All it took was a single suggestive look from him, and suddenly she wanted to drag him to her bed and attempt to make up for breaking his heart. “Did you get a chance to look at the custody information I gave you last night?” she asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject before she gave in to the nearly overwhelming temptation to kiss him.
“I did. It’s way more generous than I would have hoped, but we’re going to have to make some changes to it,” he said with a mysterious little smile.
“What changes?” she asked.
“I think I should see Kylie every day for at least the next year.”
Anna opened her mouth several times, but words wouldn’t come to her brain much less past her lips. She had prepared herself for the possibility that he’d want to take her for an entire year, but she didn’t think he would actually make the request. “How do you see that working out?” she asked carefully. She realized her hands were shaking when hot tea sloshed onto her robe.
Matthew took the cup from her, and then moved in too close for comfort. “I see it working out very nicely,” he said as his arms went around her.
“How is that possible?” Her throat was dry and she was on the verge of crying as she asked the question. “It’s too soon after her surgery for her to move to Florida for an entire year, Matthew. We have to consider what’s best for Kylie.”
“I know that, Anna. I never said that I wanted to take her to Florida. All I said was that I want to see her every day. You can work more hours if you’ll allow me to pick her up from school and keep her in the afternoons,” he offered.
“How long do you plan to be in the area?” she asked. “You never did tell me your plans.”
“My plan is to stay in this area. I’ve already sold the apartment in Florida, and resigned from the firm I’ve been with for the last four years. I have a small, furnished apartment about ten minutes from this neighborhood, but I’m still working on the job situation.”
Anna’s heart felt as if it wanted to expand beyond the confines of her chest as she looked up into his smiling face. “You live here now?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said with a sunny smile.
“Why didn’t you mention this last night when I was stressing out about the possibility of not seeing Kylie for months at a time?” she demanded.
“I’m not as mature as I like to think I am sometimes… I thought one evening of feeling down and unsure about things was the least you deserved for what you’ve put me through.” He whispered the words in her ear in a smooth voice that made her skin tingle with longing.
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight as she asked, “What made you decide to move up here?”
“Because the five greatest years of my life were with you. When you left me, you were more than just my current girlfriend, you were the one. You still are,” he whispered.
“Matthew, I hope you can forgive me. You have no idea how much I wish I hadn’t listened to your sister when I came back to talk to you. If I hadn’t been so jealous and hurt because you spent the night with some other woman, I never would have followed her advice and left again without telling you I was pregnant,” she admitted.
Matthew cringed at her mention of Claire, but he didn’t bother trying to deny that he’d been with her. His honesty was one of the things she valued most about him. “I won’t apologize for moving on with my life. I’ve dated and been in a few serious relationships in the past four years, but none of that diminishes what we shared. It doesn’t change the fact that you are the love of my life, or that you are the only woman I’ve ever wanted to marry.” His hands caressed her back and pressed her closer before he continued, “And it certainly doesn’t change the fact that I want to be in Kylie’s life, and in your life, from here on if you’ll have me.”
“Are you sure you’ll still have me?” Anna asked.
“I can’t think of anything I want more, except maybe one special thing,” he said with a mischievous grin.
“And what is that?” she asked with a sly little grin of her own. “A job with my law firm?”
“Another baby,” he blurted. At her shocked look, he held her tighter and went on, “I know this seems sudden, but I don’t mean right this minute. I just want you to know that although it’s going to take some time for us to get used to being a cohesive family, I know exactly what I want in the future. I want to give you the three children you told me you wanted years ago, and I want to be there every step of the way going forward. You can set the pace that’s best for you and Kylie, but just know that I’m ready to marry you and move in with you and Kylie just as soon as you feel ready. I’d marry you tomorrow if I had my way, but I understand if you need additional time to build up the closeness and trust we once had.”
Just then, Kylie entered the kitchen dragging her favorite blanket behind her. “You came!” she exclaimed with a happy smile when she saw Matthew.
Matthew picked her up, and then wrapped his other arm around Anna. “I’ll put you on the bus every morning if you want, Squirt.”
Anna gave them each a kiss on the cheek, and decided to let them spend the morning together while she took some time to consider the future he’d just outlined. “I have to get ready for work. You can help Kylie with her clothes; they’re laid out next to her dresser,” she told Matthew. “We’ll finish talking before I leave.”
As she dressed, Anna thought about everything Matthew had said before Kylie entered the kitchen. He’d said everything that she needed to hear to trust him again. The fact that he forgave her and still loved her enough to move closer touched her in a way that nothing else could. Her heart was so filled with love for him she couldn’t imagine spending another night without him in bed beside her. If she hadn’t lived with Matthew for three years when they were younger, she might have talked herself out of allowing herself to be so quickly and completely swept away by him. She searched her mind for possible downsides to jumping in so fast, but she found none.
Right after Kylie got on the bus; she turned to Matthew and said, “You know, my law firm is a sole proprietorship right now, but I could use a good partner. If you’re interested, you can start today.”
Matthew didn’t need an explanation for her offer; he knew she was offering him a permanent place in her life, not just a job. He immediately picked her up in a bear hug and spun her around until her feet flew out behind her and the rest of the world became a dizzy blur. In that moment, they were both encapsulated in the love they’d always shared, the trust they’d just regained, and the hope they’d never completely abandoned.
*****THE END*****
h friends
The Second Chance Page 10
