Page 147 of Through the Storm

He nods, breathing out once. “Okay.”

He leans against the counter, not nervous, exactly, but careful.

“So… I’ve been staying here because it felt right,” he continues. “I didn’t want to assume anything.”

My stomach flips. “Okay…”

“But I need you to know something.” His voice shakes, but he gives me a small smile. “I rented a two-bedroom apartment a while ago.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Nothing fancy. Close to campus. Quiet. I did it hoping that eventually you two might want to move in. With me.”

I blink. “You… what?”

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want it to feel like pressure,” he says quickly. “It was just… space. For a future. If you wanted it.”

Silence stretches between us.

And my heart does something reckless. “You planned for us?”

He shrugs, but there’s something soft in his eyes. “I planned for thepossibility of us.”

My eyes burn, but I laugh anyway. “You’re so cute.”

He steps closer. “Is that a no?”

I glance down at our baby, warm and sleepy against my chest. Then I look back at him.

“No.” I grin.

His face stills.

“It’s a yes.”

His shoulders drop like he’s been holding that breath for months. “Okay.”

And he smiles like he just got everything he’s ever wanted.

BEN

There has never been a louder apartment in history, I’m pretty confident about that.

People are everywhere. Boxes stacked in every room. Rebecca is aggressively organizing all of Katy’s things like she’s training to be onTheHome Edit.

The guys and I finally carry in the last of the boxes from Katy’s. Slowly, the apartment is starting to look less like a storage unit and more like a home.

Ourhome.

Katy stands in the middle of it all with the baby strapped to her chest, watching the chaos with wide eyes. She looks overwhelmed in that quiet way that only I seem to notice.

I slip beside her. “You okay?” I ask.

She nods slowly. “I think so. But I might cry a little bit.”

“That’s allowed,” I say. “As long as they’re happy tears.”

Eventually everyone starts leaving. Declan and Grandma Patty hug Katy a little too long. Rebecca gives me a suspiciously proud lookbefore heading out. Danny tries very hard to stay and ends up getting carried away like a sack of potatoes.

And then when the door finally closes, and the apartment goes quiet, my stomach flips.

“There’s… something I want to show you.”