“Thank you.” She grinned, knowing Romeo had so much money it wouldn’t make a difference where Nova got the starting capital. All that mattered was Jules giving him a way to take care of his new family. Even if he couldn’t see them, he could still love and care for them. “I’d really appreciate that, Nova.” He gave her a beaming smile. Unlike his usual dark, cynical smile, this one reached his eyes, making him look more like Tino than she’d noticed before now. It had to be their mother’s smile because it was the same one Romeo had, and it was beautiful.
Nova pointed across the hall. “I’m gonna go back.”
“Make sure he knows I love him.” Jules sighed, wishing she could be there but knowing she was still bedbound. “Are you gonna tell him ’bout the babies?”
“I don’t think there is any way to muzzle Tino about that.” Nova laughed. “That’s gonna be the first thing outta his mouth. Sorry.”
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“It’s okay.” Jules knew it wasn’t worth getting upset over when she took in the whole picture. “I suppose we got the rest of our lives to be excited together about it.”
* * * *
Jules didn’t have to wait long to see her new husband.
She’d like to think it was her own intimidation tactics, but it turned out Romeo was more convincing than her. Shortly after the buzz of him waking up wore off, Jules heard the nurses start to refer to him as the bear, and it wasn’t endearingly. Romeo was trying to set the record for the worst patient in the history of St. Francis’s ICU, and they put Jules in a wheelchair and rolled her across the hall just to make him a little more agreeable.
He was pale. His eyes were too dark a green to be normal. When she got nearer, she saw his pupils were wide and dilated with whatever powerful painkiller they were giving him to make moving easier. They must have worked because Romeo turned on his side and grabbed her hand the moment she got close enough, as if he hadn’t just had two major surgeries.
He kissed her palm, his voice unnaturally raspy as he whispered, “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Jules brushed her fingers against one cheek rough with stubble as Romeo placed another kiss against the inside of her wrist. She took a shuddering breath before she whispered, “I missed you.”
“I know, baby. I’m sorry.” He could barely say the words. Despite the audience in the room, Romeo cried openly. His voice was harsh with emotion as he choked out, “I thought I’d lost you.”
Jules leaned closer, wanting to crawl into the bed next to him and stay there. “I thought I’d lost you too. I was so scared.”
She pulled her hand out of his and used it to help her stand even though she’d promised the doctors she wouldn’t. They both had IVs. There seemed to be cords and 356
wires everywhere, but Jules tried to pretend it was just them in the room without the witnesses and machines and the pains of recovery.
“Mrs. Wellings, you’re supposed to stay in the chair.” Jules ignored the reprimand from the nurse as she leaned down and let Romeo give her a strained, one-armed hug. She clung to his big shoulders, feeling his warm skin and that pulse of energy that was uniquely him.
“He shouldn’t be—”
“They’re fine.” Nova’s hard voice cut the nurse off. “They’re both tough. It’s gonna take more than a hug to do them in.”
“I love you, Juliet,” Romeo whispered against the good side of her neck, placing a kiss to her pulse point. “I’m sorry you were scared.”
“Promise me you’re gonna be okay,” Jules begged in a raspy whisper as more tears streamed down her face. “That you’re gonna heal up and be with me—with us—
always.”
“I’ll be okay.” Romeo placed his other hand against her stomach. “I’ll be there for all of you.”
Jules kissed him, their tears mingling, their breathing rough from the pain they were both enduring for this moment.
“We’re gonna have babies,” she whispered against his lips, and for the first time she let herself be genuinely thrilled about it. “A real family. You gave me that.” Romeo’s arm tightened around her. He was shaking. She knew the emotions had gotten the better of him. Words were suddenly too hard for both of them, but it was a moment that didn’t require profound expression of devotion and excitement for what they’d created together. If any man was meant to be a father, it was Romeo. Family was everything to him.
When he did finally find a way to speak, he touched her stomach once more and repeated, “I love you.”