Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
He sounds so calm, but my heart almost stops at his words.
I sit up slowly, turning around so I can see his face.
“You want that?” I ask, blinking back the tears that are welling up in my eyes.
My heart starts to swell with incredible joy and hope.
“More than anything...” Abram replies, leaning forward to tenderly caress my face with the back of his hand. “It’s...a growing desire. Do you want that too, Melody? Would you like to have my child? I’d understand if you don’t want to, and...”
“I do,” I interrupt quickly. “I want it so very much.”
Abram blinks at me in disbelief. It was like he was convinced I would never agree.
I catch his palm in my hand and smile into his magical blue-green eyes.
“I want a handsome son with your eyes and lips...and hair.”
Abram laughs, his eyes shimmering with...tears?
“Or a beautiful daughter with your hair and smile,” he says with a shaky smile.
I chuckle softly and nod my head.
“She has to have your eyes, though. I love your eyes.”
“I love you,” Abram says, and my heart freezes.
For a second, I can’t seem to breathe or even feel. And then my heart picks up again, thumping hard against my chest such that it feels like every one of my feelings is amplified ten times more. And then I break into tears, loud bawling tears.
I thought I wouldn’t feel any differently if and when he said the words, but that has turned out to be the biggest lie I’ve ever told myself.
“Mel... Melody?” Abram stutters, a rapid panic growing in his eyes.
He looks uncharacteristically startled, and rightly so. I must seem like a crazy woman right now.
“Are you crying?” Abram asks as if he wants to be certain he isn’t seeing wrong.
“Yes,” I reply with a jerky nod, bawling even louder.
Abram leans over me, his face wrought with worry and concern.
“Wh...I’m sorry, Melody. Is it something I said? Please, stop crying.”
I nod my head and sniff quietly.
“It’s...It’s because I love you too.”
Abram pauses, blinking rapidly at me. “What?”
“I love you,” I reply with a loud sniff. “I love you so, so much.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Melody
“....And Rapunzel let her long hair down through the window for Flynn to climb up. It must have been painful, but mommy says it’s because love over... overshadows everything else. Anyway...”
I stop wiping the dining table and turn to study the scene in front of me.
Abram and Ella are seated face to face on the couch. Ella keeps telling her story with animated expressions and exaggerated hand gestures while Abram listens with rapt attention.
He seemed genuinely interested in Ella’s story, his eyes lighting up with joy at the happy parts and narrowing in discontent whenever the hero suffers.
This moment, right here, gives me a glimpse of the type of dad he will be. The kind type who’ll genuinely love and care for his children.
These days, I’ve become so used to the incredible feeling of happiness that I can’t seem to remember how I survived without it before. Abram makes me happier than I’ve ever been, and these past weeks with him have been the best of my life.
Yet, it gets better every day.
I chuckle happily to myself as a giddy feeling spreads across my chest. I shake my head and take a deep breath.
Focus, Melody.
I clear my throat loudly, earning myself the attention of the two on the couch. They both turn toward me simultaneously, with similar expressions of impatience on their faces.
“El, it’s time for your nap,” I say, walking toward where they’re seated.
Brenda left strict instructions before she left on her date with Daniel.
She has to sleep in the afternoon at two. Make her lie in bed even if she complains she doesn’t feel sleepy.
I’d just been happy to shoo her away. I’m so glad that Brenda has found love with Daniel and is finally getting the break she deserves.
“But Aunt Mel,” Ella says with a pout. “I don’t feel sleepy. Besides, Uncle Abe wants to hear the end of the story, right, Uncle Abe?”
“Of course,” Abram says with an eager nod, then clears his throat and looks away when he catches the warning look in my eyes. “Maybe...maybe some other time, then.”
It’s hilarious how disappointed he sounds saying that. I bit back my smile and turn to Ella.
“See? You can tell Uncle Abe the rest of the story later.”
“I don’t want to nap, though,” Ella says with a deep sigh and raises her eyes to mine. “Please...”
I almost fall for her puppy eyes, but I shake my head strictly.
“No. Come on, let’s go.”
Ella sighs sadly but places her hand in mine without further argument. I take her into my room and make her lie in bed. I pull the covers over her and place a soft kiss on her forehead. She’s asleep in a matter of seconds. I snicker softly and shake my head.