24. Millie
MILLIE
“There we go,” I say, as I help Lewis out of the car. “You feeling okay, honey?”
“I’m okay,” Lewis replies, though I can tell he’s still more than a little shaky after everything that happened over the last day.
It’s the evening of the day after his emergency trip to the hospital, and the doctor finally gave me the go-ahead to take him home again.
Truth be told, I’m just relieved that he’s back on his feet after everything that happened; I know it can’t be easy for everything to flip up on its head like that with no warning, but at least he seems to be feeling a little more human now.
I lead him to the elevator, and it sweeps us smoothly upstairs and to the apartment. I stifle a yawn, hoping he can’t tell how exhausted I am right now, because it feels like my legs might give out underneath me at any moment.
I lean against the wall, my eyes drooping shut, trying to remember everything that still needs to be done around the apartment.
I know that I have to take care of the dishes, plus make some food for tonight, and maybe clean the bathroom if I have a chance.
Lewis is off school tomorrow, thankfully, so I don’t have to worry about getting him up early to make it there on time, but I can still feel the weight of it all pressing down on my shoulders.
James offered to stick around at the hospital a while longer, to make sure that Lewis was entirely back on his feet, but I insisted that I would be able to handle it myself.
Truth be told, I would have liked to have him there, but I knew I couldn’t ask for them to give up any more of their time than they already had.
I’m lucky that they helped out as much as they did, and I don’t want to demand more coddling on their part when I know I am entirely capable of handling this all by myself.
I pull out my keys as we approach the apartment, but to my surprise, the door is slightly open—as though someone is already inside. I frown and take a step forward, pushing it all the way open, and when I see what’s waiting for me on the other side, my heart swells with relief.
“Guys, what are you doing here?” I gasp, as I look around, taking in all the activity that’s taking place in my home.
James, Ross, and Cole are all there, and it looks as though they have been for at least a couple of hours.
The place is spotless, appears as though it has been scrubbed top to bottom since the last time I set foot in there, and there’s a delicious savory scent drifting out of the kitchen, announcing that they’ve already put dinner on too.
“Thought you might want to just kick back and relax when you got back,” Ross explains, as he makes his way over to me, greeting me with a quick hug before he stoops down to check on Lewis. “And how’s the patient, huh? Starting to feel better?”
Lewis nods, still standing a little behind me, clearly not entirely sure what to make of all this activity. I don’t blame him. It must be strange, having a home so full of life, given that the one we shared for so long was just the two of us.
“I put some food on,” James tells me, as he emerges from the doorway of the kitchen. “Just a risotto. Hope that’s okay.”
“That—that sounds great,” I reply, blinking as I try to take it all in.
This isn’t the first time that I’ve spent a night in hospital with Lewis, but this is a far cry from anything I had to look forward to on those lonely trips I made before.
No, coming back to find them like this, it’s almost as though… almost as though we’re a family.
“Take a seat,” Cole instructs me, putting an arm around my waist and guiding me to the couch. “You need to rest, after all that stress.”
“Come on, sweetie,” I murmur to Lewis, holding my hand out to him and gesturing for him to follow me. He does as he’s told, and I pull him onto my lap there on the couch, pressing my face into his hair and trying to convince myself that the worst of it is really over.
“How are you doing?” Cole asks with some concern.
I guess they’ve got every right to wonder, given the pregnancy, though I still haven’t discussed it with Lewis yet.
Cole is being careful to avoid saying anything too specific, but I can tell what’s going through his head, praying that the discomfort and sleeplessness hasn’t left me feeling worse off than before.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I reply, but a yawn escapes me before I can finish what I’m saying, somewhat undercutting my attempts to soothe him. “Just…just glad to be home, that’s all.”
“Of course,” Cole replies, and he lays a hand on my shoulder, just out of sight of Lewis, and gives it a squeeze, a silent promise that they’re not going anywhere. With that, he withdraws to the kitchen to help James, and Ross appears with some water for both Lewis and me.
“Thanks for doing all of this,” I tell him, gesturing around. “I was dreading coming back from the hospital and finding there was still so much to do, but looks like you already took care of it for me.”
“Least we could do,” he replies, sinking into the armchair opposite us and studying us both with some concern. “You need your rest. Both of you.”
He glances to Lewis, quickly warming his face with a sincere smile. “And you’re already looking better,” he adds. “You got plenty to eat at the hospital?”
“Yeah, Mathilda made sure that we had good food,” I reply. “She really seems to know what she’s doing.”
“She should, she’s a protégé of one of the most respected experts in the state,” Ross tells me. “You want to see her again? I could get you another appointment with her, if you like.”
“You know, I think I would,” I reply. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the help that all the others have given me over the years, but Mathilda was easy to talk to in a way I often found lacking with the doctors I met with before.
So many of them, I felt like they were looking down their noses at me, judging me for being a single mom having to cope with something like this on my own, but she met me exactly where I was, asking sensible questions and dealing with the symptoms before she got down to the core issue.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Ross replies, and he glances over to the kitchen. “That looks like dinner, if you want to go to the table…”
I help Lewis to his feet and the two of us make our way to the dining table, where James and Cole are already laying out the food they’ve spent the evening making us.
It looks amazing, a steaming plate of risotto studded with bright green peas and drizzled with pesto waiting for me by the time I sit down.
“Wow,” I murmur, as I grab my fork. “This looks great.”
“Tastes even better,” James replies, flashing me a slightly cocky grin.
I can’t help but return it, my mind drifting to everything he told me in the hospital. About the way his life will change when he has these babies, about how alone he has been for so long.
Of course, I knew that there had been other women, but the way he looked at me when he told me that not one of them would compare to me…I know that’s not the kind of thing he could fake, even if he wanted to. And I can see no good reason why he would.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” I retort playfully, as I take a bite of the risotto. I cock an eyebrow, as though making sure that my discerning palate is entirely satisfied before I offer my take on it.
“Hmm, not bad,” I concede. “You got lucky this time.”
We tuck in together, the five of us around the table, and the guys pepper me with questions about everything that happened at the hospital.
I fill them in as best I can, though my mind is a little scrambled from the intensity of the last day or so.
Truthfully, I’m just glad to be home, but even more glad to have found it full of warmth and comfort and food by the time we got here.
This…this is the kind of thing I could get used to, if I let myself.
If I let my mind stray in that direction, I could convince myself that this is exactly what I want.
Exactly what I have been waiting for all this time, back when I felt so alone, back when it felt like I might be the only struggling single mom in the world.
And here they are, walking into my life like it’s the most natural thing in the world, making themselves a part of my home and my family.
And the family I’ve had for so long has felt so small, as important as they are to me.
My chest tightens when I think of Matt, but right now, even the chaos going on with him feels distant to everything taking place right here.
It’s been just Matt and Lewis for so long, the only people I can call my family, since I lost my parents, and I didn’t realize until this moment just how much I had been missing the feel of being surrounded by people, people who care about me, people who seem willing to do anything in their power to make sure I have everything I need.
“I guess I’m on washing-up duty, huh?” Ross remarks, once we’re all done, our plates cleared. “Since I didn’t help with the cooking.”
“My thoughts exactly,” James agrees, winking in my direction as he rises to his feet.
“Maybe we could watch a movie or something,” I suggest, surprising myself before I can even think about what I’m saying.
I just don’t want them to leave yet. I’m exhausted, and I know I should really be getting some sleep, but for the time being, there’s nothing I want more that to keep them in my apartment a while longer, to find an excuse to draw this night out just a few more hours.
“You sure?” Cole replies. “You don’t want to rest?”
“I’m fine,” I promise him. “Hey, Lewis, why don’t you go pick out something for us to watch on the TV? You always have the best picks.”
“Sure!” Lewis replies, clearly excited at the prospect of getting a whole unexpected movie night, especially with our extra guests.
Cole grins after him as Ross begins to collect the plates, and he reaches across the table to give my hand a squeeze. “You want anything?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“No,” I promise him. “I think I have everything I need right here.”
And as I listen to Ross begin to wash up in the next room while Lewis shows James some of his favorite movies on the TV apps, I find that I mean it.
There’s nothing I would rather have, nowhere I would rather be, and even if I had to spend a night at the hospital to make it happen—I know now that I can trust these men with anything.
And that they will never let me down.