Page 25 of Home Stretch

TWELVE

Kade

Five Years Later…

“It’s going to be okay,”I tell Malia as I squeeze her hand.

“That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have to go through labor,” she says, and I nod.

“You’re right, but I’ll be by your side for the whole thing,” I promise.

She nods, relaxing back onto the table as the ultrasound tech comes back into the room and sits down in her chair.

“Are you two ready to see your little one?”

“Yes,” Malia and I both say at the same time, and the tech just smiles.

We’re at our third ultrasound, and we’re supposed to be learning the sex of our baby today. Malia says that she doesn’t care as long as they’re healthy. I agree though I can’t deny that I would love to have a little girl who looks just like her mama.

The technician puts on her gloves, and I turn back to my wife. Malia and I got married a little over three years ago. We were celebrating our three-year anniversary when we found out she was pregnant.

We’re both so excited to be starting our own family. I know it might have been a little sooner than we were planning, but that hasn’t lessened our excitement.

Our friends are happy for us too. Hendrix and Locklyn are expecting, too, and Elodie and Thorne are going to be adopting a baby soon. We’ve been supporting each other through everything these last five years, and they’ve truly become my family in that time.

That helps because we don’t have much contact with Malia’s parents. They reached out a few years ago after she had graduated. Apparently, some of their friends had noticed that they never talked about her anymore, and they wanted to catch up for appearances.

They weren’t thrilled to learn that she was getting married to me, so we spent another year having nothing to do with them. Then they sent some money and invited her to visit. That trip didn’t exactly go smoothly, but it was still nice to finally meet them and see where she grew up.

Since then, there’s been a few sporadic phone calls here and there. They sent more money when they found out that we were expecting. They’re already asking her to come to Los Angeles for a baby shower with all of their friends. Malia hasn’t decided if she wants to yet, but I’ll support her in whatever she decides.

My mom is thrilled that I’m settled down and am about to be a father. She’s been talking about moving out here but hasn’t found a place close enough to us yet. My mom loves Malia, though, and I know that Malia loves her too. She’s the parent that Malia always wanted, and now she finally has it. They talk more than my mom and I do, and I love seeing them both so happy.

“This might be a little cold,” the technician says as she squirts some of the gel onto Malia’s stomach.

Malia’s hand tightens around mine as the wand starts to move over her stomach. The screen turns from black to a hazy gray, and we both lean closer as our little bean comes into view.

“Measuring at twenty weeks, two days.”

“That’s right,” I say, and she nods.

The tech takes a few pictures and measurements before she turns to smile at us.

“Did you two want to know the sex, or are we keeping it a secret?”

“We want to know,” Malia says in a rush, and I smile over at my wife.

“Well, it looks like it’s a girl.”

She shows us a few things on the monitor, and I beam as I turn to look at Malia.

“A little girl,” I whisper, and she nods, the tears in her eyes making her blue eyes look like the ocean.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” she says.

I lean over to kiss her as the technician prints off our pictures and wipes off Malia’s stomach.

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