week, I thought I’d lost you forever, and yet here you are, and here our son is, and all I know is that I cannot bear to lose either of you, but at the same time, I refuse to trap you with me. I refuse to use our son to keep you at my side.”
“Is that why you gave me custody? You didn’t want me to feel pressured into staying with you?”
“I want nothing more than to live together and raise him together, but it must be right for you. I want what is best for you and our child. I give you control so that you know you are not a vessel or a surrogate. You are not my captive, either.” His lips twisted. “You are a beautiful, strong, intelligent woman, and I love you with all my heart.”
She searched his eyes. “This could backfire on you, Nikos. You could lose everything.”
“My attorney said the same thing. But I will never be happy if you aren’t happy, and you have much to achieve in this world, big things ahead of you. I will not stand in your way. If anything, I’d like to support you and help you reach those dreams.”
“Even if it means we live in Atlanta?”
“I am planning on living in Atlanta. I’ve even been looking at real estate. A big house, lots of land around us, plenty of space.”
“That will be very expensive in Atlanta.”
He shrugged. “I am sure I can afford it.”
“You really mean this? You’d go to Atlanta...you’d help me raise the baby there while I finish school?”
“Of course. You are my woman, my love, and hopefully one day, yineka mou, my wife.”
Her head was spinning. She couldn’t quite grasp everything he was saying. “You really have looked at real estate in Atlanta?”
“Yes. I found a couple places that look interesting. I thought we could go have a look when the baby is cleared for travel. Might be a couple weeks.”
He was serious. This was crazy but wonderful. It hadn’t ever crossed her mind that he’d really be willing to go with her to Georgia. It would help things immensely if they were all together. The baby could have them both...
“I think this is a very interesting plan,” she said carefully. “But it’s also a lot to take in. You, me, the baby—” She broke off, frowned. “And do we even want to talk about a name for him? I think at some point he might object to just being called the baby.”
Nikos laughed, a deep, rumbling laugh that filled the room and made Georgia smile. She’d never heard him laugh, not like that, and she thought it had to be the very best sound in the world.
Tears started to fill her eyes, and then she wasn’t smiling but crying, and Nikos was holding her.
“What’s wrong, agapi mou—what’s happened?” He soothed her, stroking the back of her head, trying his best to comfort her.
“Everything is happening, and these hormones don’t help,” she choked out.
“It’s okay. Cry. It might help make you feel better.”
“I doubt it.” She sniffed, wiping her cheeks dry, struggling to get control. “So what happens to us, Nikos, if we go to Atlanta together? How will this work?”
“What are you asking?”
“I care for you, Nikos, so very much, but there are things we don’t know about each other, and things we need to discover. Can we slow things down a little? Back up a bit so that we are just dating and we can use the time in Atlanta to figure out if we are good together...happy together?”
“You’re breaking off the engagement?”
“Well, I never had a ring...”
He smiled. “This is true. We couldn’t possibly have been engaged then. So we’re back to square one. Starting over.”
“Not totally starting over. We do have a son.”
He leaned over the bed, kissed her, then kissed her again. “Speaking of our son, I agree with you that it’s time to consider names.”
“Can you go get him, see if he can join us? I have a feeling he’d like to be present for something this significant.”
GEORGIA SHOULD HAVE been stressed. She had a four-month-old baby who was still nursing around the clock and she was waiting on the results from the grueling exams she’d taken three weeks ago. She should be getting the results next Wednesday, but she wasn’t worried.
If anything, she was calm, and incredibly, ridiculously happy.
She loved Alek Panos so much that it made her heart ache, but what gave her even greater joy was seeing Nikos and Alek together. No one could soothe Alek like his father. Nikos had spent many a night pacing the nursery or rocking him in the big chair in the corner of their master bedroom.
Alek had been so small, being born early, but he was quickly putting on weight and was catching up with the crucial milestones.
Tomorrow they were baptizing him and they were hosting a small dinner at their house to celebrate afterward. Savannah would be there, of course, as she was Alek’s godmother, and they’d invited a few other people to join them, mostly Georgia’s friends from medical school, along with Mr. Laurent and his wife.
Who would have ever imagined that Mr. Laurent would become their friend, and even a surrogate grandfather to Alek?
Life was good, Georgia thought, lightly patting Alek’s back. He’d been nursing and had fallen asleep on the job. She smiled faintly, savoring the feel of him on her chest. He was so warm and sweet. She loved him to pieces...loved him so much she wondered now why she’d thought she wouldn’t be a good mother.
The door to the nursery opened, and Nikos entered.
Her heart gave a little jump as he smiled at her. She grinned back. It was impossible not to smile when she saw him. He made her so happy. He was her other half.
“Hey,” she whispered.
“He’s out?” Nikos asked.
She nodded. “He did pretty good. Hoping he got enough to get him through a good long nap.”
“Should I put him back in his crib?”
“I’m okay holding him. It feels good just to hold him. He’s getting bigger every day.”
“That’s good. He’s healthy.”
“I’m so grateful. He’s a blessing.” She dropped a light kiss on his tender head. “Everything okay?”
Nikos took a seat on the ottoman next to her feet. “Just a few days until you get your test results,” he said.
“I know.”
“Nervous?”
