by Aly Martinez
“Hello, beautiful,” I crooned.
“Nope. It’s me,” Sam said.
“Oh, hey, Sam. I was just about to call you.” I winked at Evan. “We were naked in bed and having the age-old debate about whether you’re a boxers or briefs kind of guy. See, I say—”
“I’m at the hospital. Levee’s water broke.”
Ice flooded my veins as I shot straight up in bed. “Is she okay? I didn’t think she was due until next month!”
“She hit thirty-seven weeks yesterday. Looks like Bree will be here tonight. I’m gonna need you to get your ass back here STAT.”
My heart was thundering in my chest as I felt Evan’s hand land on my back. Concern painted his face as he moved in front of me.
“Sam, answer me. Is she okay?”
Evan instantly pulled me against his chest, his arms wrapping around my shoulders so snugly I couldn’t have fallen apart if I’d needed to.
“She’s fine,” Sam assured, but it did little to slow my pulse. “She was in a lot of pain on the way here, but she’s getting an epidural now. Just hurry up. She’ll want you here.”
I smiled weakly. “Then I’m on my way.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Evan promised, squatting beside my seat on the plane. “I’ll get you there safe and sound. It’s a short flight back to San Francisco.”
I glanced out the window at the rain pouring down around us. My hands trembled in my lap as he kissed my shoulder. His eyes flashed around at Robin and Carter as though he had been pleading for help.
I tried to put my game face on for him, but it was a worthless effort. It was raining. My terror level had peaked.
“Ready when you are,” Javier, Evan’s short-notice copilot, called from the cockpit.
Evan had vouched for his experience, but I wasn’t all that convinced. However, we didn’t have time to wait for Baez if I wanted to get to Levee in time.
“Coming,” Evan replied. Then he grabbed the back of my neck and pressed his forehead to mine. “I will get you there safely. I swear.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. I was going to flip the fuck out—no way around it. But, if it meant I would be there for Levee, I’d suck it up and do what I had to.
“Let’s go,” I mumbled.
It was his turn to nod unconvincingly.
But, minutes later, he was gone and the door to the cockpit was shut behind him.
“It’ll be okay, Cookie,” Robin soothed, dropping her hand into my lap and intertwining our fingers.
She was probably right, but try telling that to my tweaked-out nerves.
When I felt the plane begin to accelerate down the runway, I closed my eyes and did my best to envision Evan in his element.
His rough hands wrapped around the controls the same way they held my jaw when he’d kissed me the first time. “Five.”
Those captivating blue eyes that owned my soul gazing out the windshield as the rain pelted down. “Four.”
His confident grin he would no doubt be sporting the same way he did every time he so much as talked about flying. “Three.”
His heart racing in his chest for no other reason than he knew I was in the back, scared without him. “Two.”
My stomach lurched into my throat when the wheels lifted off the ground.
“You okay?” Robin whispered.
Prying a single eye open, I looked at her. “I screwed up the countdown.”
She grinned and shrugged. “Or maybe he knew you’d freak out at one.”
It was impossible. Evan couldn’t have predicted when I would have started counting. But a laugh slipped from my throat because she was right. That was exactly what he would have done.
And it was exactly why my heart slowed well before the plane had leveled out.
I trusted Evan. And, while I could sit there and fret over an act of God sending us crashing to the ground, I couldn’t help but remember him saying that my act of God had been having John Wyatt as my pilot on that fateful night.
In that moment, I realized he was wrong.
The true act of God had been finding him because of that horrible night.
If I hadn’t been on that flight, I never would have met his dad.
And, if I hadn’t met his dad, I never would have been using Jackson to find my pilots.
And, if I hadn’t been using Jackson, I never would have had Evan step in to take my flight.
That was my act of God.
And, suddenly, flying wasn’t so scary anymore.
Well…until all hell broke lose.
Robin gasped as the plane suddenly jerked, giving us all that dreaded feeling of our stomachs dropping.
My hand convulsed around hers, my other slamming down on the armrest.
“What the fuck is he doing up there?” Carter snapped.
“It’s okay,” I forced out in a shaky voice. “I’m sure it’s nothing,” I lied, trying the power of positive thinking for once.
The plane once again bounced, catching only momentarily before dipping again. My stomach threatened to revolt, but I did my best not to lose my lunch—or my mind.
I must have looked like hell, because Carter suddenly reached over Robin and pressed me down so I folded over my knees.
“It’s fine,” he growled. Only, for the first time, Carter didn’t sound completely convinced.
“Son of a bitch!” I heard Evan’s voice over the intercom as the plane took another sharp drop.
My eyes jumped to Carter, who was nervously staring at the speaker on the ceiling.
“Okay, so everything is fine.” Evan said, clearly frazzled. “Things are just messy up here. Henry, things are going to get bumpy for a few minutes. But please don’t panic. I swear it’s okay. I’m right here, babe. I love you, and I’ll keep you safe no matter what.”
The plane suddenly dropped again, but that’s not what made my heart lurch.
“Did you say you love me?” I asked, knowing he couldn’t hear me.
Evan kept talking. “I might not be King Kong, but I’d find a way to sprout wings and carry us both down safely before I let anything happen to you.”
“Did you say you love me?” I repeated louder at the ceiling.
“Just hang tight back there, Henry. It’s only a storm. This is completely normal.”
“Did you just say you loved me?” I shouted as loud as I could, losing my patience with his inability to hear me.
He continued. “Well, not completely normal, considering I’m professing my love for the first time over an intercom with only Javier locked in the cockpit beside me, but the turbulence you are feeling is normal. Henry, I love you, and I’m gonna take care of you up here. And as soon as I get us back on the ground, I’ll say it to your face. Just hang tight for me, babe. It’s all going to be okay.”
The speaker cut off when he severed the connection, but I could do nothing but sit frozen, blinking at the ceiling.
I was vaguely aware of the plane dipping and shaking, but a wide smile covered my face.
“He did.” I leaned back in my seat. “He said he loves me,” I whispered to myself.
Robin’s hand squeezed mine to catch my attention, “If he has to sprout those wings, you better take me with you.” Her green face turned to Carter just in time for him to shake a puke bag out and pass it her way.
But I couldn’t focus on the movement long enough to think about being airsick. I’m not positive I remembered I was on a plane.
He loves me.
It wasn’t a novel concept. There was plenty of proof that he did. But the way I felt to have heard those words come from his mouth was indescribable. No matter if it had come over the intercom of a plane that could very well have been falling from the sky.
Evan loved me.
I’d go down with a smile on my face.
I WAS OUT of my seat and barreling to the back of the plane before we made it to the gate. Javier was more than capable of taxiing us in.
The weather had been shit the who
le flight. I’d managed to avoid the worst of it, but the air had been choppy as hell. Normally, it was nothing I’d be concerned about. You know, unless my boyfriend, who was already terrified of the normal bumps in the sky, happened to be with me. And then, in that case, the alarm bells might as well have been screaming like sirens in my head.
I’d told Henry that I loved him not because I’d feared something was wrong, but rather because it was a fact I knew with every fiber of my being. I’d been searching for the right way to tell him over the last week, but nothing I’d come up with had come close to doing my feelings justice.
I loved him. Wholly. Utterly. Permanently.
And, knowing he was in the back, losing his shit, I hoped that my words could offer him the comfort I was physically unable to provide him from inside the cockpit.
God knows telling him soothed my soul.
I could only pray that it had the same effect on him.
After I pushed through the door, I came to a screeching halt when he came into view.
I’d expected bad.
I’d expected panicked.
I’d even prepared for pissed off.
However, I’d never considered he’d be damn near giddy.
“Hey,” I said, cautiously taking in his wide smile and his sparkling, blue eyes.
“Hey,” he replied softly.
My feet started moving again. His gaze locked on me as I closed the distance.
“Are you okay?” I asked, dropping to my knees beside him. I smoothed my hands over his shoulders before tracing up his neck to frame his face as though I had been searching for a physical injury.
He silently held my stare, his eyes glistening as they searched mine. Just when his reaction began to unnerve me, he blurted, “I love you too.”
A laugh sprang from my throat before I corrected him. “Evan.”
His smile grew, and he threw his arms around my shoulders, pulling me off-balance until I was hanging over the leather armrest. “I love you too, Evan.”
I closed my eyes and allowed his voice to wash over me, soothing me from the outside in. Or maybe it was inside out. Regardless, it reconstructed my heart.
Henry had made me whole again when he’d come into my life.
But, right then, he rearranged the pieces in a way that erased the past.
He still hadn’t released me when the plane came to a stop.
Nor did he release me when the cabin door was opened.
And, as Carter and Robin made their way out, I was still tightly wrapped in his arms.
“I love you,” I whispered into his ear. “And I’ll tell you that every day for the rest of my life, but unfortunately, I have to remind you that we need to get to the hospital to see Levee.”
His back shot straight and his arms fell away. “Shit. That’s right.” He unbuckled his seat belt and dug his phone from his pocket. “I’ll text Sam and let him know we’ll be there soon.”
“I’ll grab my stuff,” I replied, backing toward the cockpit to retrieve my phone and my ball cap from the storage compartment.
“Hey, Evan?” Henry called. “Sam said she’s crowning. What’s that mean? He’s sending me a picture.”
I stopped at the door and waited for him to join me. “That’s part of the birth, isn’t it? I think it’s when the baby’s head first pops out.”
His eyes flashed impossibly wide as he stopped in front of me. “Oh my God! He’s going to send me a picture of her vagina!” He threw his phone at me as though it had been a bomb set to explode at any second. “You have to look at it. You liked that kind of thing once, right?”
I curled my lip and threw it back at him. “Fuck no! I liked pussy. Not childbirth.”
He threw it back. “That’s just semantics. Take one for the team!”
I pressed my lips together but finally gave in and lifted the phone into my line of sight.
My chest seized.
I didn’t know Levee well. But she’d helped me get Henry back. That was one debt I’d never be able to repay. However, even without knowing anything else about her, like how much Henry loved her and she loved him, my smile still would have been unrivaled.
Sidling up beside him, I draped an arm around his waist and turned the phone his way.
On the screen was a picture of a beautiful baby girl with thick, brown hair feathering out from beneath a tiny, golden tiara while she blissfully slept in her mother’s arms.
The caption at the bottom read Hurry up, Uncle Henry. The princess needs a diaper change.
“Oh my God,” he breathed, pulling the phone from my hand to inspect the picture closer. “She’s gorgeous.”
I rubbed his back. “She really is.”
“I’m an uncle.” He lifted his eyes to mine, tears of joy sparkling in the sea of blue.
Pressing my lips to his temple, I murmured, “You ready to go meet her?”
“I just flew on a plane. And no offense to the pilot, but it was horrible,” he announced randomly.
I tipped my head and smirked. “Well, no offense to the spoiled rock star, but it wasn’t my fault.”
His hand landed on my chest, and his thumb traced the ridge of my pec. “It was the best flight I’ve ever been on. I couldn’t stop smiling. And laughing. I’m pretty sure Carter thought I’d lost my mind.”
I swayed my head from side to side in consideration. “You told me you love me too. There’s a strong possibility you did.”
His gaze turned serious, and he leaned forward and nipped at my bottom lip. “I’ll fly with you again.”
“Good to know,” I mumbled against his mouth.
He swept his tongue with mine before saying, “And, in the words of Optimus Prime, knowing is half the battle.”
I leaned away, shooting him a frown. “Optimus Prime? Still?” I feigned injury, clenching my heart. “You’re going to kill me.” Using my other hand, I gripped the back of his neck and guided him out the plane door.
“Not today,” he replied over his shoulder. “You promised me longer tonight, though we both know length is my specialty.”
I released him when he took his first step down. Then, when he got to the second one, I slapped his ass. “All right, smartass. That’s enough out of you.”
When he reached the bottom, he turned to face me, his bright smile only outdone by his eyes. “Let’s go meet our niece, Maverick.”
And just like that, I realized that maybe my home wasn’t in the sky anymore.
With Henry, I could soar with both feet on the ground.
Five years later…
“SHAWN!” I CALLED from my chair behind the soundboard in my studio.
Evan was sitting beside me, his hand firmly planted on my thigh as he nervously spun his wedding ring.
Yep. We’d done it. Evan and I had gotten married in a quaint ceremony with only our immediate family and friends in attendance.
However, judging by his eyes when he saw the wedding plans, he hadn’t considered four hundred guests, a horse-drawn carriage, and a castle in Scotland quaint or private. But like a trooper, he said not a single word as he walked away, shaking his head. Really, his only objection to the whole process was when I asked him to wear a kilt. I fully explained the merits of its easy access, but he wasn’t buying it. And, as much as I would have enjoyed the kilt, he looked even more edible in a black Armani suit the day we said I do.
Shawn’s dark-brown hair peeked around the corner before he slunk back out of sight.
A year after Evan and I had gotten married, I’d stopped touring. He hated being on the road all the time, even though we’d taken to flying a good bit. I loved performing, but I had to admit having a stable home with my husband sounded like the stuff fairytales were made out of.
And it was.
So fucking incredible.
Waking up with him. Wandering out to my private studio in the backyard. Levee coming over so we could write songs together, just like the old days. Then calling it a day and coming home to him.
<
br /> Indescribable.
But, as the years passed and we watched Sam and Levee fill their bedrooms with two more girls, Evan and I both felt like something was missing from our lives. We thought about the whole surrogate thing. He loved the idea of little blond babies. Meanwhile, I’d have given anything for one with his dark complexion. However, yet another act of God made the decision for us.
Evan and I were huddled together on the couch one night when my manager contacted me about doing some charity work with a local afterschool program specifically for kids in the foster system. Given my upbringing, I jumped at the opportunity. That was the day I first laid eyes on the little boy who would become the rest of my life.
While I played for the group of about twenty-five kids, Dominic, with his dark-brown eyes and short, black hair, ignored me completely. He sat in the back of the room with a notebook in his hand and a pencil in his grip. For the intensity with which he looked at it, I was dying to see what was on that paper, so as soon as I was done with my set, I flipped my guitar over my shoulder and headed his way.
His eyes barely lifted to mine before he pasted on the attitude I immediately recognized as my own when I had been that age. The world had given him nothing, and that was exactly what he was going to give back.
I knew in that moment I was going to give that little boy the world. Whether it was talking to him about the numerous zombies he had scrawled across the page or purchasing him a new pair of shoes to show off to his friends in order to make him feel even an ounce of pride in himself, I was going to do it.
A lengthy discussion with Evan ultimately ended with us filing for the adoption of both Dominic and his five-year-old little brother, Shawn.
It was a long process before it was finalized, but eventually, all of our last names were Alexander-Roth.
Growing up, I had never really pictured myself as a parent, but besides marrying Evan, it was easily the best thing I’d ever done. Those boys expanded our hearts and then filled every possible crevice.
“Come here, buddy. You’re not in trouble,” I called to Shawn.
Evan’s eyes snapped to mine in question, but I waved him off. That one interaction basically summed up our parenting style.
