“Yes.” I looked up, scanned his eyes, trying to see if I could read something more—guilt, innocence, fear. I only saw Josh, my Josh, the man who loved me. That hadn’t changed.
“Where’ve you been?” I asked.
Josh let me go to jog across the room, picking up the white sack he’d dropped. It was from JayWok. “You said on the phone last night that you were craving noodles.”
“For breakfast?”
He gestured to the leftover Alfredo on my plate. “Looks like I was right.”
I breathed out a laugh. “Touché.”
He shrugged. “I think it’s kind of romantic.”
I fought a smile. That was the first thing Josh had said to me after the crash, the response that had started it all. “But they’re not open for another hour.”
“I called in a favor.”
“They owed you a favor?”
“We’re good customers. What did you want to talk to me about?”
I glanced at the plate, and then back at him. On our wedding day, I had promised to trust him, just like he’d promised to love only me. He was happy about our baby. I couldn’t jump to conclusions.
“I just wanted to talk to you about your schedule, to see when a good time was to schedule the ultrasound.”
“I work nights, baby. You schedule one, and I’ll be there.”
I hugged him tight, pressing my cheek against his chest. “We’re going to be parents, Josh.”
He exhaled. “No, we’re going to be amazing parents. I was thinking that maybe … maybe we should look into buying a house.”
I leaned back. “We can’t afford a house.”
“If I sold the Barracuda, we would have most of the down payment for something small in the suburbs. We’d get a tax break. It’s doable.”
“How would you get to work?”
He shrugged. “Quinn.”
My nose wrinkled. “Quinn is going to drive to Haddonfield?”
Josh twisted his face, unhappy. “Haddonfield? I was thinking more like Devon or Blue Bell.”
I glared at him.
He held out his hands and let them slap to his thighs. “Okay, Cherry Hill.”
“You want to move to Jersey?” My voice rose an octave, and I rubbed my temple, feeling another headache coming on.
“Okay, don’t stress. We don’t have to talk about it right now. But if I find a nice house in a nice neighborhood … will you think about it?”
I sighed. “I’m already working fifty to sixty hours a week, Josh.”
“I know,” he said, unhappy.
“We don’t have enough saved up, not even if you sell your car, and the stress of only having one vehicle for a family of three …”
“Okay,” he said, gently holding my arms. “Deep breath. I’ll make a list and crunch numbers. If it doesn’t make sense, we’ll stay put.”
“I know you want all the best things for the baby. I do, too. But can we not change everything on day one?”
“Right. You’re right. Too soon. I’ll take care of it. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
I nodded. “Thank you.” I looked down at my cold plate of food, placed it in the microwave, and closed the door.
“Sorry there’s not more left.” He held up the sack with a small smile. “But you have noodles.”
“Oh yeah,” I said, reaching for the sack. I looked at him, unable to stop my mouth from forming the words. “So, Hope liked your Alfredo?”
He shrugged, pulling out the box of noodles from the sack. “She scarfed it down like a starving mule. It was kind of gross.”
“When? Did you take her some?”
He slid the box toward me, handing me the long plastic package of chopsticks. “Her baby was wailing. The guy in 2E was screaming shut up down the hall. It was bad. I felt sorry for her. I’d made a whole pan, and you were still at work, so I brought her some and rocked her baby. He cried for like … I dunno, two hours. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get home before you did.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Before I did?”
He sighed, thinking. “Yeah, I went over there at like three and finally got home around four.”
“You were in her apartment at three in the morning?”
He cringed. “Well, yeah. I was up. You weren’t home. Toby had been crying for an hour. I thought I could help. He likes me.”
“He likes you.”
Josh looked around, confused. “Yeah.”
“How do you know he likes you? Did he tell you?”
He chuckled. “No, baby, he’s five months old. Hope told me.”
I lifted my chin, my jaw moving to the side. “Of course she did.”
“I promise it’s not like that. Not even close.”
“It’s inappropriate for you to be in a single woman’s apartment in the middle of the night. Don’t you see that? And you brought her my favorite meal? Really? Neither of you even leave any for me!” My head began to throb.
“Avery,” Josh began, watching me massage my forehead. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have eaten any if I knew—”
“That’s not the fucking point!”
“Okay,” he said quickly.
I took a deep breath and then picked up the empty plate. “She brought this by today. She thought I would be at work. I’m a woman, Josh. I work with dozens of women. I saw it in her eyes. She’s not your friend. She is looking for a baby daddy.”
“C’mon, Avery, that’s not fair.”
“You’re a daddy. But Toby isn’t your baby.”
“Exactly,” Josh said, reaching out for me. “We’re having a baby. I don’t want her,” he said, frowning at the door. He touched my belly, running his hand over the fabric of my tank top. He kissed the corner of my mouth and then leaned down, kissing my neck. “You have the day off.”
“Until five.”
“Eat, and then let’s go to bed.”
My lips formed a hard line and I looked away, trying to stay mad. I knew he wasn’t cheating, but going to her apartment had been stupid. “No.”
Josh ran his tongue up the skin of my neck, stopping on my earlobe, taking it gently in his teeth. He pulled away, kissing the skin he’d left behind. “I want you. Only you, since the first time you were in my arms.”
I looked up at him, and he kissed me, opening his mouth. I did the same, allowing his tongue inside. I touched each side of his face, feeling his hand under my tank top, holding his palm against my belly.
“You’re my family, Avery. This baby is our family.” He shook his head. “There is nothing more important than that.”
I smiled, and he turned to the box of noodles, opening the lid. Steam rolled up into the air, and my stomach growled.
I unwrapped the chopsticks, pulling them apart, and then tore into the noodles. “Oh my God,” I hummed. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
“Feed that baby,” Josh said with a smile. “He’s going to be a tank.”
“Or she. Dr. Weaver wants an ultrasound scheduled around thirteen weeks. We might be able to find out then,” I said with a mouthful.
“That’s hot. I’m not sure I can wait to get you in bed until after you finish,” he teased.
“If you try to take this food away from me, the least of your worries will be hearing me talk with my mouth full.”
Josh held up his hands, taking a step back. “It was a joke, baby. I can help you if you want.” Josh picked up a few noodles, and I leaned my head back, opening my mouth wide. I giggled while he missed more than twice, and then finally lowered the long strips into my mouth.
Once I finished breakfast, I washed my face and brushed my teeth, and then I crawled into bed next to my husband. His body was at least ten degrees warmer when he was in bed, and every inch of my skin touching his formed a thin sheen of sweat.
“We’ve got to turn on the air conditioner,” I said.
Josh lifted his head, looking at me in disbelief. “Really?”
“Really. Can you? Please?”
“You know I’m not going to argue with that. I’m going to enjoy your pregnancy. I can already tell.”
“Pregnant,” I breathed as he hurried to the thermostat. He dialed to the right, the AC kicked on, and he jogged back to bed, snuggling with me under the sheet.