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“No,” she cried. “They’re not happy tears.”

He reared back slightly. “You’re not happy about this? You don’t want to be with me.”

“No, I want to be with you! I’ve been the one saying that all along. I have feelings for you. You were the one that said you didn’t have them.”

“Right, and now I’m telling you that I do. I was in denial. I will be your man. And your Daddy.”

She sobbed even harder.

“I don’t understand why you’re crying. So damn confusing.”

“The tears are because I don’t want you to change. I love you the way you are, you . . . you emotionally-challenged idiot!”

Aimee was glaring at him as she spoke so it took a moment for his brain to compute that she was actually telling him that she loved him.

How could she be telling him she loved him while she was scowling and crying simultaneously?

Did she mean it? Did she love him? That was a whole other level. Did he even know what love was? How did she know she loved him?

“How do you know?”

“What?” she asked in confusion.

“How do you know you love me? Is it like some sort of switch inside you that flicks on and off? How do you know what it feels like?”

“I don’t really know. I guess it’s just knowing you can’t be without the other person. That your life would be less without them in it. That the sun wouldn’t shine as bright and the birds wouldn’t chirp as loud. If they weren’t in your life, you know you’d always feel empty.”

Empty? Yeah, he understood feeling empty. It seemed there might have always been a deep hole inside him. One that she filled.

She shrugged. “I guess it’s knowing that if you were to dream about them, then wake to find yourself alone there would be this painful rock on your chest, making it hard to breathe. Someone you love makes your life better. Being without them makes your life worse.”

Shit. So did that mean he loved her? He thought it might, because he realized that life was better with her around. Sure, there were parts of it he might not like.

He wasn’t particularly sure that all these ‘extra’ emotions were a good thing. They would likely make him less efficient, less able to do his job. However, he might be able to take care of her better, give her everything she needed from him.

So perhaps, in that way, it wasn’t a bad thing.

He couldn’t imagine life without her. His life had been pretty empty up until now . . . but he didn’t think he wanted to go back to that. So perhaps that meant he loved her too.

“I believe I love you as well.”

She blinked at him rapidly. “You really think that?”

“Yes, I do really think that. I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever felt love before, but that very closely describes how I feel about you.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyes wide. “Wow. I never expected to hear you say that. That’s . . . that’s . . . wow.”

Hmm. She seemed to be stuck in a bit of a loop.

“And your worry about changing me is ridiculous because all that has really changed is the way that I feel about you.”

“So you’re saying you love me, but your feelings toward other people and things haven’t changed. So you haven’t really changed?” Her voice was growing more croaky, and he could tell that she was getting tired. She needed to rest. The doctor was also due at any moment.

It was time to finish this up.

And then they shouldn’t have to discuss it again.

“Right,” he said. “I’m not going to suddenly go around loving everybody, or even caring about them. This change is just about you, so no more tears.”