Page 64 of His to Love
Epilogue
Patton
One year later…
Patty and Audrey Rose ran along the path in front of us at the zoo. “El-e-phant,” Audrey sounded out as they stopped in front of the elephant exhibit to stare in wonder at the huge creatures. At only two, my niece was already a chatty girl, thanks to her mother’s diligent work.
Patty pointed at the animal nearest to him. “Big!”
Alexa clapped and laughed, just as she did every time our son used a real word. It brought her more joy than just about anything. “Yes, Patty. That is abigelephant. Great job, buddy.”
“Boys mature slower than girls do,” I thought I would remind my wife. “It’s not likely that we’ll be hearing full sentences out of Patty when he turns two.”
“Nonsense.” Her hands went right to her hips. “Boys can learn just as fast as girls can. It’s the teacher that makes the difference. And I’ve been learning from Sloan, so our son is going to have an awesome teacher in me.”
I could see there would be no arguing with her over this. “I’m sure you’ll achieve your goal then.”
“I’m sure I will.” She was probably right, too. When that woman put her mind to something it usually came to fruition.
Audrey Rose took Patty by the hand, pulling him along with her as they ran to the next exhibit. “Look at the monkeys, Patty!” she squealed with delight. “Love monkeys!”
They skidded to a stop in front of the cage and the monkeys went wild, making all sorts of noise. Patty covered his ears. “Loud.”
Alexa couldn’t believe it. He’d never said that word before. “Yes, Patty!” She ran to him, picked him up, and swirled him around as she kissed his chubby cheek. “They are loud. You are Mamma’s smart little boy, aren’t you?” She gazed at him with so much love in her dark eyes that it made me the slightest bit envious.
“Smart,” Patty said, delighting his mother even more.
“Oh, my goodness! Patty, Momma’s so proud of you.” She put him down as Audrey Rose tugged at her shirttail. “Yes?”
Audrey Rose pointed at her chest. “Smart too, Auntie.”
Laughing, Alexa picked up her niece and swung her around, making giggles erupt out of her. “Of course, you are smart too, you little wonder child. And Auntie and Unckie love you very much.”
I saw a gleam flicker in my wife’s eyes as she looked at me and set the girl back on her feet. Audrey Rose grabbed Patty’s hand and off they went to see the tigers. “Tigers! Come on, Patty.”
Alexa sauntered up to me, looped her arm through mine, then leaned her head on my shoulder. “How long should we wait?”
I had no idea what she was talking about. “For what?”
“No longer than a year,” she said. “Maybe we shouldn’t wait at all.”
I began to get what she was drifting toward. “Your body might not be ready for that.”
“I’ve been taking lots of vitamins.” She ran her hand up and down my arm seductively. “I have a checkup with Doctor Barclay in a few weeks. She could tell me if things look good, right?”
“Patty isn’t even out of diapers yet.” I wasn’t too keen on having two kids who were still in diapers. “What if we have another babyafterhe’s out of diapers?”
“What if we don’t?” she asked with a grin then kissed my cheek. “What if we have a little girl this time? What if she has long dark hair that I can brush and style and braid? And what if she has your gorgeous blue eyes?”
“I’d say she’d be a real beauty,” I said jokingly. “But honey, really, I think you’re asking too much of your body too soon. Patty just turned one a couple of months ago. If you got pregnant now, he wouldn’t even been two when the new baby is born.”
“He’d turn two soon after.” She huffed then pulled away from me, her hands going to her hips again. “Do you think I can’t handle a newborn and a toddler? Just tell me if you think that.”
I’d learned to pick and choose my battles with my feisty wife. And this wasn’t a battle I would be picking. “Come here, little mamma.” I grabbed her hand, pulling her back to my side and running my arm around her waist. “If you get the okay from the doctor, then I’m all for it.”
“Really?” She smiled as she looked into my eyes. “Because I want you to want this as much as I do.”
“Why do I get the feeling that you’ve been thinking about this for awhile and this is just the first I’m hearing of it?”
