Olive snorted and shook her head, her smile turning rueful. “You and I have always struggled with this, haven’t we? It’s always kept us apart. Our insecurities, I mean.” She shook her head. “Levon, you’re not the only one who struggles with... us. I don’t think I’ve gotten through a single day since you’ve been back without doubting myself, and wondering if you found me attractive, and if so, why—”
“Not attractive?” This was too much. Before he could rethink his actions, Levon set his gift on the bassinet and crossed to her, pulling Olive into his arms, as close as possible with the baby between them. “I wish you could see how beautiful you are to me,” he murmured into her hair. “Every time I look at you, I feel like I’m looking at a miracle. It’s been that way since high school.”
“I feel the same way about you, Levon,” she said, hugging him back just as fiercely. “I mean, you know I love you too, right?”
He did now. Levon drew back and grinned. “Was hoping you’d say that.”
After a sweet, slow kiss, he pulled back and grabbed the gift he’d brought, handing it to Olive and watching with delight as she tore it open. “Oh, Levon! Thank you!”
It was the mobile she’d bought, the fancy one with all the planets and galaxies and stuff on it. He’d spent the whole night last night putting it together for her.
“I knew it was your favorite thing and couldn’t imagine the baby’s room without it.” He indicated the bedding lining the crib: a dark blue sprinkled with reflective stars and swirls of silver.
“True.” Olive thrust the mobile at him excitedly. “Here. Help me put it up. The ladder’s in the hall closet. Grab it, will you?”
“Sure thing.” He did as she asked, then returned to set it up. Once he was done, he stepped down off the ladder to admire his handiwork. “There. Nursery complete.”
“Oh. Wait,” Olive said, holding up a finger as she backed out of the room. “There’s one more thing.”
Moments later she returned to plug something into the electrical socket in the wall, then stepped back to reveal the nightlight they’d made together a few weeks prior. His heart swelled at the memory and at all the possibilities of new memories to come. Olive smiled up at him as he gathered her into his arms once more. The room sprang to life around them: dark, dreamy, and full of promise. Levon watched the stars scatter across the walls, and watched the planets spin, as he held Heaven in his arms.
“But what about your job with the Soldiers of Fortune?” she asked after a moment. “Don’t you have to live in Arlington for that?”
“Maybe,” he said, sighing. “We’re still working everything out. Is that a deal-breaker for you?”
Olive squeezed him tight and buried her face in his chest before answering. “No. I’d go anywhere, as long as I’m with you.”
“You wouldn’t miss your students?” he asked, kissing the top of her head. “I know you love that school.”
Olive beamed up at him, taking her hand in his and placing them atop her baby bump. “I love you and our baby even more. And I can still keep in touch with my students no matter where we live. My future’s with you.”
Levon bent to kiss her again, filled with so much love he felt like he might burst with it. “And you, Olive Owen, are my future.”
20
“‘It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…’”
“Really, Levon! Don’t you think that book’s a little too advanced for her?” an amused voice interrupted behind him.
Levon turned, and saw his gorgeous wife slanting her gorgeous frame in the nursery doorway. Despite Olive’s words, he could see her silent laugh in the way her mouth curved.
“Well, I thought little Allie and I would get a head start.” Levon returned his attention to the infant girl, equally gorgeous, sleeping soundly in the curved cradle of his right arm. “I want her to attack reading the way I never did. I don’t want her to ever be afraid of it.”
“But Dickens?” Olive wondered. “Do you really think she’ll retain…? Oh. Ha. Ha.” Levon had turned again while she was talking, and raised the copy of The Cat in the Hat he was reading from. “You knew I was here the whole time.”
“Can’t sneak up on a SEAL, baby.”
Olive scoffed, but had no argument for that truism. She crossed into the room and joined the other two members of her new family on the rug. Their new house in Arlington was much bigger than her house back in Harper’s Forge. Perfect for a future growing family, Levon had said. She reached out and tweaked one of Allie’s tiny little feet. “How is she doing?”
“Snug as a bug in a rug.”
“Well, now that I know she’s so intellectually advanced, maybe I’ll wait to share my news until she’s awake so the both of you can appreciate what it means,” Olive teased.
Levon’s heart nearly stopped at what he thought her words hinted at. “Don’t you dare,” he said. “And don’t make me wrestle you for it. You know I will. I’ll put Allie in her cradle, and I’ll—”
“Okay, okay! Yeesh!” Olive laughed again, but Levon saw the uncontainable excitement lighting her eyes as she withdrew a letter from her pocket. He traded her for Allie, watching his wife draw their daughter into her arms; but the beautiful sight didn’t distract him for long. He unfolded the piece of paper and scanned down the lines
