Me and My Hot Professor Page 16

  Naomi took a deep, shaky breath. “S-so…what’s going to happen now?” I wanted to put my arm around her and hug her to my side but I knew that her parents wanted me to blend into the background as much as possible. I honestly shouldn’t have been in the room but Naomi wanted me there, so I was going to stay.

  “We won’t lie, it’s pretty hard for us to stand being around each other much,” Julie said with a dry laugh. “So, you’ll see us separately just until we can come to a place where we can have family dinners again and spend holidays together again,” she said.

  “You know, Nao…” Roth paused to take a deep breath, “Life is a journey. It’s not static and it’s not always stable,” he said. “I don’t regret marrying your mother or being married to her. I do regret that we ended this way and that’s what we have to heal from. And we will heal from it because we still have you kids, we’re still your parents,” Roth said. Again, Naomi recoiled from shock. A tear fell from her eye and hit her chest, she didn’t realize she was crying. “And I know that I’ve been hard on you more than Jess or Casey and I want to make up for that,” he said sincerely. “Maybe we can be closer now, have days together, just the two of us,” he added.

  “I’d…um. I’d like that,” she said. Roth smiled, it was a small smile but the relief was in his face and he let go of a deep breath.

  “So,” Julie said in a lighter tone, “the two of you are serious?” she said, looking at me as if I were a welcomed change of subject. I knew the road to recovery with her parents was going to be a long one for Naomi.

  “Yeah, um…very serious,” Naomi said. She glanced at me for a second. I didn’t think she was ready to tell them about the baby yet. I didn’t think they were ready to hear news like that either.

  “Sorry we just dropped in on you like this. We should probably get out of your hair,” Julie said. “Hopefully we’ll see you again under better circumstances to get to know you,” she added.

  “Ditto on that, nice to meet you Josh,” Roth said. I nodded and Naomi stood up to walk them out. I hung back and she stepped out into the hall with them. I looked at Jerry, who looked at me and flicked his tail. I wandered into Naomi’s bedroom and spotted her jewelry box on her nightstand. I tried to see if any of her rings had size numbers in them, of course they didn’t. I heard the front door close and then Naomi called my name.

  I stepped out of her room and met her in the living room. I hugged her around the waist and she rested her head on my chest, her arms around my waist too. “You okay?”

  “Yeah…that was weird,” she said and we laughed. “But good I guess, that’s what I needed to hear from them,” she said. “Do you think they’ll be happy, like, really?”

  “Getting a divorce is not easy. No one really gets married with the thought of getting a divorce. But every situation is different and in certain circumstances, it’s like torture to stay with someone you don’t or can’t love anymore,” I said. “But marriage with the right person is worth fighting for. It’s kind of like your dad said, life is a journey and he doesn’t regret his marriage. He regrets it ending.”

  Naomi’s arms tightened around my waist. “Do you…do you feel that way about your ex?” She pulled back slightly to look up at me.

  “I don’t feel anything for her anymore. Not since you,” I said. “When we split up, I didn’t regret getting a divorce with her. I regretted not knowing her enough before we got married. I regretted marrying her,” I said. Naomi looked relieved to hear that.

  “Would you…would you ever get married again?” she asked.

  “I’d get married one more time, one-hundred percent,” I said. She smiled at me and then pulled away to sit down.

  “What were you doing in the room, by the way? Hiding in case they came back in?” she joked.

  “No, I was trying to find your ring size,” I said. She blinked rapidly at me, trying to compute what I just said. “I saw this ring the other day that fits you and I want it to someday be your engagement ring,” I said. “Because I’m all in, Naomi. I want us to go all the way, married and eventually fat because we’re so happy.”

  Naomi’s eyes filled with tears and she sprang up from the couch and I caught her in a tight hug. I kissed her and she molded her body to mine, her lips were soft and slippery with tears. Warmth filled my entire body and I felt like I knew her answer before I could ask the question.

  “Would you marry me?” I asked, “When you’re ready?”

  “Yes, Josh. Of course I’d marry you,” she said on a hiccupping sob and then she wiped the tears out of her eyes. “God, I’m so emotional, these hormones are gross,” she said and laughed through her tears. I kissed her cheeks, her eyes, and then her lips.

  Like the start of our relationship that magnetic attraction pulled us into passion. But it wasn’t tangled anymore, it didn’t have to be hidden. Naomi let herself love me and I got the second chance of a lifetime.

  Epilogue

  Naomi

  Maddie gave me a wet, open-mouthed kiss on the cheek as I rinsed her binkie. Josh came tearing into the kitchen with Kaden hot on his heels. All I saw around the kitchen island was a head of brown curls chasing my incredibly hot husband into the living room.

  “Guys, please don’t chip any teeth!” I called.

  “Ma-ma-ma-ma,” Maddie said, reaching for her cousin and dad who were circling the couch in a game of TAG.

  “You want to play too, huh? Go ahead, go get ‘em,” I said and set her down. My heart squeezed as I watched her wobble to the living room. Already, she was one year old and Kaden, who’d just turned four the week before, was smart enough that people thought he was six. Maddie held onto the couch cushion while watching Kaden and Josh run around, laughing hard enough that her freshly washed binkie fell to the floor. Maddie’s shock of orange hair was darkening by the day now, her big blue eyes she’d gotten from her father—and his good looks too. Though Josh, of course, thinks she’s my spitting image.

  “Where’d Amy go?” I asked Josh while straightening the appetizer counter and cake stand. Of course, Maddie wouldn’t remember this party at all but our family was a force to be reckoned with and they wanted a party for a one-year-old.

  “She went to go get the balloons from her car,” Josh said. He turned the tables on Kaden, stopped midstride and scooped Kaden into his arms to tickle him. Kaden laugh-screamed just as I heard the doorbell. I hurried to get it and about two-dozen balloons preceded Amy into the house.

  “I think your brother and sister just got here,” she said. Sure enough, Jess and Casey were getting out of Casey’s car.

  “Hey!” I waved and stepped outside to meet them. Jess had recently cut her hair short, shoulder length, and she’d curled it. The look was nice on her, though she could pull off any look and still be chic and graceful. Casey opened the trunk of his car and pulled out a huge wrapped box. I balked.

  “What is that?” I said.

  “It’s a playhouse,” Casey said, “and before you start protesting, I got her a play workbench too. That way she can DIY the house and grow up to have a show on HGTV,” he added in all seriousness.

  I laughed, “You’ve really planned this out, haven’t you?” I chuckled. Casey took out the second huge box, I was honestly surprised there was that much room in his trunk.

  “He did, he was going back and forth over what to get her for weeks, Nao,” Jess said in exasperation. “I, however, got her something simple, a bracelet,” Jess said happily. “You’ll both love it. It’s the kind you can adjust as she gets older too.”

  “Jess can you grab the second present?” Casey asked, his arms full with the first, huge box. She rolled her eyes but helped him out. I grabbed her purse and the gift bag then followed them into the house. Amy and Josh were laughing at something in the living room, in the background was Kaden’s voice and Maddie’s happy baby chatter.

  “Now she’s sayin’, ‘I want cake!’” Kaden exclaimed. Maddie babbled in a tone that sounded like she was backing him u
p. It was the cutest thing. Kaden saw the huge presents Casey and Jess were bringing in and his blue eyes widened with wonder. “Whoa Maddie look at your birthday presents!”

  “Sheesh, what’s in those things Casey, a Bentley?” Amy asked.

  Jess laughed, “He almost got her one of those toy Bentley’s actually,” she said. Casey set the gift down in front of the entertainment center then put the other gift beside it.

  “Next year I’ll get her a race car to drive around in,” he said.

  “Help!” Veronika shouted from the front door. She’d gone on a food run to pick up our orders. The only people we were missing were my parents. No doubt they were both trying to come late in order to dodge each other. I couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they ultimately had to walk in side by side. Time had softened their childishness towards one another but it was definitely still there. Though, lately it was more playful than malicious and that was entirely for the benefit of being in me and Maddie’s lives.

  “I got it,” Amy hurried to the rescue. I never thought she and V would hit it off so well when they met. Though, it made sense, they were both into the arts and had similar jobs. Because they got along so well, it made becoming close with Amy a breeze. Yet another reason why Veronika was my best friend, she could get along with a brick wall if it would make someone she cared about happy.

  “So Josh, how’s married life?” Casey asked him while bouncing Maddie in his arms.

  “It’s everything,” he said. Josh and I looked at each other for a moment, he smirked and his eyes glittered with what was no doubt a dirty thought. Early this morning, before Maddie woke up, had been…eventful…for us. I walked into the front room to help Amy and V with the takeout bags.

  “Is everyone here?” V asked. She handed me another paper bag and then closed the door.

  “My parents aren’t here yet,” I said. We brought the food to the kitchen table and started to take the containers out of the bags. Then the doorbell rang.

  “Speak of the devil,” V murmured. Amy chuckled.

  “I got it,” I said eagerly and hurried to answer the door. Dad and Mom stood side by side…smiling at each other as if they’d been laughing about something.

  “Look who’s fashionably late,” I said. Mom hugged me tight and Dad kissed me on the cheek.

  “We were ‘operating on the same level of petty’ again, as V so eloquently put it that one time,” Mom said. “Anyways, where my granddaughter? I’ve been waiting all week to give her a squeeze.” She breezed by me in search of Maddie and Dad put his arm around my shoulders.

  “Where’s my son-in-law? I want to give the both of you something for Maddie,” he said.

  “What is it?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t money. Dad had already jumped at the chance to help us get this house as a wedding gift. Giving Josh and I money was also a way he was trying to make up for lost time in building our father-daughter relationship.

  “Don’t give me that look,” he chuckled and kissed the top of my head. Dad stepped aside to look at the picture of Josh, Maddie and me hanging over the high backed chairs in the front room.

  “Dad, you’ve given us enough already. I told you, all I want is you, not your money,” I murmured.

  “True but this isn’t for you, it’s for my granddaughter,” he said. “Josh!” Dad called, “Can you come in here for just a sec?”

  I sighed, unable to stop whatever he had planned. Josh jogged into the room, curious.

  “Hey Old Man, glad to see you,” Josh shook my dad’s hand and he smirked. Of all the nick names my father could like, I was shocked that he was fond of that one. But Josh had been calling Dad that since we got married and my dad never protested.

  “I wanted to give you both something for Maddie. It’s a decent start to her college fund,” he said.

  “Dad,” I said, unable to think up anything else as he gave Josh the envelope. We both peeked at the check inside. The ‘decent’ start was enough for four years at a state university, one and a half years at a private college. “This is ridiculous,” I managed to say.

  Dad grinned at us. “I’ll never get tired of seeing those expressions on your faces. Naomi, you seem to forget that you come from a strong foundation,” he said and winked at me. “It’s my job as Maddie’s grandfather to contribute this way.”

  “Okay, Dad, but please, no more huge sums of money?”

  “I second that Roth, this is…I have heartburn,” Josh said and rubbed his chest.

  My dad just laughed at us. “You’re welcome, now let’s go enjoy ourselves, yeah?” He squeezed both of our shoulders and strode through to the living room.

  “When do you think he’ll let up?” Josh asked, waving the envelope.

  “I…I don’t think he will? Maddie is his first grandchild, he’s gonna spoil her.” Josh took a breath then he smirked at me. “What?” I said.

  “I married into money,” he joked.

  I rolled my eyes, “Whatever,” I laughed. Josh pulled me by the hand and I landed softly against him. He wrapped his arms around me and I felt nothing but warmth, whenever we were like this, we created our own bubble.

  “I love you,” he said.

  “I love you too,” I smiled. Josh bent his head and brushed his lips over mine.

  “Now let’s go throw our daughter the best party that she’ll never remember,” he said. We joined everyone in the living room, the party was in full swing. Amy and V had already opened the wine and were pouring Jess and Mom a glass. Dad was taking his turn with Maddie who loved to cuddle him and had her little hands wrapped around his neck. His expression was pure bliss. No wonder he just gave her a huge check.

  “He’s not allowed to buy her a car,” Josh said. Casey came in from the back and slapped Josh on the back.

  “Good, so I can then,” he said.

  “What?” Josh exclaimed, both Dad and Casey laughed at him.

  “Guys, that’s something her dad is supposed to do, plus we’re about fifteen years off the mark here.”

  “I was thinking she’ll be fine in a BMW, nothing extravagant, like a Two Series,” Casey said while Dad nodded in full agreement.

  “Pick your battles, Nao, come join us on the sane side,” V beckoned. I gladly joined the ladies in the kitchen. Kaden had the cutest crush on V, he wouldn’t stop staring at her as he stuck by his mom’s hip.

  “So, Amy you never told us how that…” she paused and glanced at Kaden then edited herself, “outing went with the swanky gallery owner,” V said. Amy laughed.

  “Umm, it went…pretty well, actually. He’s a lot more down to earth than I expected and he’s a real gentleman,” she took a sip of her wine and shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m open to hanging out with him again,” she admitted.

  “Really?” V squealed. “That’s it, I’m officially a matchmaker.”

  “You made one maybe potential match,” I said.

  “Excuse me, Maddie wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for me urging you to go for it with Josh,” V reminded me.

  I sipped my wine, she had a point there. “Anyways, what about you, V?” I said, not wanting to make Amy uncomfortable with Kaden around. As great as V was, she had very little in the way of a filter.

  “Ugh, no man can tame me,” she said flippantly and we all laughed at that. Kaden finally worked up the courage to hug V then he ran away to more interesting conversation with his uncle.

  “He’s too cute and growing so fast,” Mom commented.

  “I know. One piece of advice, Nao, is to enjoy this time while it lasts. Soon Maddie will be too big and smart to cuddle with you all the time,” Amy said with a slight pout.

  “It’s crazy to think how different everything was just a year ago,” I said. I’d been about to pop, planning a wedding and taking finals at the same time. It was like being caught up in a fever dream, I wasn’t sure how Josh put up with me then.

  “But look at all this now. Naomi, you did things right. You followed your heart and
believed in yourself. Even when we doubted you when you started school again,” Mom said, getting misty eyed.

  “Aw, mom,” I said and hugged her to my side. She was right though, with a little push from V, I’d grabbed onto my future with Josh. At the start of all this, I never would’ve thought that a steamy affair with my college professor wouldn’t end in disaster. Josh felt me staring at him and he gave me a boyish grin. I was lucky that he held on tight enough to make sure we got our happy ending.

  The End.

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