Page 121 of This Kind of Forever

“Okay,” I whisper.

Gabe lets go of my hand, only to grab me by the waist and tug me off my stool. He pulls me down onto his lap so I’m straddling him. I loop an arm around his shoulders to keep myself steady.

“I love you,” he says. “Thank you for giving me this.”

A tear slips down my cheek as he kisses me. It’s gentle, a culmination of all the words swimming between us. All the quiet joy.

When we pull apart, I can’t help but run a hand across the outside of Gabe’s thigh. “Whatever workouts you’ve been doing lately, keep ‘em up.”

Gabe pinches my asscheek. “Behave.”

I press a kiss to his jaw. “I can’t help it. Must be the hormones.” When I’m not feeling sick, I’m feelingveryattracted to my husband. Which is unfortunate, because I haven’t been able to do anything about it since we got married.

“Let’s see if you can keep your breakfast down, then we’ll talk.”

I pout. “You’re no fun.”

But I know he’s right. I can’t exactly enjoy sex if I’m trying not to puke my guts out, which has been happening more often than not recently.

“I’m trying to take care of you, baby. Which, speaking of, you need to eat something.”

My pout turns into a frown. “What time is it?”

“Almost eight-thirty.”

Oops. I’ve definitely been out here longer than I thought. I’m not going to volunteer that information, though. I’ll keep that to myself.

“Now that you mention it, I could probably use some food.”

Gabe chuckles. “That’s what I thought.”

I slide off his lap, then reach for my brushes. I have to clean them before I can go anywhere.

“Oh! Bryan said he and his girlfriend will use the rest of our rental,” I say. Since Gabe and I won’t be using our cottage getaway this time around, we figured someone should.

My siblings and I have grown closer than I thought we would in the past few months. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I fully decided to let them in, but it feels like I’ve known them my whole life, and they have totally embraced me as their younger sister.

Things with Kevin are a bit more complicated. Overall, we have a good relationship, but overcoming twenty-eight years of abandonment doesn’t happen overnight. Still, I’m happy with where we are.

Kevin and Dana have been separated for the past five months. They tried counselling, but it was all too much for Dana to reconcile. Between Kevin getting sick and then him wanting to have a relationship with me, it’s been a rough few years for her. She did reach out and apologize for the way she treated me,though. We won’t be in each other’s lives, but that’s okay. I wish her nothing but the best.

“Clara will be disappointed,” Gabe says. “She asked me an hour ago if it was still available.”

I laugh as I turn the tap on, running the brush heads through the water. “Please. She’ll be fine. Her man will just whisk her away to France or Italy for a few days instead.”

For a woman who barely left the island her first twenty-eight years of life, Clara’s brand new passport has been getting quite the workout lately.

Gabe rolls his eyes. “We can’t all be worth millions.”

I lean up and press a kiss to his lips. “I don’t need millions. I just need you.”

Once the brushes are clean and set out to dry, I move toward the door. Gabe’s arms snake around me, tugging me back to my easel. One of his hands rests low on my stomach, right over where our baby is growing.

“Before we go inside,” he says, “show me what my wife has been working on.”

My wife.

The smile that stretches my lips is uninhibited. “I thought we could hang it in the baby’s room,” I say. I point to the blend of oranges and yellows on the canvas. “It’s inspired by the sunrise this morning.”

Gabe presses a kiss to my temple. “I love it.”

I turn, looking up at him. “I love you.”

So much of my life has changed since I came back home, but I truly couldn’t imagine everything playing out any differently than it has. I fully believe that I was meant to end up right here, in Gabe’s arms.

“It’s always been you and me, Hallie Bowman.”

And it always will be. Forever.