Page 15 of All for You
I watch as Rumer and Milly swarm my wife. We’ve been doing these cookouts at each other’s house for most of the summer. It took us a little longer to get pregnant than it did our friends. My sweet woman was starting to worry, even though I told her I would love her even if it never happened. But a few months after Milly confirmed she was having a baby and Rumer also found out she was knocked up we got our own positive test.
Now that the other two have been through it they are helping Rani. I’m really glad she has them. And that I have good buddies like Jag and Mark. I would probably be a nervous wreck without them.
It was a race to see who got our bride to the altar first. Jag beat me by one week. Rani wanted to be married literally as soon as she got off the stage after accepting her diploma, but I wanted her to take her time and have the wedding she deserves and dreamed of having. So, it took us a little longer.
Mark had Rumer down the aisle before she even graduated. Of course, she was the first of the girls to have their babies as well. And thank God she turned out looking more like Rumer than Mark. We all tell her that anytime she mentions how beautiful their girl is. So here we are. Waiting for our little bundle to get here and having a ball playing with the two new editions to the large family we have made for ourselves.
I hand the baby back to Mark and watch as my girl tries to make her way over to me. There’s no way I am not going to meet her at least halfway. In the end, I do better than that, I'm able to help her up.
“Ready to go home?”
“Oh yeah!” I can tell she’s gotten tired. “I am so ready.”
Milly pulls her in for a quick hug, “Call us if you need us. Any time.”
“Day or night,” Rumer adds the last, but Milly nods her head in agreement with it. Rumer gives her hugs and we all say our goodbyes as I walk my wife to our car.
Thankfully it only takes us a couple of minutes to get home since the three of us have bought houses close to one another’s. Any other time Rani and I could walk home but not now, not when she’s ready to drop the baby any day now.
She’s asleep by the time we get there. I don’t bother waking her, I just sweep her up into my arms right out of the car after unbuckling her. Halfway up the stairs she wakes up and starts putting little baby kisses on the side of my neck. She knows those drive me crazy…which is why she does them.
I lay her gently on the bed and stand back as she smiles up at me. “Did you have fun with the girls?”
She gives me a sleepy nod and reaches up for me. I can’t deny her. And the moment our lips meet I’m lost to the soul-calming haze that comes with loving my wife. She doesn’t just complete me…she renews my soul. Being with Rani is my way of keeping a tiny bit of innocence, of belief in happy ever afters and true love, alive in a world that doesn’t always want to take care of that. She might not realize it - I might not tell her - but she is my fairy tale.
We make love, sweet and slow, with her on top riding me to completion. When it’s over I sit up and kiss her, trying to tell her with my body how perfect I think she is. She moves to the side of the bed - because she always has to pee after…before… pretty much all the time now because of the baby - and I see her facial expression change.
“What’s wrong? What’s put that look on your face?”
She looks up at me with a trembling smile, “I think…my water just broke.”
We welcome our son into the world exactly thirteen hours after we made love. And I make myself a promise not to let her do that ever again. The sex when heavily pregnant part, not the baby-making part. That will be happening again and again and again. As many times as she will have me. And I will give her as many babies as she wants…as long as she is healthy and happy. But for right now, our world is insular and as I hold this tiny perfect human in my arms and watch my wife rest after bringing such a wonderful life into this world, I wouldn’t change a thing. Not one thing. All of it led me to Rani. All of it led me right where I belong.
Epilogue II
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Rani
Eighteen Years Later
Our son gathers us in the living room, and we know it is serious. He always tells us things like this in the living room. When he was sixteen and crashed his dad’s truck, he told us in the living room after we promised not to kill him, of course. Killion always was such a serious little boy and now he’s an equally serious young man.
“You didn’t wreak another vehicle, did you son?”
“No Dad. It’s not that.”
They both give each other laughing smiles. It wasn’t that way at the time, but now that it’s been years ago they’ve learned to laugh about it. It didn’t hurt that I reminded Charlie of what it was like bringing Killion home for the first time and all those cute baby moments. Truthfully, it was probably the only thing that kept Charlie from killing him.
“Mom. Dad. I’m going to join the academy.”
There’s not a doubt in our mind what academy he is talking about. He’s going to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a police officer. I squeeze Charlie’s hand hard even as I smile and jump up to hug him. Am I worried sick for my baby boy? Of fucking course. Am I happy he knows himself and what he wants? An equal of fucking course.
“I’m so happy for you.” I try to fight back tears as I hug him. I don’t want him to think I don’t want this for him or that I am against what he is doing. I’m not. I’m just…worried for him.
“Alright, alright, you two. Sit back down. There’s more.”
I look over at Charlie but he gives me a little head shake showing me he doesn’t have a clue what the ‘more’ might be. I stare up at my son and wait for him to tell us. He looks nervous. Way more nervous than when he told us he wrecked his dad’s truck.