It feels strange to her. Four months away from all this, and here she is, riding in the back of a car next to a baby carrier. She thinks all of this, but she knows what she means. Four months away from him and their home.
She's not sure what's going to happen. She's been apologizing to him for days, but he always just cuts her off and hugs her. It's confusing. She doesn't expect them to pick up right where they left off. They're not that happy, newlywed and expecting couple anymore. They're two people with a marriage license and a baby.
She wonders if he'll ever forgive her, but she has a feeling that if she'll never forgive herself, he's probably not going to either.
He parks the car and they take the elevator up to the apartment. In the elevator, Darcy starts to fuss, so Maria takes her out and rocks her while Phil holds the carrier. The doors ping open and the two of them make their way to their door. He opens it for them, and Maria feels like she stepping back into her old life.
The apartment is exactly the same as she left it. Not a piece of furniture has been moved, nothing added or removed. Until she rounds the kitchen counter and sees a high chair with a whimsical bird pattern on it. When she left, they didn't even have a high chair, but she had circled this one in a catalog months ago, so Phil must have bought it.
She rocks Darcy and stares at the high chair for a moment, before turning her stare on Phil. He's at the door, setting down the baby carrier and locking their front door. She wants to say something, anything, but more so she wants to cry.
It hurts her so bad to see that he's been waiting for her. She had hoped that maybe he would have moved on and given up on, but he just loves to prove her wrong. He's such a believer and dreamer. She wishes she could be like him, instead of hopeful, yet so much more doubtful.
He leads her toward the nursery, which Maria notices is finished, completely furnished, and has a closet bursting with little dresses and shoes. It's perfect. Phil draws her over to the crib and turns to her.
"Here, let's put her down for a nap. She's probably exhausted from the car ride... And then we can take a nap too," Phil whispers. He runs a hand over Darcy's head and then steps back. Maria carefully puts Darcy down and the two of them watch the tiny girl resettle herself and quickly fall into a deep sleep.
They stand there for a few minutes, just watching Darcy sleep, then Phil puts an arm around Maria and pulls her close. She snuggles into his side and sighs in contentment. She had missed this dearly. She tries not to think about how amazing he would have been throughout the rest of the pregnancy and focuses on how amazing of a father he is proving to be.
Maria turns to him and wraps both arms around his middle and burrows into his neck. Phil in turn holds her close and rubs her back. This is them, old them, the them Maria wishes they still were, but when they finally kiss each other for the first time in months, Maria realizes they've always been these people. They never stopped loving each other.
A few hours later, Maria wakes to the sound of faint crying and the mattress moving beneath her. She pokes her head out of the covers and catches a glimpse of red, white, and blue boxers leaving the room. She tries to get comfortable again in bed, but now the mattress is cold and there's no point in trying to heat it up by herself. She rolls out of bed and picks up Phil's discarded shirt and pulls it over her before following the crying and rustling into the kitchen, where Phil is rocking and singing to Darcy while trying to feed her.
She can't help but grin at what she sees.