It only took minutes for our new house to feel like a home. We started moving in almost as soon as the sun came up—and no matter how many times I told him not to, Owen insisted upon carrying me across the threshold like something out of an old movie—and by late afternoon, we were snuggled on the couch watching a movie. I was positioned between Owen's legs like I had been next to the window in Germany, but this time with a pillow between us to keep my back from tensing up. His arms were wrapped around me, with his hands resting gently on my abdomen, waiting patiently for our tiny human's first real kick. I didn't have the heart to tell him that we were still a couple weeks away from when that was supposed to happen—he was so content and peaceful that I just didn't have it in me to mention that the flutters would stay flutters for now.

Stopping to think about it, I was proud of us. Deeply, genuinely proud. When I had first fallen for Owen, we were children. I was thirty when I had realized that I loved him, and back then, I wasn't even sure that what I was feeling was love. It was December and we had just arrived in Iraq, and for the first time in years, it had hit me that I was completely, devastatingly alone. The whole flight over, I had held a picture of Eve, my best friend, so tight that my hand started to ache, so tight that it was as though my life depended on it. I missed her in a way that I didn't know was possible. I kept a picture of her in the pocket of my uniform but the knowledge that it was there weighed so heavily on me that it was all I could do, every single day, not to cry out in pain. And finally, one day, I broke down. I sat outside late at night, still in my uniform, and cried until my head started to spin, so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't feel him sitting next to me.

"Are you…okay?"

He reached one hand out and gently brushed my shoulder.

"Eve," I whimpered.

"No…? Owen. My name's Owen."

His voice was calm, deep, and slow, and something about him pulled me back down to reality.

"Oh my god," I said, brushing the tears off my face. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you—I didn't mean to break down in front of—I just—I'm sorry."

I stood up and tried to run for it, but he grabbed my hand.

"You lost someone." It wasn't a question.

"I…yeah. I did," I admitted, cautiously approaching him again. I wasn't afraid of him, but I wasn't sure about opening up to a stranger.

"You don't have to tell me about it," Owen said, as though he had read my mind. "Not unless you feel comfortable."

I sat down next to him again, but farther away than I had been the first time.

"Is that her?" He motioned to Eve's picture in my hand, and I nodded.

"My best friend," I said softly.

"She looks like she could have been your sister."

"She might as well have been. I was an attending at Columbia and she worked at the Trade Center. We met in a library. She…um…she was helping a pigeon that had flown in. She was trying to get it back outside."

"A pigeon?" Owen said, laughing softly.

"I know, I didn't understand either. But she was this crazy bird lady, and all she ever wanted was to save anything that couldn't save itself."

"And now you're here and she's not…and you wish she could save you?"

My face flushed, and I looked down at the ground.

"It's stupid, I know."

"No, it's not. You're human. You're allowed to miss people you've lost. You look like you've been trying not to feel it since we got here. Yeah, I noticed. I'm observant when it comes to things like that. I try not to be, but you looked like you could use a friend. So that's what I'm doing. If you want."

I looked back up at him, surprising myself when I noticed that I had moved closer to him without realizing it. He stood up again, starting to walk away, and it hit me that his presence was the most comforting thing I'd felt in years.

"Wait," I blurted and jumped to my feet, and he stopped and turned around. And was I imagining things or was a hint of a smile tugging at his lips?

"She died in the second tower. Eve. That's why I'm here. I don't want revenge against the people who did this to her. I just…I don't want anyone else to lose their Eve. I already lost mine. I don't want more people to have to go through this. It hurts. It hurts so much that sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be over it. I'm willing to keep feeling it if it means the rest of the world doesn't have to."

"That's…wow." He took my hand and squeezed it gently, enough to make me feel better but obviously not wanting to cross any boundaries with physical contact. "You just did something a lot of people don't usually do for me."

"I…scared you away? Made you feel uncomfortable?"

"No, nothing like that. You surprised me."

I could still feel tears drying on my face, but I smiled anyway. A real, genuine smile.

"Keep surprising people, Altman."

He stood up and started to walk away.

"Owen," I called, and he turned and took a few steps toward me.

"Yeah?"

"It's…um…it's Teddy."

"Teddy." He stared at me for a second, and I locked my eyes onto his gaze. "I like it. It suits you."

My face flushed, and I silently prayed that it was dark enough that he couldn't see it.

"You belong here. Don't ever feel like you don't."

"Owen. I'm scared of helicopters."

"And? I'm scared of sandstorms and we're in the desert. My point is it's okay. No one is here because they're expecting this experience to be fun. It's going to be scary. But it's going to be worth it. Your friend…Eve…I bet she's proud of you. I bet she's watching you right now and thinking, 'THAT is my best friend.' And she wouldn't want you to feel like you're alone. You have people here. You have me now. I'll introduce you to my sister in the morning. If you ever need anything, we've got you."

"Thank you," I whispered as he pulled me into a hug, and I watched as he walked back inside. And that was it. I was head-over-heels. I found out about Beth the next morning, and I spent a few more years shoving the feelings I had for him deep into the back of my mind. But in love or not, I was grateful to have him close. I felt so blissfully safe when I was around him. No matter what happened in my life, no matter how many times I fell apart, he was there to put me back together.

And that safety never changed. No matter how much we had fought in the past, he never stopped protecting me. Not for a second. And I was still hopelessly in love with every piece of him that existed for me to love.

If Eve could see me now, I thought, pulling the pillow out from under my back and snuggling into Owen's chest.

"You okay?" he said, tilting his face down to kiss the top of my head.

"Just thinking about things," I said softly, hoping he'd understand what I meant, and he did.

"Eve?"

"I miss her," I said softly, "It's okay. It's not anything you need to worry about I just…I always thought she'd be here to meet my kids. I thought if I ever got pregnant and moved into a house with someone I was madly in love with, she'd come visit…God, you would have loved her, Owen. She was definitely godmother material."

Owen's arms tensed, and I knew he was trying his best to hold me closer.

"Can I do anything?"

"Just being here is enough. I promise. She was my family though. You know that, right?"

He nodded, and I could feel his chin brush against my hair.

"She was my Megan. Until…you know…you let me share your Megan. And my parents…well, you know them. The day I got my uniform, they told me not to bother coming home again. I haven't…I mean, it's been years. As morbid as it sounds, I don't even know if they're alive anymore. Not that anyone would tell me otherwise. And even if they are, I've had signs that they might have told people I died in Iraq. I don't blame them, it would have been easier for them than the truth. But I've run into people since I got home who seemed a little too surprised to see me."

I sat up and turned around to face Owen, feeling a pang of guilt when I realized that I must have startled the baby, who had fluttered underneath my hand as soon as I moved.

"I just can't believe this is my life now," I said. "After everything that's happened to me for most of my life…you're still here, I'm still crazy about you…this is real. Even with all the people I've lost, I have you and you're not going anywhere."

"I'm your family," he said gently, reaching for my hands, and I let him pull me back into his arms. "I'm your family and you are mine. And I am never letting you slip away again."

"Can you believe we got here?" I asked. "If you could go back in time and tell your Iraq-self, when you met me, that we'd be having a baby together…that we'd be buying a house together…would you believe it?"

"Maybe," he said. "There was always something about you that drew me to you. You're captivating. Looking at you has always been like watching someone paint. The painting's not finished, but I just can't look away. I want to see how all the colors are going to blend together, and how all the white space is going to transform into something else."

"I'm proud of us," I said, leaning back into his chest. "We're such grown-ups now. Can you believe that?"

"That I can believe. I'm proud of us, too."

"I love you," I said softly. "I don't say that enough as it is, and everything has been about either me or the baby lately, but I just…I love you. So much."

"I love you, too," Owen said, pressing his lips against the top of my head again.

The music on the TV changed as the credits started to roll, and I realized that I had been so deep in my own thoughts, I had forgotten we were even watching a movie.

"Hey, I thought of something we could do tomorrow," Owen said as he got up to take the DVD out.

"Go to work?" I suggested, and he laughed.

"After that."

"What?"

"I was thinking…we could find out if this little peanut is a boy or a girl."

"Already?"

"We haven't done the NIPT because you were going back and forth from Germany and getting settled here. It's just a blood test. I know you don't like needles very much, but it'll only take a second. Do you want to?"

I nodded and leaned forward so Owen could sit behind me again.

"I'm sure it's a boy, though."

He gave me his own version of my Look, and laughed a little. "What makes you so sure of that?"

"I have no idea," I admitted. "But the thought of having a daughter…scares me a little. What if I ruin her like my mother ruined me?"

"What if you don't?" Owen said. "What if we have a perfect little girl? Red hair and green eyes…or blonde hair and blue eyes. Just imagine her in your arms for the first time. Those chubby little cheeks…her tiny little arms reaching for you…doesn't that just melt you?"

God, it really did.

"You know that as soon as we know the sex, we'll be ready to start arguing about names, right?"

I turned around to see the look on his face, which was, as I expected, his usual goofy grin.

"Bring it on."