Page 100 of A Lifetime of Afters
Laughter and more than a few starry-eyed tears followed him as he jogged back up the aisle.
Dan held his hand out for a high five as Hawkley passed, and Max caught him up in a joyful hug when he hit the altar.
Harley clutched her bouquet and beamed at me from her place opposite Max.
My dad shook with laughter. “Nope. Not a doubt in the world, Christmas.”
July
Hawkley looked wrecked.
The past few months were a whirlwind of activity.
True to his word, Hawk moved Bruce and me into his place in two days. Including picking up all the boxes my mother left for me from my dad’s place. With my mother’s dishes and all the tiny trinkets and notes she packed with them, I had a piece of her back. Sometimes things work out the way they should. Had I opened those boxes when she first passed… I shuddered to think what might have happened. I was not in a good place.
With my mother’s things unpacked, Hawkley’s house became mine as well. And I discovered another way I took after my mother. Gardening. Even when my belly stretched to the point I needed help getting back up, I loved to dig my hands into the earth and coax life and beauty from the dirt.
And as soon as I could, I planned to buy a gnome.
I laughed softly to myself.
“What are you laughing at, my beautiful girl?”
“You’d think you were the one who just pushed a ten-pound baby out your hoo-ha.”
He winced at the thought and pulled his chair even closer to my bed. “You were amazing,” he praised as he peered into the tiny face that captured our hearts not twenty minutes before.
They say not to have a baby shower too close to your due date as the excitement might induce labor.
Harley pish-poshed the whole idea as nothing but an old wives’ tale. “How could we have it any earlier? We had a wedding to plan, and you just got back from your honeymoon at the end of May.” She shrugged. “Perfection takes time, and my little niece or nephew deserves perfection.”
“You better hope it doesn’t induce her labor, Harley,” Lou warned with a chuckle. “Hawkley will have your head.”
Harley guffawed. “Speaking of heads, for Noelle’s sake I hope it does induce labor. She’s only got two weeks to go, and Bennett babies are known for their giant craniums.”
Lou snorted with suppressed laughter and swatted at her daughter. “Don’t say that to her!”
“I hardly think it matters at this point, Lou. Baby is coming out in two weeks no matter how big its head is,” I commented drily.
Harley put a commiserating hand on my shoulder. “Your hoo-ha will never be the same.”
Those old wives? They knew what they were talking about.
The pain began in the middle of the night.
“Hawk?” I stroked his shoulder, my fingers lightly caressing the dips and swells of the muscle.
His face was smooth and unlined in sleep.
Friggity-frack, he’s beautiful.
I smoothed my thumb over his forehead down to his temple. How many nights had I done this? Still suffused with wonder that he was mine to touch. Mine to ease. Mine to comfort.
Mine to love.
I stroked across his forehead.
Was his head big? It was proportionate to the rest of his body. Harley’s head was proportionate. So was Hunter’s. Dan’s was big but the man was enormous. Lou’s head was normal sized. Maybe the baby would take after my side. Or Lou’s. At least if our baby came out with a big head, I had the assurance of knowing they’d grow into it.
