"Play for me."
"I thought you'd never ask." Blake kisses me just below my ear, and I hear it. Hear it! I hear that precious kiss. I can't stop marveling at the beauty life held back like a well-kept secret, but now I'm in on it. And I'll be eating it up the rest of my days, one delicious sound at a time. The audiologist ran his test once things calmed down this afternoon and said I have moderate to good hearing. It's not perfect, but it is to me. A part of me still prefers to read lips if I can. Everything sounds so foreign, so ironically difficult to process.
Blake and I snuggle up on the bed as he pulls the heavily veneered guitar over his lap.
Blake strums his fingers over the strings, and the room explodes with a heavenly light. "Oh, Annie-" His voice is melodic and low as tears spontaneously blur my vision. I've melted. I've drowned in that sweet, curling melody. "Look who's in love with you … "
I close my eyes and lay my head to his chest, hearing, feeling, absorbing the notes as they plume from Blake's mouth. Perfection. Blake Daniels is just that-perfect.
"This old boy thought he lost his mind when you got up and left, but you're back in my arms where you belong. Oh, Annie-look what you do to me. My heart is racing-can't catch my breath. Forever isn't long enough, but it's all that's left. Sweet Annie."
I pull his face to mine as he carefully places his guitar to the floor. "That was by far more amazing than I ever could have imagined. You sound like a god." I shake my head, overwhelmed hearing his voice configure into a thing of beauty like that for me. "When we went out that first night at the Black Bear, I thought how could this gorgeous creature possibly be interested in me? And then later I wondered why on earth a musician would care to have a deaf girlfriend. But you kept coming for me. You kept showering me with attention-with those heady kisses-and it all became real. You wanted me. I couldn't understand it, but I could feel it."
"I still want you, Annie." He pulls me into his lap. "I know I have my hands full with Ben, but I want you by my side for the rest of my life. In fact, if you weren't in it, my heart would grieve for you just as much as it does for Benji." His chest pumps with a quiet laugh. "Okay, more." He raises his hand a moment. "Sorry, Ben."
"Well, then." I twist until I'm lying in his lap, pulling him down by the neck. "Good luck trying to get rid of me. In fact, I was thinking that on weekends I could spend some extra time at the carriage house with you and the baby."
He cocks his head to the side, hopeful. "As in spend the night?"
"As in spend the night."
"Yes." He closes his eyes in victory. "You're welcome anytime." Blake pulls me up and works off my jeans. "There's a special thank you I'd like to give, but I think I can say it best if we're both naked."
"Really? I guess this is my chance to hear it for the first time," I tease. "Do you know what I do best when we're both naked?"
Blake unhooks my bra, and it sails across the room. We share a laugh as he pins me with his limbs.
"I think I know firsthand what you do best when we're both naked." His cheeks twitch. Blake redefines gorgeous on an alien level.
"Oh, yeah?" I pull my legs over his back as he reaches for a condom. "What's your guess?"
"Me."
He dots my lips with a juicy, loud kiss, and the pit of my stomach quivers with lust. This man has me, so thoroughly, so completely I don't care to know the world without him.
"I was going to say you, too. But that's because you make me feel like a woman, Blake. You've never made me feel less in any way, and I want to thank you for that."
"The only way to thank me is by landing those perfect lips over mine every single day until I'm no longer on this planet. It's only fair." Blake's expression grows serious as he lies over me with the weight of his chest. He leans in and whispers right into my ear, "I'm going to marry you someday, Annie Edwards. I'm going to make you mine."
My heart gives a wild thump at the quasi-proposal.
"I'm already yours." I outline his lips with my finger. "And I can't wait to be a family with you and Ben."
"You already are. We wouldn't have it any other way."
Blake rolls on his condom, and I hear it. It's the strangest gurgle, and it makes that incessant giggle go off in my chest again. It's amazing that every little detail, every little thing gives birth to a sound. I marvel as he crumples the wrapper, and it sails off the bed right into the trashcan.
"He shoots, he scores." A devilish smile rides on his lips as he guides himself into my body.
"He scores indeed." I take a bite out of his lip.
"That's what I'm talking about." His chest vibrates over mine, and it feels like home. Blake pushes in deep and moves inside of me slow and easy as if it were our first time, and, in a way, it is. Blake and I make love until well past midnight. Our moans, his wild thunderous groans, sound just as incredible as it's always felt. He dives down and loves me with his mouth until I'm right there with him. The sound of my panting catches me off guard as I climax into him. A shrill cry escapes my throat as my body shakes over the bed. I cage him between my legs a moment before pulling him up by the hair.
"Is that what I've sounded like?" I'm curious because I never thought I made a squeak.
"Nope, you were a bit toned down." He peppers my face with hot, wet kisses. "I like this new version. I love hearing you come for me. Never stop making that beautiful sound." He pushes a careful kiss against my ear. "I love you so much. I thank God for you every day, Annie." I pull back, and my mouth falls open.
It's that last part that feels familiar. I've felt those same vibrations against my ear each time we finish, and now the last piece to the puzzle has fallen into place. Mystery solved.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"Nope, it's just that I've always wondered what you said when you whispered in my ear, and now I know. I never wanted you to stop, so I never asked. I loved that you felt the need to do that. It made me feel like a part of your world. And now, tonight, I am." I pull him back over me and blink back tears. "I thank God for you every day, too."
Blake and I lie in bed and whisper sweet nothings to each other for hours.
And I hear every beautiful word.
* * *
Once we get back to Hollow Brook, Blake takes me on one adventure after another-a listening tour of the world he calls it. We drive to the four corners of the earth while Blake holds the final location close to the vest.
"Why is it such a secret? Just give me one hint."
"Okay." He winces in his reluctance. "It's something I promised you that first night we went for coffee, and I still haven't made good on it."
My mind tries to reel back our conversations from that night, but I keep coming up empty. However, I trust Blake, and I love surprises so this is win, win for me. I lean into my seat and giggle to myself, closing my eyes, letting the warm sun penetrate my lids. This, right here, is heaven-and I can't believe this is my life. I've finally heard all those things I used to have my brothers describe-the slam of the door, the babble of the brook. I've yet to hear the angry thunder, but, while holding Blake's hand, I heard the happy wind, the surprised doorbell-and, of all things to hear this morning, I heard the tired trash truck that used to wake my brothers up early. I no longer sleep like a log. As soon as baby Ben so much as begins to mewl, my eyelids spring open to that sweet melody.
We drive over a ridge, and then I see it.
"The beach!" I shout, ecstatic.
Blake parks in the lot, and we race down the sand, kicking off our shoes, laughing like schoolchildren.
The waves roar. They war against the sky, against each other, as they crash and tumble with an explosive applaud. Tears come to my eyes. I knew something so grand was capable of sounding like God himself.
Blake holds me as we take in the blue, violent sea.
My hips twist into his as I pull him close. "I'm so lucky you're my someone special. I can't believe you remembered to bring me here."
"Are you kidding? I have memorized every single moment I've spent with you. If Benji's death taught me anything, it's to cherish the ones you love-and I do love you, Annie. I'm the lucky one around here."
Everything happens for a reason, and if that truck hadn't driven onto campus, if I would have heard it myself, if I would have let Baya and Bryson walk me to class-well, everything would have turned out different. But here we are, blissfully tangled in one another's arms as if there were no other possible outcome. I'm glad things turned out the way they did. Blake and I were meant for one another. Fate took what could have been a tragedy that day and turned it into the best moment of my life.