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Luke never thought he’d love anything as much as he loves music, but then Julie Molina had dropped into his life (or, perhaps a more accurate way to describe it would be that he’d literally dropped into hers) and it was like she’d flipped his entire world upside down with just one glance.
His heart’s been so full of her for so long, he can’t really wrap his head around how there could possibly be room for anything else to fit in there beside her. But the way his heart swells when he opens his guitar case one afternoon in the studio where they first met, only for his eyes to land on a long stick of plastic boasting two bold pink lines, is all it takes to prove that particular notion wrong.
“Say something,” Julie says finally, pulling him out of his thoughts and back into the present.
“I’m going to be a dad?”
It’s a silly question given that he’s got the answer cradled in the palm of his hand like it's the most precious thing he's ever been privileged enough to hold. But for some reason, Luke feels compelled to have Julie confirm the life-altering news anyway.
And after she nods, Luke has just enough time to see a small smile slowly start to pull at the corners of her mouth before he crosses over to where she’s standing, and swiftly scoops her up in his arms. Julie squeals as he lifts her off the ground, the noise giving way to a peal of melodic giggles as he spins her around a few times before setting her back down on her own two feet.
“We’re going to be parents,” he says in awe, hands holding steady at Julie's waist as his eyes trail down to her stomach.
It's still flat, and Luke knows it'll likely be a while before a bump sits in its place, but he can't wait for the both of them to watch in wonder as their child begins to grow within her.
“We’re going to be parents,” Julie echoes as her hands move from his broad shoulders and up to cradle his face.
In all of the excitement, Luke hadn't even noticed the string of tears that had, at some point, started seeping out from the crinkled corners of his eyes. Julie makes quick work of wiping the moisture away with a gentle swipe of her thumbs, and when Luke looks up and sees her own eyes watering in happiness, he wastes no time in doing the same for her.
With his thumbs tracing across Julie's cheekbones as hers follow a similar path across his own bone structure, Luke suddenly feels like he's seventeen again-- straddling the line between two worlds in a way that shouldn’t have ever been possible. Dead, but all at once feeling more alive than he'd ever felt before.
He'd been so certain that the universe was done dishing out miracles. That he'd have to find some semblance of peace living halfway between the land of the living and the land of the dead. That is, until, Julie-- through the sheer force of love, stubbornness, and something otherwise inexplicably magical-- had figured out a way to jumpstart his heart and tether his soul firmly in her world once and for all.
Sometimes it all feels a little too good to be true— like his life now is nothing more than some glorious dream he's doomed to wake up from at any moment. Like he shouldn’t be allowed to be this happy. Like he’s unworthy of having been handed a new lease on life, fully equipped with everything he’s ever wanted and so much more he never even realized he was missing. But Julie’s always there to chase the doubt away before it ever really has a chance to seep in. Just like she is right now. Staring up at him like he's the most wonderful thing she's ever seen (even though he knows it's very much the other way around.) Her eyes brimming with a sort of euphoric adoration he’s sure his own eyes are shining right back at her.
“I love you,” he says.
Carefully, he uses the hands on her cheeks to tilt her face up so he can more easily capture her lips with his own. Kissing Julie has always felt like a little bit of magic in and of itself. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of the way the feel of her lips brushing against his is all it takes for his heart to start fluttering away furiously behind his ribs. Beating steady and true like it always has for the girl in his arms. Only now his heart has someone else to beat for, too, and the thought of that should terrify him, but it doesn’t. He's never felt more sure of anything in his life than he does of the fact that he loves them both with everything he's been, everything he is, and everything he will be.
And when Luke draws back, it’s only so he can sink to his knees in front of her, fingertips gently pushing the hem of Julie's shirt up so he can bestow another lingering kiss upon her-- this one, he presses to the spot just below her navel.
He lets his mouth linger against the soft flesh beneath his lips, enjoying the way Julie shivers as he murmurs his next words into the warm skin of her belly.
“And I love you, too.”