Chapter Twenty-Six
COMING TOGETHER
-- November --
“I never imagined that we would be in Paris for our first wedding anniversary.”
Matthew smiled and reached across the table to hold Amy’s hand. “It’s been a crazy year, and there’s nothing I’m more thankful for in this world than to have you sitting across from me tonight, happy and healthy. I love you, and I thank God every day that you’re still here with me.”
Amy blushed, and took a sip of her water to distract herself (she’d put herself on a strict no-alcohol diet over the last few weeks). “Why do you always talk like that?”
“Like what?” Matthew asked all too innocently.
“You talk like a fictional character – as though you’ve been created by Nicholas Sparks. No one else talks like you do.”
Matthew smirked, laughing to himself, and began reciting Shakespeare’s eighteenth sonnet.
“Oh, shut up, would you!” Amy giggled, looking around to make sure no one else was listening, despite the majority of the patrons having their own conversations in French.
“I only speak that way because I love you,” Matthew explained. “And I want you to know it.”
“I know you love me,” Amy said, twisting Matthew’s ring back and forth around his finger. “But you don’t have to speak so proper – embrace the bogan-English everyone back home speaks.”
Matthew only rolled his eyes and drank the last of his red wine. “It’s getting pretty late – do you want to head back to the hotel?”
Amy nodded as she tried to stifle her yawn.
Matthew paid the bill – with a generous tip for the waiting staff – and he and Amy headed out into the chilly streets of Paris, walking the few blocks back to their hotel.
They walked hand-in-hand, talking about their plans for the days ahead, Matthew’s arm wrapped around Amy, hugging her to his side. After crossing two blocks, they came to a late-night pharmacy store, which suddenly reminded Matthew of his need to purchase various hygiene items. They both entered the store, but as Matthew raced to the back shelves, Amy remained in the front most isles, especially those containing items relating to pregnancy.
She debated with herself, and saw Matthew debating with two items at the other end of the store. She gave her as much time as what it would take Matthew to return to make her decision – and as Matthew eventually came back to purchase the items, Amy made her impulsive decision. She selected three different boxes, and joined Matthew in the short queue.
“What have you got there?” he asked casually, slightly curious.
Amy shyly placed the three boxes in Matthew’s hands – he would be paying, after all – and after he got over his first impression that they were three boxes of toothpaste, he looked again at Amy, his eye brows raised. His eyes burned with uncertainty.
Amy’s explanation was that of two simple words: “It’s time.”
* * *
“Do you want some more water?” Matthew called to Amy from the main area of their hotel room.
“I think I’m good, thanks!” Amy called back from their bathroom. “I think they’re working.”
Matthew could hear the panic in Amy’s voice, despite her attempts to hide it. He rose from the couch and entered the bathroom after knocking on the door politely. He came up behind Amy, who was hunched over the vanity sink, where three pregnancy tests were pending their determination.
“I think they need twenty minutes,” Amy assumed, trying to decode the French on the packaging instructions.
Matthew took the box and read what he could. “Ten minutes,” he corrected.
Amy nodded, and in the mirror, Matthew could see she was holding back tears.
“Come with me,” he said gently, taking her hand and leading her back out to the room he’d previously been sitting in. He leant down so that he was at her eye level.
“Amy, no matter what those tests say, I love you. I will always love you.”
Her tears began falling freely, and she wrapped her arms around Matthew’s neck for support and warmth. “I don’t want those tests to come back negative – I’m ready now.”
“If the tests are negative, I will still keep my promise to you: we will have a baby next year. This is my – our – key priority next year. This comes before anything else. One way or another, we will have a baby.”
Amy smiled through her tears. “I have no idea why I’m crying,” she laughed at herself. “It will happen, when it’s time to happen.” She kissed the inside of his neck. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Those next ten minutes were the longest Amy could ever remember. Matthew all but locked the bathroom door, insisting that Amy needed to be patient – time wouldn’t pass faster if she was hovering over the tests.
Yet when the ten minutes were up, she was nervous about re-entering the bathroom. She did so slowly, leaving Matthew sitting on the edge of their bed. It took about thirty seconds until Amy’s squeal reached his eyes, and a smile grew on his features.
Amy raced back out of the bathroom with an expression of utter delight. She met Matthew’s arms and was pulled into his lap. They kissed long and slowly, smiling throughout.
“I’ll take it the tests were positive,” Matthew smiled proudly.
“Three for three,” Amy kissed him again. “We’re having a baby! Happy anniversary!”
They kissed once more, each whispering “I love you” when they could.
Recovering Amy
stephii
YOU ARE READING
Recovering Amy (Amy, #2)
Romance“You’re mine,” it told her in her dreams, “you don’t deserve happiness”. She would wake up screaming most nights, crying, begging for forgiveness that no one dared to offer her. She was sorry – she didn’t mean for anything quite so terrible to happe...
