More Than Forever
Page 88
Tom smiled and waited until I was seated. "I tried to think of some names," he started, ignoring her again. "Preston and Sons and Gordon, or Preston, Gordon and Sons, but that seemed—"
"What?" I finally managed to ask. "Gordon? Me?"
"Us!" Lucy snapped. "I'm a Gordon too!"
"I know, babe." I cleared my thoughts and looked back at Tom. "I don't understand."
He didn't reply. He just pushed over more papers until they were under my nose. It was a partnership agreement to his business. "What?"
"If you want to change the name we can speak—"
I shook my head. "The name's fine, I guess, I'm just confused."
"I'd like to make you partner," he deadpanned. "You take the design part, I'll take the construction. We can work together. Though, this will be your office space, I'll be on site most of the time. Plus, I love you like a son, don't get me wrong, but you and my daughter can't keep your hands off each other; I don't want to be surrounded by that all day."
Lucy laughed.
I couldn't find it in me to do anything but stare at him.
"So?" he asked, waiting for my response.
"No."
"What?" Lucy whined.
I turned to her. "I haven't earned it, Luce."
She scoffed and rolled her eyes.
Tom chuckled. "I'll give you a minute."
Lucy watched him walk down the stairs and when we were alone, she turned to me. "Cameron..." she started. Her shoulders dropped with her sigh. "I hate bringing this up, but this attitude of yours, this pride thing you have going, it almost ruined us once. I know that you feel like you haven't earned it, but you have, and my dad wouldn't be doing this if he didn't trust you. If he didn't believe in you like he has from day one. And this way... it means we get to be together every day, we'll never have to be apart. Isn't that what we've always wanted?"
Tom and I shook hands when I handed him back the signed papers.
The next day, we got to work.
That was a few months ago.
Yesterday, we finally completed it exactly the way she wanted.
*
"Your girlfriend’s here," I tell Logan, who's sitting next to me in the dugout.
He nudges me with his elbow. "Your wife's here."
We watch as they both get out of Lucy's car and sit on the hood, watching our baseball game.
"We suck," I say, picking up my gear bag and walking out. Someone shouts at us about the game not being over, but we don't care.
"We can't all be Jake Andrews," he muses.
"That punk deleted me on Facebook."
"That punk deleted his entire Facebook. He's too famous now. He was getting all these random requests and posts on his wall. Amanda said that Micky made him delete it after the fifth nude selfie he got."
I laugh. "Poor bastard."
Lucy's squeal gets my attention, and then I watch as her head throws back, her laughter loud and carefree. Amanda snorts next to her, making Lucy laugh even harder.
"What the hell are you two up to?" Logan says as we stop in front of them.
I wait until Lucy settles before pulling on her legs so I'm standing between them.
Amanda shoves my shoulder. "Waddup, Deskfucker?"
-LUCY-
Cameron stops in his tracks, shirtless, with the towel half lifted to his hair. He drops his hands and eyes me curiously. "You're cooking?"
I nod, trying to hide my smile. "How was your shower, husband?"
He ignores my question and stands next to me, sniffing the bowl of salad I just made. "Are you okay?"
"Yup! I made a pasta bake, it's all I can really do for now, but I'm learning."
He opens the oven and sniffs again. "I don't expect you to cook, babe."
"I know." I shrug. "But I wanted to."
"Huh." He stands on the opposite side of the counter and leans on his elbows. "Did you cheat on me?"
"WHAT!"
He doesn't flinch. "I don't know, Luce. It just seems weird. You're cooking, and the bathroom's all clean, and you've packed away the pile of books at the foot of the bed. I figure you've done something wrong and you think that cleaning and cooking might make it easier for me to forgive you. That, or your e-reader's broken. You want me to go out and buy you a new one?"
I scoff. "I sell e-readers at my store, and no I didn't cheat, or do anything wrong." I shrug. "I just wanted to be wifey today."
He laughs. "You were wifey enough last night when you let me blow—"
"CAM!"
"Seriously, Luce, what's going on?"
I pull out plates from the cupboard and start loading on the salad. "Put a shirt on, let's eat out on the dock."
*
"Is it nice?" I ask, trying to supress my laugh.
He finishes chewing, eyeing me sideways the way he has been since he got out of the shower. He nods slowly, and then sniffs his plate.
"I'm not trying to poison you!" I chuckle.
"You're confusing me, Luce! I don't know what's happening."
I don't respond.
"And you're being evasive!"
"The sun's about to set."
He grunts in frustration, but doesn't respond. I pull out a beer from the cooler and hand it to him.
He throws it in the lake.
I laugh.
"Who is he?" he asks.
"Who's who?"
"This guy you're cheating with?"
I laugh so hard my sides hurt. He starts to stand but I pull on his arm to sit him back down. "You're being an idiot."
He crosses his arms and looks away. "I don't care."
"Babe," I get on my hands and knees and kiss him softly. After a minute, he begins to relax. "I heard from the doctor today," I say against his lips.
He pulls back, the color of his normally dark eyes matching the orange of the sunset. "And?"
"And they said we could start the IVF treatment as soon as possible. They want us to come in on Monday so they can go through the steps with us."
He looks away and blows out a shaky breath.
"Cam?"
He sniffs once, his eyes glazed when they focus back on me. "So we're really going to do it? Are you sure, Luce, because I don't want you to do this for me. I want to make sure that you want it, too."
"Of course I want it." My words are strained but I continue, "I could live a thousand years with just you and me, and it wouldn't be enough. But what we have, the love we share, it's more than enough to go around. If IVF doesn't work, we can adopt, we have options." I sit across his lap and look out to the lake.
He leans his head on my shoulder.
My fingers reach up and twist his hair.
"Are you sure?" he whispers.
"It’s not fair to the world to limit your love to me alone. Your heart's too big, Cameron."
He looks past me, and to the sun, now half hidden by the water.
"I love you, Luce," he whispers. And it doesn't matter how many times he says it, the words have never lost their meaning. And they never will. Because it's more than just words spoken, it's his arms around me when I feel like I'm falling. It's his lips on mine, kissing away the pain. It's our hands holding as he leads me into the water to let me break. It's us—chest to chest—helping each other heal. It's us—giving each other Hope.
"What?" I finally managed to ask. "Gordon? Me?"
"Us!" Lucy snapped. "I'm a Gordon too!"
"I know, babe." I cleared my thoughts and looked back at Tom. "I don't understand."
He didn't reply. He just pushed over more papers until they were under my nose. It was a partnership agreement to his business. "What?"
"If you want to change the name we can speak—"
I shook my head. "The name's fine, I guess, I'm just confused."
"I'd like to make you partner," he deadpanned. "You take the design part, I'll take the construction. We can work together. Though, this will be your office space, I'll be on site most of the time. Plus, I love you like a son, don't get me wrong, but you and my daughter can't keep your hands off each other; I don't want to be surrounded by that all day."
Lucy laughed.
I couldn't find it in me to do anything but stare at him.
"So?" he asked, waiting for my response.
"No."
"What?" Lucy whined.
I turned to her. "I haven't earned it, Luce."
She scoffed and rolled her eyes.
Tom chuckled. "I'll give you a minute."
Lucy watched him walk down the stairs and when we were alone, she turned to me. "Cameron..." she started. Her shoulders dropped with her sigh. "I hate bringing this up, but this attitude of yours, this pride thing you have going, it almost ruined us once. I know that you feel like you haven't earned it, but you have, and my dad wouldn't be doing this if he didn't trust you. If he didn't believe in you like he has from day one. And this way... it means we get to be together every day, we'll never have to be apart. Isn't that what we've always wanted?"
Tom and I shook hands when I handed him back the signed papers.
The next day, we got to work.
That was a few months ago.
Yesterday, we finally completed it exactly the way she wanted.
*
"Your girlfriend’s here," I tell Logan, who's sitting next to me in the dugout.
He nudges me with his elbow. "Your wife's here."
We watch as they both get out of Lucy's car and sit on the hood, watching our baseball game.
"We suck," I say, picking up my gear bag and walking out. Someone shouts at us about the game not being over, but we don't care.
"We can't all be Jake Andrews," he muses.
"That punk deleted me on Facebook."
"That punk deleted his entire Facebook. He's too famous now. He was getting all these random requests and posts on his wall. Amanda said that Micky made him delete it after the fifth nude selfie he got."
I laugh. "Poor bastard."
Lucy's squeal gets my attention, and then I watch as her head throws back, her laughter loud and carefree. Amanda snorts next to her, making Lucy laugh even harder.
"What the hell are you two up to?" Logan says as we stop in front of them.
I wait until Lucy settles before pulling on her legs so I'm standing between them.
Amanda shoves my shoulder. "Waddup, Deskfucker?"
-LUCY-
Cameron stops in his tracks, shirtless, with the towel half lifted to his hair. He drops his hands and eyes me curiously. "You're cooking?"
I nod, trying to hide my smile. "How was your shower, husband?"
He ignores my question and stands next to me, sniffing the bowl of salad I just made. "Are you okay?"
"Yup! I made a pasta bake, it's all I can really do for now, but I'm learning."
He opens the oven and sniffs again. "I don't expect you to cook, babe."
"I know." I shrug. "But I wanted to."
"Huh." He stands on the opposite side of the counter and leans on his elbows. "Did you cheat on me?"
"WHAT!"
He doesn't flinch. "I don't know, Luce. It just seems weird. You're cooking, and the bathroom's all clean, and you've packed away the pile of books at the foot of the bed. I figure you've done something wrong and you think that cleaning and cooking might make it easier for me to forgive you. That, or your e-reader's broken. You want me to go out and buy you a new one?"
I scoff. "I sell e-readers at my store, and no I didn't cheat, or do anything wrong." I shrug. "I just wanted to be wifey today."
He laughs. "You were wifey enough last night when you let me blow—"
"CAM!"
"Seriously, Luce, what's going on?"
I pull out plates from the cupboard and start loading on the salad. "Put a shirt on, let's eat out on the dock."
*
"Is it nice?" I ask, trying to supress my laugh.
He finishes chewing, eyeing me sideways the way he has been since he got out of the shower. He nods slowly, and then sniffs his plate.
"I'm not trying to poison you!" I chuckle.
"You're confusing me, Luce! I don't know what's happening."
I don't respond.
"And you're being evasive!"
"The sun's about to set."
He grunts in frustration, but doesn't respond. I pull out a beer from the cooler and hand it to him.
He throws it in the lake.
I laugh.
"Who is he?" he asks.
"Who's who?"
"This guy you're cheating with?"
I laugh so hard my sides hurt. He starts to stand but I pull on his arm to sit him back down. "You're being an idiot."
He crosses his arms and looks away. "I don't care."
"Babe," I get on my hands and knees and kiss him softly. After a minute, he begins to relax. "I heard from the doctor today," I say against his lips.
He pulls back, the color of his normally dark eyes matching the orange of the sunset. "And?"
"And they said we could start the IVF treatment as soon as possible. They want us to come in on Monday so they can go through the steps with us."
He looks away and blows out a shaky breath.
"Cam?"
He sniffs once, his eyes glazed when they focus back on me. "So we're really going to do it? Are you sure, Luce, because I don't want you to do this for me. I want to make sure that you want it, too."
"Of course I want it." My words are strained but I continue, "I could live a thousand years with just you and me, and it wouldn't be enough. But what we have, the love we share, it's more than enough to go around. If IVF doesn't work, we can adopt, we have options." I sit across his lap and look out to the lake.
He leans his head on my shoulder.
My fingers reach up and twist his hair.
"Are you sure?" he whispers.
"It’s not fair to the world to limit your love to me alone. Your heart's too big, Cameron."
He looks past me, and to the sun, now half hidden by the water.
"I love you, Luce," he whispers. And it doesn't matter how many times he says it, the words have never lost their meaning. And they never will. Because it's more than just words spoken, it's his arms around me when I feel like I'm falling. It's his lips on mine, kissing away the pain. It's our hands holding as he leads me into the water to let me break. It's us—chest to chest—helping each other heal. It's us—giving each other Hope.
