Kendall
Elora and I both are ordered to go home and we sleep in the same bed in my guest room, cuddled up together. We’ve been through a lot and we need that best friend comfort.
When I wake, I immediately sit straight up in bed, thinking about Camden.
“I have to get back to the hospital,” I mumble, and Elora yawns, grabbing my shoulder so I can’t get up.
“Not yet,” she says. “You need to eat something. Have to feed that nephew of mine.”
I chuckle in spite of everything. “You think it’s a boy?”
“Just a hunch,” she says.
“I guess we’ll see,” I say, rubbing a hand over my belly. “But shouldn’t we check on Camden?”
“Mama’s up there with him now,” she says. “You don’t have to worry, she’ll call me if he sneezes.”
I laugh a little. “All right. I guess I’ll eat.”
My stomach feels like there’s a void in it, so I guess it’s a good idea.
We walk downstairs and Marisa has made a spread that’s unbelievable.
Mia is shoveling food in her face and she looks up at us and smiles.
“Please sit. Marisa cooks for an army and I’m taking full advantage.”
Elora laughs and I manage a smile.
We sit down and eat.
“This is so hard,” I comment. “I hate not being at the hospital.”
“You need to rest,” Mia says. “Get your strength back. You’ll be no good to Camden if you pass out again.”
After a few moments of all of us eating quietly, Elora looks at me, tilting her head.
“Have you told my brother that you’re in love with him?” she asks, and I choke on my orange juice.
“Who says I’m in love with your brother?” I ask dumbly.
Elora snorts and Mia laughs at us both.
“Let’s be real,” Elora says. “You’ve been in love with him since you were seventeen. I know it, you know it, but if you haven’t told Camden, he doesn’t know it. He’s stupid.”
I look at her, biting my lip nervously. “He said some things at the hospital, but I’m sure it was just the drugs.”
“What did he say?” Mia asks, and we both look at her amused.
She shrugs. “What can I say? Now that I’m old and pregnant and married, I look for drama where I can find it.”
“He said that he loves me,” I mumble, hardly able to believe it even though I was right there when he said it.
Elora gasps. “Really? He actually said it? It’s about time.”
“What do you mean, it’s about time?” I ask.
“I’ve seen Camden with a lot of women,” she says, and my nose wrinkles involuntarily. “I mean, a lot of women,” she continues.
“You don’t have to rub it in,” I say dryly.
“But I’ve never seen him look at a woman the way he looks at you,” she finishes, and I swallow hard.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive,” she says. “Camden’s an idiot, but if he says he loves you, he means it.”
I don’t believe it. Not even with what Elora says. Not even when Camden said it to my face. He was just out of surgery. He didn’t know what he was saying. That’s all.
“And if he told you, you should tell him,” Mia points out.
“He knows,” I mumble.
“I keep telling you, my brother is stupid,” Elora says, and Mia laughs.
“All wiseguys are when it comes to love,” she agrees.
“So, I really have to say it to him?” I ask.
“I think it’s time to go to the hospital,” Mia says, struggling up with Marisa’s help. “Can you drive? I can barely reach the steering wheel.”
On our way to the hospital, Mia and Elora talk idly about this and that, and I’m looking out the window, thinking about Camden.
Surely, he knows how I feel about him. I’ve been obvious, haven’t I?
And what if I tell him and he doesn’t remember anything about yesterday? God, that will be mortifying.
I’m still thinking about it when we arrive at the hospital.
I make my way into Camden’s room, still lost in my own thoughts, and he’s sitting up on the bed, some color in his cheeks.
I smile, unable to help it. He has a slight beard on his jaw, and it looks good on him.
“You look really good for a man who has been shot in the heart,” I say, and Camden grins.
“Thanks, I guess?” He looks at me. “Did you get some rest? Eat something?”
“I did,” I say, patting my stomach. “It’s like I have a food baby and a regular baby.”
“When do you go to your first ultrasound?” he asks.
I blink. He said he wanted to be involved and be there, but I didn’t actually think he meant it.
“I scheduled it for this week, but since you’re in the hospital-”
“Elora can go with you,” he insists. “You need to be checked out. Things were stressful when you got pregnant.”
I stare at him, still confused. “Are you on drugs?”
Camden chuckles lightly so he doesn’t hurt his chest. “I mean, yes, but that’s not what this is about.” He frowns. “Is it not okay to be worried about my baby?”
“Of course it is,” I say quickly, biting my lip.
“What’s with that face?” he asks.
“What face? This is just my face,” I insist.
“No, it’s not. It’s your worried face. I’m okay,” he insists. “The doctor says I have to stay here for a few days, but I can go home soon and you can take care of me there.”
“I can take care of you?” I ask, shocked.
“Who else is going to do it? Elora ?” He snorts. “She’ll kill me on purpose.”
I laugh, but I’m reeling. “You want me to take care of you?”
He frowns. “Didn’t I just say that? Why, you don’t want to?”
“Of course I want to,” I say. “But… would it be weird, me being at your apartment?”
“Why would it be weird?”
I open my mouth and then close it again, not sure how to answer that.
I think about Elora and Mia, what they’d said, about how Camden looked at me, about how I should tell him.
I’m not sure that I can, but… “Listen, Camden, I need to tell you something,” I say slowly, and he just looks at me expectantly, so I blurt it all out. “I’ve kind of had a thing for you since I was a kid, and when we started seeing each other… I really fell in love with you. I fell hard. And I know that I said I was okay with us being casual but I’m just… I’m not, Camden. I need more. I need you.”
“Of course,” he says easily, and my mouth drops open.
“What?”
“Of course. You have me, principessa. All of me.” He taps his chest gently. “Bum ticker and all.”
“What are you saying, Camden?” I ask, hope rising in my throat, but I’m not sure if he’s saying what I think he’s saying. It’s hard to believe, after everything.
“I’m saying what I said yesterday, principessa. Don’t you remember? I love you. You’re mine and I’m yours.”
“You… you remember that?” I ask, tears welling in my eyes.
“Of course I remember it,” he says, sounding exasperated. “It’s the first time I’ve ever told a woman that I loved her.”
“I’m the first?” I ask, gulping, as a big grin spreads on my face, wishing I could throw my arms around him but not wanting to hurt him.
“The first and only,” he assures me, smiling back. “So, you’re moving in, yeah? You’re taking care of me, and then I’ll take care of you until the baby comes, and then we’ll take care of each other.”
I can’t believe it. This is everything I’ve ever wanted to hear, but I feel nervous, unsure.
“Will we… will we get married?” I ask, not even daring to hope that much.
Camden groans. “I mean, I guess.”
I can’t help but laugh at his tone. “What does that mean?”
“It means, baby steps, principessa. I want you, and I want you forever, but marriage is hard for me to wrap my head around.”
I nod slowly, thinking about it.
“So, will you be with me anyway?” Camden asks. “Will you be mine, principessa?”
His words echo in my ears. I never thought that I would hear this coming out of his mouth, and here it is.
I just look at him and he looks back, expectantly.
“I.. I…”