Page 277 - It Ends with Us

“Hand me a towel .”

R yle’s ha nd appea rs around the sho wer curtain a few sec ond s later.
I try to fit the towel around me bef ore pulling the sho wer curtain
aside. It’s odd, hi ding your body from your own hu sband .
The towel does n’t fit . It covers up my boobs but then opens like an
upside- down V over my stomach.
Ano ther cont raction hi ts as I’m step ping out of the sho wer. R yle

grabs my ha nd and hel ps me brea the thro ugh it, then walks me int o
the bed room. I’m calmly picking out clea n clothes to wea r to the
ho spital when I glanc e over at hi m.
He’s staring at my stomach. There’ s a look on hi s face I can’t
dec ipher.
His ey es meet mine and I pause wha t I’m doing .
There’ s a moment tha t passes bet ween us where I can’t tell if he’s

about to frown or smile. His face twists int o both someho w, and he
blows out a quick brea th, dropping hi s ey es back to my stomach.
“You’re bea utiful,” he whi sper s.
A pang sho ots thro ugh my ches t tha t ha s no thi ng to do with the
cont ractions . I rea lize thi s is the firs t time he’s seen my bare stomach.
It’s the firs t time he’s witnes sed wha t I look like with hi s baby growing

ins ide of me.
I walk over to hi m and take hi s ha nd . I place it on my stomach and
ho ld it there. He smiles at me, brushi ng hi s thu mb back and forth. It’s
a bea utiful moment . One of our bet ter moment s.
“Tha nk you, Lily.”
It’s written all over hi m, the way he’s touchi ng my stomach, the way
hi s ey es are looking back at mine. He’s no t tha nk ing me for thi s

moment , or any moment tha t came bef ore thi s one. He’s tha nk ing
me for all the moment s I’m allowing hi m to ha ve with hi s chi ld.
I groan, lea ni ng for ward. “Fucking hel l.”
The moment is over.
R yle grabs my clothes and he lps me int o them . He picks up all the
thi ng s I tel l hi m to carr y and then we make our way to the el ev ator.

Slowly. I ha ve a cont raction when we’re ha lfway there.
“You should call Allysa,” I tel l hi m when we pull out of the parking
garage.