Best Mistake

We just stood there, staring at each other. Alex's hands were still in my hair and mine were lightly gripping his back, his face only a few inches from mine. I could feel his warm breath against my lips, and I wasn't even sure if I was still breathing.

"Please? Move in with me?" he asked again, his thumb tracing my ear.

I was so confused. How did he go from being too freaked out to talk to me to asking me to move in with him once he found his voice? How could he even want me to move in with him in the first place? What happened with Sophia?

I slowly eased out of his grasp and walked slowly to the dining room table. He didn't say anything as he watched me, but suddenly the tension was very thick in the room. It almost felt like it was suffocating me.

"What?" I finally asked, turning to look at him.

Alex walked to me hesitately. His hand rested on the small of my back once he was close enough.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and I could hear the disappointment in his voice.

I shook my head. I felt so lost. "I'm just trying to figure out where this came from."

Alex shrugged and pulled out a chair to sit in. "I just want you to move in with me."

That explained absolutely nothing. I pulled out a chair for me and plopped down across from him, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"But why?" I asked quietly.

Alex sighed heavily, exasperated. He stared at me, like he was trying to find the answer I was looking for.

"I'm sorry, I just don't get it," I apologized. "Literally, like, five minutes ago you were too freaked out by the image of our son to even speak to me. Now you want me to move in with you?"

Alex shook his head. "I was freaked out, but not for the reason you think."

It was my turn to stare as I waited for him to continue.

"When I saw him up on that screen, everything changed. Suddenly, none of this was about me anymore. I was instantly hit with this urge to make sure he will always be ok. I want to take care of him. And you."

i felt myself self begin to smile as my heart began to swell with the faintest bit of happiness.

"I don't think I could be as happy and ready to be a father if you didn't move in with me. I want to be there for everything. I want to help you in all the ways I can. I want to do anything you want me to. I don't care if you're craving ice cream at three in the morning, I'll get in my car and go get it for you," he smiled.

I laughed, warming up to the idea a little. A nagging thought brought me back to a subject Alex had been avoiding.

"What about Sophia?" I asked.

Alex rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed that I couldn't leave her subject alone.

"What about her?" he asked. "Obviously, she and I are over."

I felt a pang of guilt strike my gut. "So she said 'no'."

Alex sent a sarcastic smile my way. "Actually, she said 'yes'. But she told me that if she gave me another chance I was to have nothing to do with you or him. I couldn't do it. I turned her down."

I quietly gasped. "Really?" I whispered.

Alex nodded, sliding his hand across the table, facing up. I crept my hand on top of his and he laced our fingers together.

"I know I've been a dick throughout this process so far. But I really want to redeem myself and make it right. I'm just asking you for the chance. Please, Whit. Move in with me."

The look in his eyes was almost enough to convince me to do it. But it still didn't make much sense. The fact that Alex wanted me to be around him all the time baffled me. I was extremely happy, don't get me wrong, but I had this haunting fear that he would wake up a month or so into it and realize he'd made a mistake by asking that of me.

He seemed so sincere, though. Like he really wouldn't be satisfied unless we lived under the same room. I absentmindedly thought about waking up next to him and us venturing to the kitchen to make breakfast before we went baby shopping or something. It made me feel warm inside.

Alex pulled me from my thoughts when he squeezed my hand. "Do you have to be at work later?" he asked.

I shook my head.

He stood from the table, pulling out his keys. "Come with me. I want to show you my house."

I nodded slowly and soon followed Alex back to his car. We rode the thirty minute drive in silence, smiling at each other a little the whole way. Alex reached for my hand again, and it felt like our baby was doing somersaults in my stomach.

We pulled up in the driveway of his house and he opened the garage door on the side. I looked around as we hurried through, eyeing all of the sports memorabilia. He sure loved his football.

We walked in through the laundry room and took a left down a long hallway. Alex rushed through all of the rooms he deemed unimportant, like the kitchen and living room and dining room. I hadn't noticed when I came before, but the home looked oddly plain. I secretly hoped that if I did move in Alex would be open with me redecorating.

I followed him down another shorter hallway to a closed door. He opened it and flicked on the lights.

"This is just a guest bedroom," he shrugged.

I looked around and nodded. It was about the size of my living room. I mentally started placing my furniture here and there, seeing if it would all fit.

"So I'd be staying in here?" I asked.

Alex looked at me, a disappointed frown on his lips. "You can if you want."

I looked up at him, my eyebrows furrowed. "Where else would I stay?"

He shrugged, shifting a little. "I thought you could stay with me."

I blushed a little and followed Alex when he took my hand and led me to the opposite side of the house, bypassing another closed door across from the guest bedroom.

"This would be our room," Alex said, and when he flipped the lights on, my eyes widened.

The master bedroom alone was almost as big as my whole apartment. In the middle of the further back wall was a king sized bed with a beautiful mahogany bed frame. On either side of it were bedside tables to match. Across from the bed was a mahogany six-drawer dresser with a flat screen tv bolted to the wall above it. A black chair with a black ottoman to match were in one corner of the room while another little three-drawer dresser was in the other corner.

I hadn't noticed Alex was watching for a reaction until I could finally tear my eyes away from the huge room to look at him. He smiled and pulled me to the bathroom.

It was like something out of a magazine. The double vanity sink was at least seven feet long. Across from it was a huge walk-in closet, and I immediately noticed I didn't have enough clothes to even fill up half of it. Further into the bathroom was a small linen closet. A walk-in glass door shower was at the end of the bathroom and across from it was a jacuzzi bath tub. I instantly wanted to strip out of my clothes and climb in.

"Well?" Alex asked after I didn't say anything.

I tore my eyes away from the tub and looked up at him. "This is a really nice house."

He smiled and gently pulled on my hand I hadn't realized he was still holding. "I saved the best part for last."

I followed him back to the other side of the house again, stopping in front of the door we'd skipped. He smiled a little, biting his bottom lip, and opened the door.

I walked in to a room about three quarters of the size of the master bedroom. There was a queen sized bed pushed against one of the walls, a single bedside table to the right of it. There was an acoustic guitar sitting in one corner of it, but other than that, the room was kind of empty.

"This could be his room," Alex said quietly from behind me.

I looked back at him, and he seemed to look so excited. I watched as he eagerly walked to different points of the room, explaining where he thought the crib and the changing table and the rocking chair and other pieces would look best. I had to fight back the strong urge to kiss him halfway through it.

"What do you say?" he asked after he walked back to me, slipping his arms around my waist. "We can get blue everything."

I grimaced and Alex tilted his head. "What? You don't like blue?" he asked.

I shrugged, resting my hands on his forearms. "I like blue, just not too much of it. What about mixing in some dark greys and greens?"

Alex smiled, pulling me into a tight hug. "Whatever you want."

I followed him into the kitchen where we were leaning against the island, side by side. Alex was giving me time to think it over, but the way he was staring at me made me feel like I was under pressure. I'd glance at him every now and then and he'd offer me a nervous smile.

When I was only a small percent away from being sure I wanted to go through with it, I turned towards Alex.

"You're sure you want to do this?" I asked.

He nodded quickly. "Yes."

"And you're not going to change your mind in a few months?"

He gave me a sad look. "Why would I do that?"

I shrugged. "I hear that the worst is yet to come, pregnancy wise. I'm sure I'll be a moody, hungry, emotional bitch here soon."

Alex stood to face me. One of his hands fell gently on my cheek while the other rested on my bump. He slowly moved in for a short, sweet kiss.

"I'm positive it'll be worth it once it's over," he whispered.

I felt the butterflies take flight when I looked into his eyes. He looked so hopeful and sounded so sincere. I really got the feeling that he wanted this, and that he was just as excited as I was that we were going to make an attempt to be a family. A somewhat unconventional family, but a family nonetheless.

"Ok," I nodded.

Alex's eyes widened. "Ok?!"

"Yeah, ok, let's do it," I smiled.

Notes