don’t understand.’
‘Well, it might seem a little odd to your family and everyone at the hospital if you put your rings on and we continue living in separate homes, don’t you think?’
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed herself against him. ‘Yes. It would. If you’re thinking of coming to live at my place, I have to warn you that it’s not as fancy as our flat in London, and—’
‘It will be perfect, Anna. Just like you.’
With that he led her into the kitchen and stopped in front of the rubbish bin. Pushing the foot pedal, he waited until the top lifted all the way up. ‘It’s not as impressive as sending them up in a puff of smoke, but it’ll be just as permanent. Once this lid falls, I don’t want to mention these papers ever again.’
‘Deal. But let’s both do it.’ She held one side of the envelope, while Max kept hold of the other end. Then they dropped it, along with all the hurts from the past, right where they belonged. Where they could never again poison their relationship.
Max released the pedal and let the lid drop back into place. ‘Maybe in a couple of years we could move back to London. Or talk about adoption.’
‘Adoption? You’d be okay with that?’
‘As long as you are. I know with your sister—’
‘I’m definitely open to that option.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘You might even be able to talk me into going on a medical mission, just like we used to dream about.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Yes. I want to see what you’ve seen. Walk where you’ve walked. And I know that, this time, we’ll be right in step with each other.’
He turned her until she faced him. ‘I would be honoured to work alongside you, Mrs Ainsley.’
‘And I, you.’
‘How long before you have to be at Teddy’s?’
She glanced at her watch. ‘I have about two hours. I wasn’t sure how long this was going to take or what state I would be in by the end of it.’
‘Hmm... I think I might be able to answer both of those questions.’ He gripped her hand and started leading her through the living room. ‘This will take just about two hours...or however long you have left. And as for the state you’ll be in by the end of it—I’m hoping you’ll be in a state of undress and that you’ll be very, very satisfied.’
‘That sounds wonderful.’ She caught up with him and put her arm around his waist. ‘As for the satisfied part, I can’t think of how I could be any more satisfied than I am at this very moment.’
They went through the bedroom door and he pushed it shut behind them. ‘In that case, I plan to keep you that way for the rest of your life.’
ON EITHER SIDE of her, a small hand clutched hers as she walked slowly towards the waiting plane. After a ton of paperwork and countless trips to their solicitor’s office, Annabelle and Max finally had their answer. Two boys with special needs were on their way to a brand-new life on a brand-new continent. Ready to join their sister, who was being cared for by Annabelle’s mum.
Six months after Hope’s surgery, the baby had come home to live with Annabelle and Max. The same solicitor who had handled this adoption had done a bit of digging and found a similar case where a preemie baby had been adopted by her nurse. It was enough to convince the courts that Hope belonged with them. Now two years old, she was growing and thriving and had brought such joy into their lives.
She glanced to the side where Max was making the final arrangements for the flight back to England. He stood tall and proud, no sign of the angry, frustrated man who’d walked out of her door all those years ago. And Annabelle had finally made her peace with never having a biological child. If it happened, it happened.
They’d compromised on that front. Max had agreed to not using birth control—with a sexy smile as they’d lain in bed after making love one night—and she’d agreed not to seek extraordinary means to have a child.
The life they now had was enough. More than enough.
Max meant the world to her. As did Hope, who had given them the best Christmas gift of all: a chance to rekindle their romance and to fix what was broken between them.
And now these two small gifts had come into their lives, both with heart defects that had needed surgery. Max and Annabelle had met Omar and Ahmed on a brief Doctors Without Borders trip they’d made four months earlier. A colleague of Max’s had performed the surgeries and Annabelle had fallen in love. With those two boys, and with Max all over again. His selfless need to help ease the suffering of others had been more than evident. Then and now.
They’d both vowed to communicate. And they’d learned how with the help of a counsellor right after they’d moved into Annabelle’s home. At the end of the process, Max had promised to stick with her no matter what. As had she.
‘Baba anakuja!’ said Omar, and he gripped her hand even tighter.
Annabelle glanced up, her eyes watering to see that ‘Papa’ was indeed coming towards them. It was the first time one of the boys had referred to Max that way, and she envisioned many more years of it as they all grew to know one another even more.
He came and stood in front of her, his gaze searching her face. ‘You’re sure this is okay?’
‘Do you even need to ask? Hope will be so happy to finally meet them. So will the rest of the family.’
Glancing down at the two kids flanking her, he then leaned in and kissed her, his lips warm with promise. A small giggle burst from Ahmed at the PDA.
‘It means we’ll have even less privacy.’ He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, the gesture making her smile.
‘No, it just means we’ll have to be more inventive.’
‘More? I don’t see how that’s possible.’ Luckily the kids didn’t have a strong grasp of English yet, but they would learn. Just as they would learn about their own heritage, possibly even returning to Africa one day to give back to their culture.
‘You’ll just have to wait and see. I have some ideas.’
Max leaned in and kissed her again. ‘I think we’d better leave this topic of conversation for another time, or I’m going to be pretty uncomfortable on the trip home.’
Home.
Max had explained how seeing their wedding photo on her parents’ wall had made something inside him shift, had made him realise he still loved her.
That picture now hung over their bed as a reminder of what they stood to lose. It was something that Annabelle kept in mind each and every day.
There were no more jokes about getting pregnant. She knew just how painful a subject it was, and she was more than willing to leave it behind.
