All was well.
Finally, she forced herself to look away and headed off resolutely down the hallway. Because there was something she could do for Sarah. So she found the elevator that would take her down to the lobby, and out of the hospital.
*
Sarah checked the nurse’s station, the waiting room, even the women’s restroom for Emory. She was nowhere. The talk with her mother had only confirmed what she already knew and set her on her way. Her heart was beating rapidly in anticipation of everything she was ready to say.
It was time to put it all on the line.
The elevator chime snagged her attention and she turned as Carmen emerged carrying a giant balloon bouquet. When her eyes settled on Sarah, her face shifted to one of concern. “Hey, you. What’s up?”
Sarah nodded her head a few times too many with all the nervous energy that rushed through her. “Remember what we talked about in the park, about Emory?”
Carmen shifted her bag to the other shoulder and studied Sarah in confusion. “Yeah.”
“I think I’m ready to do that fighting thing you talked about.”
An extra wide smile broke out across Carmen’s face. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
“Any last-minute advice?”
“Say what’s in your heart. You can do this. I know you can. One of my all-time favorite quotes says ‘Life is like a movie. Write your own ending.’ And that’s what you’re going to do today.”
Sarah thought on this and brightened. “Who said that? I like it.”
“Kermit the Frog.” Carmen held up her hands in defense. “What can I say? I spend a lot of time with people under the age of ten. It still applies.”
Sarah laughed. “Now I just have to find her.”
Carmen gestured behind her. “She got off the elevator just as I got on. She had her keys in her hand.”
“Keys? But she didn’t even say good—” That’s when the horrible realization hit. “I have to go.” She took the stairs because elevators were unpredictable. Bad idea. After racing down the six flights, she was wildly out of breath and the parking lot was huge. She stood on a cement bench and scanned the rows of cars. There she was.
Not too late.
Write your own ending.
Encouraged by Kermit and the surefire fact that she loved Emory more than anything, she covered the distance to the car just as Emory was about to slide in.
“Em, wait. Don’t go. There’s something I need to say.”
Emory turned curiously and pointed at the hospital, tilting her head in question. “Did you just—”
“Yes, but that’s not important. Please just let me say what I need to say.”
Emory opened her mouth and then closed it again, seeming to honor the request.
“You can’t leave. I get why you walked away before, but I shouldn’t have let you. I should have told you that I love you. Because I do, love you, I mean. And I’m asking you to build a life with us, Emory, and to give me what I never knew I needed. I want to make plans with you and change them as we go. I want the fights and the day-to-day and the milestones and the make-up sex and all the snarls and tribulations that come with being together. It’s going to take work, and things are not always going to be perfect. But we’ll work on it. We’ll figure it out as a family.”
A soft smile appeared on Emory’s face as tears touched her eyes. “A family?”
Sarah nodded and took a step in. “Yeah. You, Grace, and me. We’re a team. So don’t go.”
Emory paused and slid a glance to her car and then back to Sarah. “So you don’t want the Whopper?”
“What?”
“Lunch. I was going to pick us up something to eat. A certain someone favors Burger King if I remember correctly.”
Sarah stared at Emory in confusion until the happy understanding settled. “You’re not fleeing the scene,” she breathed.
Emory covered the short distance that separated them, pulled Sarah in, and kissed her the way she’d imagined kissing her for the past six weeks. She sighed into perfection. “Nope.”
Sarah was cradling her face, and as much as she wanted to kiss her again, there were things she needed to address. “But there have to be terms.”
“Terms?” Sarah’s eyes widened. “Okay, what are the terms?”
“I love you.”
Sarah smiled, taking it in. “I think I can live with that one.”
“And you have to believe that I don’t fall in love with just anybody. In fact, I have very high standards and always have.” She picked up Sarah’s hand and threaded their fingers. “I happen to think that you are the most wonderfully smart, funny, and beautiful woman I have ever encountered. And I need you to accept that about yourself.”
It was Sarah’s eyes that filled then and her voice was meek. “I can do that. I can try and do that.”
They held each other’s gaze, the electricity between them already in full force. Emory’s voice was quiet and a small smile tentatively took shape on her face. “So we’re agreed?”
“We are.”
“One last thing.”
“All right.”
Emory took a breath and tilted her head sideways. “Can you say it again?”
Sarah smiled. “Emory, I love you. I don’t know why I thought it would be hard to say, because it’s not. I love who we are when we’re together and I love who I think we’re capable of becoming.”
“God, I love you too.” Emory squeezed Sarah’s hand. “And I’m so glad I thought to get the damn cheeseburgers.” They both laughed and there was only one thing left to do. Her eyes dropped languidly to Sarah’s lips as she moved in ever so slightly. “We should probably shake on it or something.”
Sarah leaned in and hovered just shy of Emory’s mouth, her voice a near whisper. “Or something. But once we do this, it’s binding. No going back. Got it?”
“Only forward.” As their lips met, Emory felt her world right itself and she sank into the kiss. What they were embarking upon was scary. But she couldn’t let that take precedence anymore. This, right here in her arms, was what mattered. The last few days had shown her that. Connection to another person, in a life where nothing was guaranteed, was more precious than anything. The details all seemed so much smaller in comparison.
As they stood there in the parking lot, the early afternoon continued all around them. Pedestrians bustled, and cars whizzed past, the midday rush hour in full effect. But Emory barely noticed. She was too busy dreamily kissing the woman she loved.
It was a moment. It was the moment.
Chapter Seventeen
It was the first week of December and as tradition dictated, Sarah had spent the entire Saturday baking cookies with the kids at her parents’ house. Carmen had helped and in good news, her boys had been less than destructive, only starting two food fights this year. Needless to say, it had been a day.
The kids had long since retreated to the backyard for marshmallow roasting with their Uncle Danny, a part of the cookie baking tradition Grace always looked forward to. A Johnny Mathis Christmas carol drifted in from the living room. Sarah looked around the kitchen at their masterful work and offered Carmen an exhausted high five. “I’d say we conquered cookieland.”
“Cookieland had no hope.” Next to them on the counter sat a stack of coconut macaroons, next to a platter of peanut butter reindeer, alongside colorfully decorated sugar cookies in the shapes of bells, stars, and remarkably accurate cutouts of Santa Claus himself. “Prisoners of war,” Carmen mused. “I think we’ve earned a hot toddy.”