Chapter 71

"How good is your insurance?" she said, barraging me with questions. "How much does it pay? What's your deductible? When does your lease end?"

"Why are you asking me this?" I cried out and pulled away from her. "I don't know!"

"Because I love you!" she shouted, sounding just as afraid as I was. There were tears in her eyes, too. "I love you, Paige. And I'm not going to let you get away or kick me out of your life!"

We fell into each other's arms.

For the past two months, I had waited to hear those words from her. Some days it was all I could do not to shout my love for this woman from a hilltop somewhere, but I thought it would only scare her away. To hear her tell me that she loved me was the final piece. It told me she was truly and completely ready for whatever the future held.

"I love you, too, McKayla," I couldn't keep it in any longer.

Burying my head in her shoulder, I started to cry again, but she grabbed me by the hair and brought my mouth to hers. It was a few minutes before she let me up for air.

"Now come on, honey. Let's go home," McKayla pulled me to my feet and picked up the duffel bag. "We'll cancel your lease and get the rest of your stuff moved later."

"You don't have to do all this," I said. She was taking control and for that I was grateful. The past six hours had left me dazed. How McKayla could have been blindsided and keep a cool head was beyond me.

"You're right," she replied. "I don't have to. But I want to. And the first thing we're going to do is move you and that baby of yours out of this apartment and into a clean house that's away from noisy neighbours and moldy cabinets."

She took my hands in hers. "Paige, I don't know what to do. I'm faking it right now. But I know that I want you in my life. These past two months ... this is as happy as I've ever been, and it's all because of you. We'll ... we'll figure the rest out later. Together."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," McKayla whispered. "As long as you want me, I'm yours. Baby or no baby. I need you."

"I can't ask you to raise my child," I told her.

"I won't," her reply made my blood run cold. For just a second. "I'll raise our child. I've always wanted a baby ... And I've always wanted that one person in my life who was my soulmate. It looks like now I've got both."

"What about Travis?" I asked, hesitant to even say his name. "What if he wants—"

"Don't tell him," McKayla said sharply. "Not unless you want him to know. That's up to you, though."

In truth, what my lover had told me earlier was true. I couldn't afford to raise this child on my own. My fuck buddy, for all his faults, had a good job and the child support he could pay would help me out immensely. It would only mean being connected with him for the rest of my life.

McKayla must have seen my brain working on this when she spoke. "If it's only about the money, he doesn't need to know. I'll support you if I have to. I make more than enough for both of us."

"That's asking too much of you," I said softly.

She squeezed my hands. "Everything I have is yours, Elven Princess. All you have to do is ask."

"I can't," I muttered. This was overwhelming. The room started to spin. McKayla sat me down on the couch again.

"Here's what we're going to do right now," she said once the dizziness passed. "We're going to my house. I'm going to draw you a nice hot bath and fix you something good to eat. Then we're both going to call off work tomorrow, move some of your stuff and get everything straightened out on my insurance."

"Your insurance?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"Yes, I'm sure it's better than yours," McKayla replied. It probably was.

"Don't you have to be ... um, you know?" I stammered.

She smiled, as if to let me in on a secret. "Our company covers same-sex partners."

"But do they cover pre-existing conditions?" My head was swimming. "After all, this baby isn't exactly—"

"I had you added to my insurance last month," she said as my jaw dropped. "I, um ... didn't want to tell you because I thought it might scare you ... I've been waiting for the right time..."

"McKayla..." That was all I could get out before the words failed me.

"I love hearing you say my name." She kissed me tenderly.

"I love saying it," I told her. "And I love you."

"Let's go home," my lover—my soulmate—said. Then she took my hand and led me to my new life.