Page 140 of Honeymoon Phase
“I’m ready,” she sighs and glances down at her swollen stomach. “I’m going to be the best mom.”
“I know you are,” I reply automatically.
She says this a lot lately. I think that fear of turning out like her parents is still alive and well. Which is why she’s already trained Chuck at the yard to take over so she can have a full three months of maternity leave. And she lined my mom up to take the baby when she goes back to work part time. She’s signed up for mommy and me classes already and our coffee table is covered with pregnancy and parenting books. She’s dedicated to being the best working mom that ever existed, and I hate that she’s putting so much pressure on herself because she has no idea how much love she gives just by existing.
But if this is what she needs to feel good in this decision we made to have a child, then I’m going to support her no matter what.
We miscarried our first baby at eight weeks, and I thought she’d never want to try again. I held her and we grieved, and our home was flooded with my family, who supported us through every painful day in their own unique ways.
But it wasn’t until my mom told Addison that our baby was with Aaron now that I felt like my wife found some sense of hope to try again.
Now here we are. Thirty-eight weeks and holding our breath that this is it. I have a good feeling.
“Incoming!” Trista yells from down at the barn and I turn around to see Stevie barreling toward us with a big smile on her face.
“I got her,” I call back and watch my three-year-old niece run like the perfect girl she is all the way over to us.
She pants loudly as she moves around the bench to crawl upnext to Addison. Her hands instantly wrap around Roe’s belly, and she lays her ear on top of the bump and gasps. “I hear him!”
“You do?” Addison laughs and runs her fingers through Stevie’s chestnut curls.
“He says he’s hungry.”
“Does he now?”
“He says he wants bread,” Stevie says, blinking her big eyes up at my wife.
Addison’s jaw drops. “He’s hungry again?”
Stevie nods with vigor, so I hold my hand out to help my wife up off the bench. I’m afraid our niece has learned the deliciousness that is Addison’s bread and uses her incoming cousin as an excuse to get snacks. Often.
I watch in awe as my wife waddles back to our cabin with one hand on her lower back and the other holding Stevie’s as she skips beside her.
“Hey, fucker,” Calder says, dropping down on the bench beside me with a six-pack of beers. He hands one over to me before opening one for himself.
I hear the sounds of footsteps and find Wyatt walking over to join us as well. I pass him a beer and hook my thumb back to Addison. “Your daughter is pawning more snacks off of us.”
“Put it on my tab,” Wyatt harrumphs and takes a drink of his beer.
The three of us share a beer in silence for a moment, taking in the breathtaking view that never gets old. Rolling pine trees stacked amongst the rugged cliffs. Long grass swaying in the breeze below them all bathed in the warm colors of an incoming sunset twinkling above Jamestown.
“Remember when Calder stood right here and said, ‘No woman is better than this’?” I state with a laugh as I jab my elbow into him.
Calder frowns. “I’m eating my words for sure, but I believeit was you who came up with the pact that we all live up here alone, so you’re no less foolish than me.”
Wyatt shakes his head and glances behind us. “I think Dad was looking out for us.”
“You can say that again,” Calder confirms with a nod.
“New pact?” I ask, quirking a brow them.
They stare at me curiously.
“Let’s vow to be just as good at life as Dad was.” My throat tightens as I look over at both of them. “Whether that’s in business, in parenting, with our partners. We live our lives to keep making him proud and the rest will fall into place.”
Wyatt quirks a smile. “I’ll drink to that.”
Calder holds his beer up. “We’re not here for a long time...”
“We’re here for a good time,” I finish, and we clink our bottles together and drink for the man who taught us that life is indeed a good time... even through the hard times.
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