“It’s so nice to meet you, Will. I must say, if you’re trying to win points for coming and meeting Emily, you’ve definitely done that.” She laughed and I wasn’t sure how to take it. I was so f**king nervous.
“I’m not trying to win points. I just . . . I wanted to see her.”
“He’s nervous,” Audrey said and Maria nodded as Emily squirmed in her arms, trying to reach for the balloons that hovered out of her reach.
“Boons! Boons!” Her cries were getting more desperate and I was terrified she was going to cry, so I yanked on the balloon strings to bring them down to her level.
“Here you go,” I said. How did you talk to a kid? Women were always using baby voices, but that seemed weird and almost patronizing. I mean, she was a baby, not an idiot.
“Boons!” she yelled again, trying to hug one, but it slipped out of her grip.
“Yes, balloons. Let’s take them into the living room so we can all sit down.” Maria led the way and I followed, still holding the balloons so they didn’t float upward again.
“You’re her new favorite person,” Maria said as she sat down on the couch with Emily. I let Audrey sit next to her and I sat on the other side.
“That’s what I told him, but he didn’t believe me,” Audrey said. “Hi, Emily.” She leaned down and waved at Emily, who was still trying to hug one of the balloons and not succeeding.
“Do you remember Audrey? She brought you the bear last time. Can you say hi?” Maria said to Emily, who looked up at her, furrowing her forehead in the cutest way. It reminded me of how Aud looked when she was writing a paper and it wasn’t going well.
Emily finally cracked the biggest baby smile.
“A-wee!” She held her little hands out and tumbled into Audrey’s lap.
“A-wee,” she said, putting her little arms around Aud’s neck.
And that was when I cried.
Maria just handed me a tissue without a word as Aud set Emily down on the floor and they started playing.
“There must be some ninjas cutting onions somewhere in this room,” I said as I wiped my eyes.
“It’s probably allergies,” Maria said with a smile.
“Probably.”
I was able to keep my crying to a minimum and I even got down on the floor to play with Emily as Maria and Audrey talked. Eddie came about an hour after we got there, looking tired.
“Well, if you’re modest, don’t donate bone marrow. They want to know everything about everything and they ask it five times. They also take enough blood to feed a starving vampire. He rubbed his forearm and grimaced, but his face lit up when he saw Emily.
“Hey girl, hey,” he said in a soft voice. He crouched down and waved to her.
“Say hi to Eddie, Emily,” Maria said. Emily looked surprised that there were so many people watching her.
“Eddie,” she finally said. He held his hand out and she smacked it with hers.
“Good job, kid.”
“Emily, can you say Will?” Maria said.
Emily looked confused so I pointed to myself.
“Will.” Then I pointed to Audrey and said her name, and then to Eddie.
“Will,” I said, pointing to myself again. I could see the wheels turning in her head. She was smart like her mother. And her father, from the sounds of it.
“Wi,” she finally said and I gave her a high five. She said it again, a huge smile on her face. I gave her another high five.
“Here we go again,” Maria said, sighing.
“Wi! Wi!” Emily shrieked. I would never, ever get tired of hearing that.
Watching both Eddie and Will with Emily made my heart feel so full, I was sure at any moment it would burst.
Despite my best efforts to derail my own life, things had come around and were okay. Better than okay. I couldn’t remember ever being this deliriously happy. We weren’t out of the woods yet with Emily, but I knew, just as I knew the first time I met Will that I would fall for him, that she would be okay. I had absolute faith.
I also knew that things with me and Eddie were always going to be a little complicated, but he had a good heart and we’d work through them. And he would always be the guy who saved Emily’s life. Always.
And Will. My glorious Will. The guy who stood by my side through everything. The one who lit up my life like a disco ball and made me feel things I didn’t want to let myself feel. He was still here, making Star Wars jokes and rambling when he got nervous and being kind not because he knew he should, but because that was just who he was. We had decided to move in together next year. There was couple’s housing on campus, and if we both worked hard this summer, we could afford it. Simon and Brady were also going to be shacking up together, even though they denied it. We could all read between the lines.
My life, which had once seemed so bleak was full of sunshine and light and laughter and love. Always love. So much love I had.