Page 155 of The Clover Chapel (Jamison Valley 2)
“Let’s go home?” I asked.
“Let’s go home.”
Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, Nick and I took a long shower and then climbed into bed.
I was emotionally exhausted and needed sleep.
There was a mass of people downstairs waiting to see us, but I didn’t care. They’d stay for a couple of hours while we spent some time alone.
Wearing one of Nick’s flannels and my winter socks, my back was curled into his bare chest.
It felt like days, not hours, had passed since I’d woken up in this same position. It was hard to believe that just this morning I had learned I was pregnant.
My desire to surprise Nick with an elaborate announcement was gone. Now all I wanted was for him to know.
“I’m pregnant,” I said with no fanfare or dramatics. We didn’t need it. The news itself was big enough.
His arms pulled me closer and his chest expanded with a deep breath. “Love you, Wife,” Nick whispered into my hair.
“Love you, Husband.”
His hand traveled from my chest to my tummy. Gently, he lifted up the hem of my flannel and splayed his palm across my flat stomach.
“Love you too, baby.”
Two years later . . .
“Mom, I’m hanging up the phone now.”
“Wait!” she yelled. “Can we talk about the flowers?”
“It will have to wait. I’ll see you in less than an hour. That is, if you’d let me off the phone so I can finish getting ready and load up Draven.”
“Fine,” she huffed and hung up.
I looked at my baby boy playing on the floor and smiled. Draven Nicholas III was almost a year and a half old, not really a baby anymore. He was an exact replica of Nick, minus the beard.
“Grammy is driving me crazy with this wedding business,” I told him.
He gave me a smile that melted my heart and went back to stacking a tower of cups.
My mother and Alesso had gotten married the fall after my ordeal with Steffie. They had come to Prescott and had a no-fuss wedding at town hall. At the time, I had been so impressed by Mom’s decision to skip the theatrics. Then that night at dinner, the real Collette had appeared and announced that they were having an enormous wedding reception. She had only wanted to get married quickly so she and Alesso could move into their Montana chalet.
The reception had taken her nearly two years to plan but finally it was all coming together. In a month, we would have the party, and I had vowed never again to get involved in coordinating a wedding.
“Ready to go, buddy?” I asked Draven, picking him up off the floor and kissing his chubby cheek.
It was Independence Day and we were hosting a party at the garage. This was our first Fourth of July gathering at Slater’s Station but I hoped it would become an annual tradition for our families and friends.
Tonight, we were filling the parking lot with camp chairs while the men barbequed, the women chatted and the kids played. Then we were all staying for Prescott’s fireworks show.
“We’re here!” I called into Nick’s shop.
Three heads popped up from underneath the hood of a green sports car.
As Nick, Uncle Dash and Grandpa Draven crossed the room, I gave my boy one last hug and kiss. It would likely be the last time I’d get to hold him until well after dark and he fussed for his mama.
“Hey,” Nick said, kissing my cheek as Grandpa Draven lifted Baby Draven from my arms.
