Chapter 165

Olivia

The next morning, the sun was barely over the horizon when the sound of a truck pulling into the driveway yanked me from sleep. Startled, I struggled out of bed and waddled over to the window, peering through the curtains to see what was going on.

My eyes widened as I spotted Nathan standing beside a large moving truck, talking animatedly with a couple of movers. Boxes and furniture were already being pulled from the truck.

“What on earth…” I muttered to myself, pulling on my robe before rushing downstairs to confront him.

“Nathan!” I called out as I reached the front door, my heart pounding in my chest. “What are you doing?”

As I spoke, a mover brushed past me without a word, holding an ornate side table in his meaty hands and nearly toppling me over in the process.

Nathan turned to me, a wide grin on his face, looking like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I’m moving in, Liv,” he announced, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “Did you forget or something?”

“Moving in?” I repeated, disbelief washing over me. “I thought you were just staying for a little while until the baby is born. What’s all of this… stuff?”

His smile faltered, and he approached me, his eyes full of earnestness.

“I’ve done all my own reading, Liv,” he said, his voice soft and persuasive. “I know that newborns are a handful. I should be here to help during the first few months too.”

I stared at him, feeling a wave of emotion sweep over me. Overwhelmed, I found myself sinking down onto the front stairs, my mind reeling from his unexpected decision.

“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked gently, his smile fading.

I shook my head. “You could have warned me,” I muttered, watching as the same mover from before jogged back down the steps and leaped into the moving truck, returning a moment later with a large box. “I wasn’t expecting this.”

Nathan quickly joined me, his face etched with concern. “Hey, it’s going to be okay,” he reassured me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Are you having doubts already?”

I shrugged. “Not doubts. I just… are you sure this is a good idea, Nathan?”

Nathan frowned slightly. “That sure sounds like a doubt to me.”

I didn’t know what to say. Maybe Nathan was right: maybe I was having my own doubts already.

“I promise, I’ll leave once you’re ready,” he said, sinking down onto the step beside me. “But for now, I just want to be beside you. I’m worried, Liv.”

For a few moments, I was silent, thinking about all of this. It was scary, to have Nathan coming back suddenly. When he moved out before, it seemed so final. And now he was back.

All around us, movers carried boxes and furniture into the villa, shouting to each other as they worked. Nathan and I watched them in silence for a few moments before I finally turned to him, a smirk playing on my lips.

“When you moved out, you only had a few suitcases of things with you,” I teased. “Where did you get all of this stuff?”

Nathan blushed slightly. “I sold my parents’ mansion with most of the things inside,” he explained, “but there were some things that I just couldn’t let go of. Sentimental things. I hope you don’t mind if I keep them here while I’m living with you.”

Living with me. Hearing those words said again out loud filled me with a strange sense of finality.

“You’ll stay for how long?” I asked, looking over at Nathan.

“Only until you’re completely ready,” he said softly. “Whether it’s tomorrow or three months from now. Just say the word, and I’ll leave. Although…” He paused, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “I must insist that you take the longer option. If that’s alright, I mean.”

I paused for a few moments, thinking. The doctor had made it entirely clear that Nathan needed to live with me, at least until the baby was born. And if I was right, and it was twins, then I knew that I would need the help.

“Alright,” I finally said, nodding. “You can stay. We’ll decide your departure date… another time.”

Nathan’s face flashed with a cheeky grin, and he stood, taking a box from a mover. “Thank you, Olivia,” he said gently, his blue-green eyes sparkling in the morning sunlight. “I promise you won’t regret having me back.”

I watched as Nathan returned to helping the movers. After a few minutes, I made my morning tea and watched them some more as Nathan directed them on where to place items. I couldn’t help but stifle my laughter as he argued with one mover in particular on where to put a particularly comfortable armchair.

“I said to put it in the living room,” Nathan sighed, passing his hand over his weary face.

“No, you said to put it in the hallway,” the mover argued, a gruff older man with a balding head. “So I put it in the hallway. You can move it yourself if you don’t like it.”

“Well, then what am I even paying you for?” Nathan complained. “Can you just move it to the living room? Please?”

The mover grumbled something to himself, then went to pick up the armchair with a grunt. The armchair seemed delicate, and Nathan let out a groan as the mover handled it without much care.

“Put it by the window in the dining room,” I finally chimed in, gesturing with my teacup toward the empty space.

Both Nathan and the mover turned to look at me with puzzlement on their faces.

“What?” I asked, shrugging. “I’d like to sit there while I have my morning tea. Actually, I’ll sit there now. Can you please put it in the dining room?”

The mover, his cheeks turning slightly red, smiled a bit at my pleasantries and did as I asked. Meanwhile, Nathan just looked at me, his lips tugging upwards at the corners once more.

“I knew you’d like that chair,” he murmured, looking almost a little embarrassed. “I saved it just for you. I remember you looked at it a lot when we went to my parents’ mansion.”

Nathan was right; now that I thought of it, I had eyeballed that chair quite a lot the last time we were there. I liked the tufted pearl pink cushions and hand carved wood.

“Thank you,” I said, feeling a heat creep into my cheeks. “That’s very sweet of you.”

As I settled into the armchair and continued to watch the chaos unfold around me, I felt a strange sense of calm wash over me.

Yes, I had a lot of trepidation over Nathan moving back in. I didn’t know where our relationship would go from here, or what would happen to us over the next few months. I didn’t know if we would stick to the boundaries we had set for ourselves, or whether we would inevitably cross those boundaries and stray into confusing territory once more.

But I did know one thing: I was happy to have my friend back.

And even amidst all of the chaos and the uncertainty, I knew that I could rely on him. This little villa, which had felt so cold and empty over the past couple of months since Nathan had been gone, was filled with warmth once more.

And I couldn’t have been happier.