Chapter 45 Nora
NORA
“This is sooo good,” Jenny hums as she bites into one of the brownies I brought into work for the staff to share.
I smile as she drops crumbs onto her very pregnant belly. One of those perfectly round bellies you can rest a plate of snacks on. The type of belly where you can wear a tight-fitting dress and everyone knows you’re pregnant and not just carrying some extra holiday weight.
She takes another bite, gooey chocolate dripping onto her lips, but she doesn’t seem to care about the mess she’s making, only the brownie that appears to be giving her an orgasmic out-of-body experience as she moans louder, throwing her head back and closing her eyes.
Cal straightens in his chair and mouths, “Is she okay?”
I shrug a shoulder with a silent laugh. “She likes my brownies.”
Cal points his pen at me. “Fair enough. My wife loves your baking. She liked those lemon tart things and asked for the recipe, though to be honest, I don’t know why Steph wants the recipe, because she’s shit at cooking and baking.”
I laugh out loud this time. “Maybe it’s so you can bake them for her, Cal.”
He huffs. “Probably. Or she’ll get Cassie to do it, or one of my girls.”
“You should take a brownie home for her. Let me wrap one up for you before they all go.” I wander into the office kitchen.
The smell of coffee hits me first, and I screw up my nose, almost tasting it on my tongue.
I crouch down to open the under-counter fridge.
One lonely brownie lies in the plastic container with a bright yellow Post-it note.
A smile spreads across my face, my chest warming. It’s been a while since Nate left me notes like this. I open the container and read the handwritten note.
I burst out laughing. Is this a joke? I scan the kitchen, but nobody is here. I carry the container into the office and hand Cal the last one. “Keep it in your drawer before anyone else gets there hands on it.”
“Thanks, Nora.”
Jenny picks the crumbs from her belly and pops them in her mouth, not leaving a drop. “I saw the note. He’s made one of his spelling gems again.”
“Who?”
“Evan. He took one before me and left a note.” She licks her fingers, her mouth covered in chocolate.
I drop into my chair, mouth parted as I read it again.
Of course it’s Evan. I should have known.
All this time, it was always Ev. The spelling mistakes that used to make me smile, the sweet things he used to say that would make me melt.
It was the reason I'd be up at 2:00 a.m. baking, just so I could get another message that day.
I save the note and discreetly pop it in my sketchbook, keeping it safe.
“Oh, baby’s got a sugar hit.” Jenny places her hand on her belly.
I haven’t really taken much interest in Jenny’s pregnancy. I’ve been a terrible colleague, jealous more than anything, wishing it were me. But these last few weeks, I’ve totally forgotten to take my ovulation tests. Our relationship with Evan has kept me somewhat occupied. “May I?”
“Sure.” Jenny grabs my hand and places it over her belly. Her baby moves under her skin, then there’s a kick to my hand.
I jump. My eyes widen. “Wow. I felt that.”
Jenny nods. “Anything sugary gets her going.”
The baby kicks again, and my lips part with a gasp. Another kick beneath my palm, stronger this time, a firm little thud that makes me laugh out loud.
“See?” Jenny says with a wide smile. “Told you. She already has a sweet tooth.”
I keep my hand there a moment longer, soaking in the warmth of her stomach, the life moving beneath her skin.
For so long, I’ve ached for this in the hollow space I didn’t know how to fill.
I used to smile and pretend I was happy for other people while quietly asking what’s wrong with me.
But sitting here with Jenny now, I don’t carry emptiness anymore.
We might not be growing a baby yet, but our family is growing.
Love has filled the cracks. Every little detail makes my chest overflow with it—shared breakfasts, laughter in the kitchen, Evan’s shoes permanently by the door, Nate’s arm reaching for both of us in the night like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Jenny’s baby shifts again, and I pull my hand back, smiling. “That’s amazing.”
Jenny grins, wiping chocolate from her mouth. “Just wait until you have one kicking your ribs at three in the morning.”
I smile. The thought doesn’t sting the way it used to. Warmth spreads through my chest instead. Maybe one day. Maybe soon. Maybe never. My whole life I’ve wanted a family of my own because I’ve never had one, but with Evan, we’re already a family, like he was the missing piece all along.
The office door opens behind me and a familiar voice carries across the room. “You ready to go, doodles?”
My heart lifts before I even turn around.
Evan stands inside reception, hair slightly windswept, glasses slipping down his nose, keys spinning loosely around his finger. His mouth curves into a private smile just for me.
“Perfect timing.” I grab my sketchbook from my desk and lift my coat from the hook.
“You off already?” Cal glances up from his computer.
“Yeah,” Evan answers for me, already backing towards the door. “I’m stealing her. Can you lock up? I owe you.”
Cal snorts. “You already owe me about six favours.”
I laugh as I shrug into my coat and follow Evan out, the cool evening air hitting my face the second we step onto the pavement.
He unlocks his car and jogs around to open my door before I can reach it myself.
“Such a gentleman,” I tease.
“Get used to it,” he whispers, his breath fanning my cheek.
I want to kiss him, but we’re outside work. Too public and open. Evan isn’t ready to go public with what we are yet. I don’t even know what we are, only that I’m in love with two men and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.
The engine rumbles to life and we pull out of the car park. Streetlights flicker as we drive through town.
Ev is quiet as he drives. It’s not awkward but calming.
Sleeping with him most nights and letting him hold me in the darkness has stripped away those awkward silences from when we first started this.
Nate usually sleeps on the other side of me, but sometimes he sleeps beside Ev, drawing him close as if reassuring him of his place with us.
I should be jealous, but I’m not. There’s only love.
It’s the same way I imagine watching Nate with our baby. Seeing him love something so precious would only make me love him more. And that’s how it is with Ev.
“Sweetness doesn’t have an A in it, you know.”
He glances at me. “What?”
I pull the Post-it from my sketchbook and hold it up between us. “Your spelling hasn’t improved since uni.”
He exhales a shaky laugh.
“You wrote, ‘I can’t resist your sweatness.’ I’m guessing you meant ‘sweetness’ unless you mean you can’t resist my sweatiness in which case, you’re missing an I.” A laugh tumbles from my lips.
Ev laughs along with me. “I mean, both are fair. I can’t resist either.” He pulls up at a set of lights, regarding me, eyes heating, probably thinking of last night when all three of us were a sweaty mess. And the night before and the night before that.
I lean back into the seat, my fingers interlacing with his as they rest on the centre console. “It was always you, wasn’t it?”
“You finally figured it out?” His lips quirk in the corner and he drives now that the lights are green.
“I always thought Nate wrote them.”
He shakes his head, eyes fixed firmly on the road. “I know you did.”
“You used to leave thank-you notes for cookies and tell me how nice I looked.” Emotion clogs in my throat. “All this time you let me believe it was Nate…”
He gives a small whimsicle smile. “You two were good together. I wasn’t about to complicate that.”
“You could never complicate anything.” I reach across the console and rest my hand over his leg. “But when I talked to Nate, he went along with me as if he were the one sending them. He never denied it.”
“I told him to do that.” His jaw ticks.
“Why?”
“Because Nate was in love with you.”
“And you?”
“I always cared for you, Nora, but I was going through some stuff. I was in love with someone else, and I would have done anything to make him happy.”
My heart lurches in my chest. “Ev.” Tears threaten my eyes. “It was always Nate.”
“It was always you, too. I just didn’t know how to handle my feelings. Back then, I thought I had to choose.”
“And you chose neither of us.”
“I chose to step back so the two of you could be together.” He clears his throat and signals to turn into a car park.
I blink. “Where are we going?”
He parks the car at the back of a small Italian restaurant in town.
“What’s this?”
He finally looks at me properly, his fingers brushing back my hair. “You have to know it was always the both of you. I just never thought I had a chance.”
I press my lips against his, not caring who sees.
Ev pulls back, his breath quickening as he scans our surroundings. Then his lips are on me again, ravenous this time, as if he’s wanted to do this since I got in the car. His tongue dominates mine, swirling around my mouth and swallowing every moan.
His warm palms heat my cheeks as he holds me at the angle he requires, devouring me.
My clit tingles. Every kiss, every touch, every breath pulls that familiar heat through me, like my body already remembers the brush of his lips.
A knock on his windshield has us both jumping apart. My heart thuds in my chest.
Evan’s door opens. “You two starting without me?” Nate’s head dips into the car.
Evan leans back in the seat, straightening his glasses. “You fucker. You scared me half to death.”
Nate leans in and pecks him on the lips.
Ev pushes him away. “Cut it out, or we’ll never make it into the restaurant.”
I open the door and climb out, leaving my sketchbook on the seat, but popping the Post-it note into my pocket. “What’s going on? Are we doing some work for the restaurant?”