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He turned toward her, cracking a bleary eye, and smiled.
“Am I dreaming?” he whispered.
“No…”
“I’m so glad you are here.”
“Me too,” she replied honestly, realizing that her apartment before never felt like home… not like this place. “Get some rest.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he smiled in exhaustion, closing his eyes again.
13
* * *
ERIS
“Hey,” Colton began in between bites of dinner and looking at her across the table. “I had a thought and wanted to run it past you.”
“Sure?” she replied idly, picking at the green beans on her plate and wishing she’d actually put a little more salt in them. They tasted bland and not smoky in the slightest despite the slices of bacon she’d put in there to flavor them.
“I was thinking that I’d work on the bathroom next,” he began slightly. “I picked out some tile, and it’s waiting in the garage to be installed… but I wanted your opinion before I did it.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
“Eris,” he sighed… and she chuckled, already aware of what he was about to say. He hated the noncommittal answers and always had – truthfully, she’d been distracted and got caught red-handed. Setting down her fork, she looked at him, smiling.
“Okay… okay,” she interrupted before he could start. “I would love to see the tile you chose for the bathroom – and maybe I could help? What are your plans for the bathroom? I noticed that the showerhead leaks, and there is a crack in the tile near the soap dish.”
“I wish it were just a crack,” he muttered and nodded. “I’m wanting to almost gut the entire thing. The showerhead is getting replaced, the handle, and all the backerboard because it’s gotten soft. I want to build an inset to hold shampoo and soap instead of using a soap dish.”
“That sounds like a good idea to me,” she hesitated. “So, what did you want to run past me?”
“Well, I thought maybe we’d make it a shower… instead of a tub – or we could replace the tub with something bigger,” he said evasively, looking away. “One of the guys had mentioned it a few weeks ago because I wanted to modernize the bathroom, but…”
“Zane’s evening bath.”
“Exactly.”
“He could take a shower. He’s getting old enough to…”
“What if we have more children someday, Eris?”
That softly spoken question said so much. There was a silence between them as they looked at each other, neither moving, and both waiting for something to happen. He was practically tossing it out there between them, planning for the future and asking her opinion, waiting for the fallout. While the idea of having another child seemed so strange, that was only because she hadn’t allowed herself to dream – until now.
Now, things were different in a way she never expected, and everything she could have wished for or asked for was there before her, waiting. She could have still been mad or upset, but what would that solve?
“When Zane was a baby,” she whispered, not looking away from Colton’s warm eyes. “I used to bathe him in the kitchen sink. There are plastic bathtubs you can buy to keep the child safe, but for me a sink worked best. I never bathed him in a tub until he was older.”
“If we took out the tub and put a glass wall… we’d have a large enclosure to shower in,” he said huskily – and she swallowed in awareness. “We could use river rock along the bottom, so no one slips. Maybe put some candles along the ledge and a towel warmer?”
“I see.”
“Does that sound like,” he began and cleared his throat nervously. “Does that sound like something you might like… someday?”
“It sounds, um, shower… yes,” she choked out erratically, feeling her cheeks flush. “That sounds awfully, um…”
“Yeah, it is.”
