Fall From India Place

EPILOGUE

October

Breathe, Hannah.

Breathe.

I sucked in a giant gulp of air and almost choked on it.

My whole body was shaking and no matter how much I tried to push back the fear, it kept surging forth, attempting to wrap its clawed hand around my throat. My gaze bored into the door to my flat as I waited for Marco to come home.

We’d finally decided it made more sense for him to move in with me, and thankfully Dylan had been okay with that, particularly because he had fun picking out all the stuff for his new room. That had only been six weeks ago, the weekend before I started back at school.

It was fast. We knew that. We’d been together less than a year, but considering our history and the fact that we loved each other to pieces, it was the right move for us.

It didn’t feel fast.

This… this was fast.

And this… this was…

Terrifying.

I didn’t know if I could do it.

The key turned in the lock.

Marco walked in, his head came up, and as soon as he saw me standing there, with the petrified expression on my face, he closed the door. “What’s going on?” he asked, his eyes dark with concern.

I was so close to upchucking where I stood.

Pale, feeling the tingles of nausea on my cheeks, I fought for some control. “My period is really late.” I held up the pregnancy test, my hand visibly shaking.

Marco’s eyes flew from the test to my face, and then suddenly I was in his arms. He could feel me trembling hard and his muscles tightened around me. “It’s going to be okay,” he told me in his quiet, controlled voice. “Baby, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I fought the burn of tears in my throat. “It must have been when I went off the pill to take those tablets for the sickness bug I caught on holiday. I knew we shouldn’t have had sex when I was feeling better,” I murmured absentmindedly.

“We don’t know anything yet, right?” He pulled back to look into my face, and what he saw there made his features taut. “Hannah, don’t look like that. It kills me.”

My lips quivered as I tried to smile. I didn’t pull it off. “I’m scared. I’m trying not to be.”

He cupped my face in his hands. “It’s understandable, but I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. You know that.”

Nodding my head again, I clutched him more tightly. “I should take the test so we know for sure.”

“Hannah, what’s going on in there?” Marco rapped impatiently on the bathroom door.

I’d flushed the toilet seconds before I’d thrown up so he wouldn’t hear me being sick. I flushed the toilet again and stood on shaky legs. Marco rapped on the door once more while I brushed my teeth, avoiding the strained, pale face in the mirror that I didn’t recognize.

Finally, once I looked as good as I could, I opened the door. He forced it open all the way so he could yank me out of the bathroom and into his arms. “Well?” he asked, his voice deeper, rougher than usual as he stroked my hair off my face.

My lips felt numb. “Test says I’m pregnant,” I whispered.

He didn’t even blink. “We’ll get you in to see the doctor tomorrow, we’ll get it confirmed, and then we’ll get it all checked out to make sure everything is okay.”

I looked away, fighting the panic that was rising again swiftly on the heels of the last wave of it. “I don’t know if I’m brave enough.”

The little shake he gave me brought my gaze back to his. “You are. You know you are.”

“This is too fast.”

He gave me a reassuring smile. “You think Dylan wasn’t? But Leah and I dealt with it. You and I have dealt with it. You don’t think we can handle another kid?” He squeezed my waist and through my panic I sensed his quiet excitement. “This is our kid, Hannah.”

I raised my shaking hands and laid them on his chest. “If our kid doesn’t kill me, we’re getting married.”

Marco scowled. “You have a sick sense of humor.”

“I either joke and get through this or I start to cry.”

He considered the ultimatum and gave a sharp nod. “Sick sense of humor it is, then.”

I tried my best at a brave nod in acknowledgment of his acquiescence and I pulled away. “Do you want a coffee? I need tea.” I began to make my way slowly down the hallway.

I was just at the kitchen door when he called my name.

“Yeah?” I turned around, feeling exhausted. I quickly grew alert, however, at the dark intensity in Marco’s eyes. He often looked at me like that when we were making love.

He took a step toward me. “Kid or no kid… this is us forever, and you’re right, we should make that official.” Another step closer. “Marry me.”

The panic retreated along with my breath. “Is that a request or a demand?” I asked breathlessly, laughter in the words.

Marco’s lips curled up at the corners. “A little of both.”

I cocked my head to the side, contemplating him with mischief in my eyes. That he could make me feel this way when I also felt so worried about the future was one of the reasons I loved him. “If you’d asked me when I was seventeen I would have given my parents both a heart attack by saying yes.”

“And now?”

I shrugged and began to turn away. “I’ll think about it.”

Two seconds later I was hauled into his arms, laughing as he growled, “I’ll think about it?” against my mouth.

I nodded, wrapping my arms around his neck to hold on to him.

“Think fast.” He nipped at my lip.

“Okay, okay…”

“Hannah,” Marco warned.

Standing on my tiptoes, I brushed my lips against his ear and whispered, “I’ll say yes. I promise.”

“Then say it now,” he whispered back.

“You’re my best friend.”

“Hannah.”

“Always have been. Always will be.” I pulled back to hold his handsome face in my hands.

“I’ll take that as your yes,” he replied, his voice hoarse with emotion.

Letting all my feelings of tender affection and love shine out of my eyes, I grinned. “You always were good at reading me.”

He kissed me, pulling back only to look me deep in the eyes. Understanding passed silently between us. We could do this.

It hadn’t been an easy journey to here. We’d tried to fly numerous times since meeting each other, and we’d fallen more times than we liked to count. That was life.

Flying and falling.

Next week, for all we knew, we could very well fall, but in that moment, we were happy because we knew with certainty that if we fell… together, we’d get back up to try again.