Page 29 of My Irish Roommate

“He told me to keep an eye out for houses in the area, and I called him as soon as this one hit the market.”

“How long have the two of you been planning this?” I ask.

“Since your wedding night. No one ever sells out here. You got very lucky and the timing is perfect, isn’t it?” she answers.

“I can’t believe you’ve been searching for a house for us for almost a year. Rowan, how did you keep this secret?”

“It wasn’t easy, little one. You have a way of knowing when I’m hiding something. Now that your mom’s here, we can go upstairs.”

Rowan helps me up the stairs with my mother following close behind. The second floor has four bedrooms and a large bath. We stop outside the first closed door and Rowan tells my mother, “You do the honors.”

My mother smiles and says, “I hope you like it, sweetheart. Close your eyes.”

Rowan covers my eyes and helps me through the doorway, “Are you ready?”

He removes his hand from my eyes, and I can’t believe what I see. My husband and mother have created the most beautiful nursery. It’s like something out of a fairy tale, with a forest mural on the wall and crisp white furnishings.

There’s a rocking chair for me to rock the baby to sleep and a bookshelf stocked with nursery rhyme books. Above the crib is a pink canopy and on the wall in pink letters is the name Regan.

“Do you like it?” My mother is practically dancing with excitement.

“I love it. Everything is exactly the way I would have done it.”

“As soon as you told us that you were having a girl, I knew what I wanted to do. Then, when you told us you’d picked a name, I couldn’t help but personalize the space. Oh, Ricki, a little girl. I can’t wait to meet our precious baby girl,” my mother beams, her eyes welling with tears.

“You did an amazing job, Mom. Thank you.”

“Let me show Ricki the rest of the place, Emma. We’ll meet you at your place for dinner,” Rowan says.

“Of course, dear,” my mother replies and I smile as I watch my husband kiss her cheek.

Mother leaves and I hug Rowan and say, “You two seem to be getting along.”

“What else did you expect? I love you and you love her. I’m smart enough to know what I have to do to keep you happy.”

I lay my head on his chest and look around the nursery trying to take it all in, “I can’t believe this is our house. You’re the best husband in the world.”

“I didn’t know that I was going to marry the hottest little girl in the world. Once that happened, I didn’t have a choice but to step up my game,” he smirks.

“When do we move in?” I ask him.

“Tonight, we have a nice dinner with the parents, and tomorrow morning, we pack up the apartment.”

“Are you going to miss it? It’s been your home for a long time.”

“It was fine for an ex-fighter with no family and no social life. When you’re married to your work, it’s really convenient to live above the office, but, no, I won’t miss it. Until you came along, it was nothing more than a place to lay my head.”

“We should go to dinner but I don’t want to leave.” I’m still trying to process the fact that this house belongs to us.

“We’ll have the rest of our lives to make this place our home.”

We have a nice dinner with our parents. Rowan’s father is the most animated that he’s ever been. He chatters away about the housing market, what a great deal we got, how lucky we are that the house is already remodeled and move-in ready, and even the best lawn equipment to purchase. Rowan seems thrilled to finally have something in common with him.

My recent lack of energy causes me to fade, and we call it an early night. We’re about halfway home, and I feel a strange tingling in my side. I put my hands on my belly and Rowan asks, “Is everything alright?”

“I’m not sure. That might have been a mild contraction,” I say as I wait to see if the feeling returns.

“You’re not going into labor, are you?” he does his best to keep his composure but he loses some of the color from his face.

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