The Absolution of Aidan(59)

“Here.” He walks to the side of the bed, places the box beside me, and tucks his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. I really want to laugh through the tears ready to burst from my eyes. The mere sight of Aidan nervously looking down at me when we both know he’s far from shy has my heart dancing a jig inside my chest.

I open it slowly. My heart clenches without my hand over it when I see what’s inside. My vision blurs from the happy tears freely flowing down my face.

“You bought these for me? Oh, Aidan.” I peal the tissue the rest of the way aside to pull out my favorite cupcake pans along with three different sizes of round cake pans.

“Very romantic gift, yeah?” He shrugs.

“To me they are.” My voice is barely above a whisper. He really has no clue what this means to me.

“Romance isn’t all about wining and dining. You already have me, Aidan. Those things mean nothing to me. These,” I purposely run my fingers over the glossy metallic texture of the pans. “Are my favorite. Not because you bought them from The Pantry Store down the street from my uncle’s bakery,” I wink at him, letting him know I know where he got them. “It’s because you have so much going on right now, but you still went out of your way to buy these for me.”

I swallow. God, how I could go on and tell this man how much this really means to me. How ironic it is that he brought these home on the very same day I talked to both my dad and Alina about going back to work. I’m done talking. I want to show him.

I place the pans back in the box then lift the baby so he’s centered in between us, his arms flinging out to his dad. Aidan gladly takes him by pulling his hands out of his pockets and curling Diesel close to his body, which gives me the freedom to touch him. God, how I want to touch him.

“I love you, Aidan Michael Hughes.” I touch the spot over his heart tenderly and bring my mouth as close to his as I can without fusing us together. I slide my other hand around our miracle baby, who tugs at my hair. I wince slightly from the sting, but I don’t care. I watch my man roam my face with certainty of the power of love they provoke in this crazy dance we call our lives. Our breath is mingling, opening up an intimacy all our own.

I have to give him a gift, too. One he will never forget. I’m slightly angry with myself for not remembering to do this before, but maybe it was meant for me to do it now, after we told each other how we truly feel. I don’t know, but what I do know is I know this is going to mean everything to him.

“I love you, too.” He smirks. I shiver.

“I have something for you,” I say on a whisper. My parents are the only other people who know about this. Throughout my entire pregnancy, I never had a doubt what I was going to write on Diesel’s birth certificate. When my dad assured me I could name my child anything I wanted to, I talked to my little boy inside of me, told him no matter what, I wouldn’t deny him his rightful name.

I scamper off the bed after releasing my hold on the two of them and open my top dresser drawer, folding out the neatly creased legal document. With shaky hands, I then hand it to Aidan.

He glances at it, then back to me, then back to the paper.

“Shit, baby.” His eyes light up. Yeah, best gift ever.

“Crazy, huh? We’ve talked about everything else but that.” I point to the paper.

“You gave him my middle name and my last name?” he says more like a question.

“Uh, yeah. I told you from the beginning I was never going to keep you from him. He’s a Hughes. Has been since the day he was conceived.” For the second time tonight, he amazes me with words that will once again stay with me forever.

“God, I love you. Not because of this or him or for anything. I simply love you, Deidre. You may have given me these two reasons why I should, but I don’t need a reason to love you when I simply fucking just do.”

My man is a fool if he thinks he isn’t a romantic. Gifts come from the heart; however, words come straight from a person’s soul. No matter what he may think, I vow right here that I will take my last breath reminding my man he has the biggest soul of us all.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN


AIDAN





I do believe I’ve created a monster, or a woman on a damn mission. What my girl wants, she will get. Thank Christ for deliveries. The entire kitchen and living room are full of all kinds of baking supplies, and it’s only noon.

She had this all planned out before we crashed last night. Her idea of asking Anna and Grace to help her was brilliant. I know the both of them are going crazy as well. Although Anna seems to be taken with Dilan as much as he’s with her. The moment they showed here about an hour ago, I decided once again that shit is none of my business. The guy may look rough on the outside with his entire body covered in tattoos, but hell, he’s a damn good man.